Entertainment
Broadway baby: Lea Michele is back where it all began
In 1965, the original musical “Funny Girl” was playing at Broadway’s Winter Garden Theatre, starring someone who knew her way around a song. That same year, a guy named Joe Allen opened a place a few blocks away. It was the place to be for Broadway stars like Al Pacino and a host of others. Plus, they served a mean cheeseburger.
The cheeseburgers are still there, and so are Broadway’s elite. Lea Michele has been coming here since her Broadway debut in the 1990s. “I just love this place so much,” she said.
And what would she eat? “A burger. I mean, it’s always so good, so good here, oh my God,” she said.
But when we met her at Joe Allen’s, she wasn’t in a burger mood, because she had a show to do. Lea Michele is currently starring in the musical “Chess.” In the show, she plays a brilliant strategist for two world champion chess players (played by Aaron Tveit and Nicholas Christopher).
“Chess: The Musical”
“Chess” is a love triangle, a spectacle, and a chance for the stars to raise the roof at the Imperial Theatre – the same place where Michele made her Broadway debut in 1995 in “Les Miserables,” at the age of eight.
Her parents weren’t show biz people – Dad owned a deli – and before she auditioned, they had no clue their daughter could sing. “And as we were leaving, I turned to my Mom and I was like, ‘I’m gonna get this. I think I’m gonna get this,'” Michele recalled. “And she said, ‘Things like that don’t happen to people like us.'”
In this case, Mom was wrong: Michele got the part, and went on to even greater heights in the musical “Spring Awakening,” and later became a household name in the hit TV show “Glee.”
She hit a few bumps along the way, among them a difficult pregnancy with her first child in 2020, and flak on social media that she acted like a diva back in the “Glee” days. But things looked up in 2023, when she was asked to step into the shoes of her idol Barbra Streisand, and take over a struggling revival of “Funny Girl.”
She said, “I think that we all grow as we get older. It’s hard being in an industry where there is such a spotlight on these phases and times in your life.”
And what was the pressure like to take over “Funny Girl”? It was the first time that I was really sort of in the spotlight after everything that had happened to me personally,” Michele said. “I wanted to finally show everyone that I could play this part, and play her really well.”
Long story short, Michele killed it, and turned a sinking show into a hit, despite suffering a miscarriage during her run. And when she was approached about doing “Chess,” she told producers that having another baby came first. “And so my husband and I ended up doing IVF, which was in its own right very intense and challenging,” she said. “But you know, we got pregnant and had our daughter, who is wonderful and wild. And then they, you know, said, ‘Would you like to do the show?’ ‘Absolutely!'”
Now, the 39-year-old mother of two is back at the Imperial Theatre, where it all began, serving up another knockout performance with a side of gratitude.
I asked, “What do you think that eight-year-old girl would think, back in that same theatre?”
“I think that she’d be so proud, and she would just say, ‘Thank you,’ ’cause that’s all she wanted,” Michele said. “And it’s still what I want. My love for what I do was definitely reignited during ‘Funny Girl.’ And I’m very grateful for that. But I’m so happy to be here, and to be home.”
To hear Lea Michele perform “Someone Else’s Story,” from “Chess: The Musical,” click on the video player below:
WEB EXCLUSIVE: Watch an extended interview with Lea Michele (Video)
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Story produced by John D’Amelio. Editor: Steven Tyler.
Entertainment
Cruz Beckham calls Jackie Apostel band’s ‘hidden’ powerhouse
Cruz Beckham has credited his girlfriend, Jackie Apostel, for band’s success, confessing that she is the woman behind his career.
The young musician, 21, has been carving out his music career and kicked off his UK tour in on Wednesday in Birmingham.
It marked a major milestone for Cruz, who has been building up to his sold out tour following the release of his single, For Your Love.
Joined by his band The Breakers, the son of David and Victoria performed songs from his album, Lick The Toad at Mama Roux’s.

Meanwhile, Cruz’s girlfriend, Jackie Apostel, 30 supported him throughout the tour, proudly showing of his tour merchandise – a hoodie with all of his tour dates on the back.
And now he has told how Jackie is the woman behind his success.
Alongside a snap of the beauty, he penned: ‘I don’t think anybody understands how much Jackie does for us.
‘Throughout these last few years Jackie has connected the band, connected teams, constantly making sure s**t gets done, none of this would be happening without her.
‘Just a little appreciation post for the fifth member of the breakers. She is the driving force of the band. She has gone overboard with making sure content all of you see is the best of the best.
‘Jackie we are forever grateful for you and I hope you know, we appreciate you more than you can imagine.’
The couple have been together since 2024, after they were first spotted together at Glastonbury.
Earlier this month, Cruz released the music video for his new single For Your Love.
Entertainment
Netflix set to release new show following ex-Prince Andrew arrest
Ex-Prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is at the center of Hollywood’s latest race for royal drama.
Netflix is reportedly considering reviving The Crown for a limited series chronicling his downfall following his arrest in connection with Jeffrey Epstein.
The former Duke of York was arrested on February 19, his 66th birthday, on suspicion of misconduct in public office after allegedly forwarding confidential trade documents to Epstein.
His arrest, described as “historic and unprecedented” by insiders, has sparked fierce competition among studios to dramatize the scandal.
According to sources to Daily Mail, Netflix and The Crown producers Left Bank Pictures have been in “advanced talks” about creating one-off specials under the show’s banner.
Insider described the potential saga as “as dramatic, if not more dramatic” than the abdication of Edward VIII or Princess Diana’s death, both previously covered in the original series.
Disney Studios and Amazon MGM are also circling the story.
“We have been bombarded with screenwriters wanting to bring this story to us. The race is on in Hollywood to be the first studio to bring out an Andrew film,” a Disney source told the outlet.
Screenwriter Jeremy Brock, who penned Amazon MGM’s A Very Royal Scandal, echoed the sentiment.
He told the outlet both Netflix and Amazon are “100 percent” in talks to make a drama based on the scandal.
Royal Fallout
King Charles has issued a statement expressing his “deepest concern,” stressing that “the law must take its course.”
Meanwhile, the British government is debating legislation that could remove Andrew from the royal line of succession.
Entertainment
Zack Snyder backs ‘Batman v Superman’ 10 years after release
Zack Snyder has marked the 10th anniversary of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice with a not-so-subtle defence of the film, and a few revealing stories about just how contentious it was, even before it reached cinemas.
Appearing on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Snyder looked back on the 2016 comic book tentpole, which opened to largely negative reviews on 25th March of that year but still went on to gross $874 million worldwide.
A decade on, the director shows no sign of second-guessing his choices.
“My 100% honest reaction to BvS and how it’s received in the world is… Do you really want a movie that’s had all the edges shaved off it by the focus groups?” he said.
“Do you really want a movie where the decisions have been made in a boardroom, or tested ideas have been rendered for your enjoyment? Do you really want the Kmart version of your story? Is that what you really want?”
Reflecting on the broader reaction to the film and his approach to the DC characters, Snyder was philosophical.
“You realize then that we were kicking the zeitgeist in the n-ts and that we were going to anger people,” he said.
“Not only do they not want their heroes deconstructed, they don’t want their heroes battling each other on a road to deconstructing the why of their existence. That’s another sacrilege.”
Batman v Superman was the second film in what became known online as the SnyderVerse, following Man of Steel and leading into Justice League, a production that took on a life of its own after Snyder departed due to a family tragedy and Joss Whedon was brought in to complete it.
The subsequent fan campaign to release Snyder’s original cut became one of the most vocal movements in modern cinema history, eventually resulting in Zack Snyder’s Justice League debuting on HBO Max in 2021.
Snyder spoke warmly about those fans, pushing back on criticism of their reputation.
“The fans should never forget they did that. They also raised a ton of money for suicide prevention. They did a lot of good. They catch a lot of flak for being toxic or whatever, but they literally saved human lives. You can go f–k yourselves if that’s what you think.”
The SnyderVerse ultimately ended before he could complete his planned trilogy of Justice League films, though he hasn’t entirely closed the door on revisiting those stories in other formats.
“We live in a world where all that is possible,” he said, confirming he has “absolutely talked about” bringing those unmade films to life through animation or comics.
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