Lea Michele is Glee Star:'Glee' Premieres Tonight

Lea Michele is an American stage and television actress and singer who is known for her roles in Broadway musicals.Beginning in the 1990s as a child actor in Broadway’s Les Misérables, Michele continued to act and created the leading role of Wendla Bergman in the hit musical Spring Awakening, for which she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award. She has been cast in the Fox television show Glee, which premiered on May 19, 2009.

Michele debuted on Broadway in 1995 as a replacement cast member (Young Cosette) in the original New York production of Les Miserables. This was followed by her creation of the role of Tateh’s daughter, the Little Girl, in the 1998 original Broadway cast of Ragtime. In 2004, Michele played “Shprintze” and “Chava” in the revival of the musical Fiddler on the Roof. Regionally, she has appeared in the title role in The Diary of Anne Frank.

On May 18, 2008, Lea Michele left Spring Awakening with co-star Jonathan Groff and was replaced by former Wendla understudy and ensemble member Alexandra Socha. On August 8, 9, and 10, 2008, Michele portrayed Eponine in the Hollywood Bowl’s Les Misérables concert.On August 15 and 16, 2008 where she performed with Upright Cabaret in Los Angeles at Mark’s Restaurant to a sold out crowd each night. Also appearing with a special performance with John Lloyd Young.

On September 27, 2008, Lea performed in Santa Ana, California’s the Chance Theater with “Wicked” alum Eden Espinosa, and with “Legally Blonde” alum Laura Bell Bundy for the Broadway Chance Style Up Close and Personal concert.She performed in a reading of Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater’s new musical Nero, in July 2008 at Vassar College, also featuring Idina Menzel and Michael Arden. She has also been cast in the new Fox television show Glee, where she will play the star female singer of a high school’s glee club.Lea Michele stars in Glee which for many is her major tv debut. But for theatre fans, Lea Michele is a talent they’ve known since 1995.