Barbra Streisand Didn't See Lea Michele Play Her Iconic Funny Girl Role on Broadway but Says 'I'm Happy for Her'

Barbra Streisand didn't see Lea Michele take on her iconic Funny Girl role.

Vanity Fair spoke with Streisand, 81, about her autobiography My Name Is Barbra and reported that the actress did not check out Michele's recent Broadway run as Fanny Brice. Michele, 37, gave her final Funny Girl performance at the August Wilson Theatre in New York City on Sept. 3.

Though she didn't catch Michele's performance, she told the outlet, "I’m happy for her."

On closing night, Michele wrote on Instagram, "Thank you for all the love and support. This was truly the most extraordinary year and chapter of my life. I cannot wait for what’s next." In another post, she shared the "greatest love and appreciation for everyone who came to see @funnygirlbwy this past year."

Streisand played Fanny Brice on Broadway in 1964, then later in a 1968 film adaptation, for which she won an Oscar for Best Actress (in a tie with Katharine Hepburn for The Lion in Winter).

While on the Late Show with Seth Meyers in December, Michele said she "finally heard from Barbra" and received a letter from the actress.

"It was very sweet, she wrote me this beautiful letter," Michele said at the time. "But one thing she said in it… She was like, 'It's really wonderful when your dreams come true, isn't it?' And I just, like, fell to my knees, and I called [Glee co-creator] Ryan Murphy, my mom, Jonathan Groff and [Funny Girl director] Michael Mayer."

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Earlier this year, Murphy, 57, wrote about seeing Michele in Funny Girl in a tribute to the actress for Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2023.

"Funny Girl is my favorite musical of all time, and for over a decade I flirted with reviving it on Broadway. Ultimately, I couldn’t commit for one reason: the long shadow of Barbra Streisand, who originated the role of Fanny Brice," he wrote. "I was afraid of it. Lea Michele wasn’t afraid."

Added Murphy of Michele, "She had done the impossible: made Fanny her own, to great critical and commercial acclaim. Older, wiser, stronger, Lea interjected the classic with a new burst of modernity and something singular."

My Name Is Barbra is out Nov. 7.