After taking the lead role of Broadway's Funny Girl just last week, actress Lea Michele announced she will be missing 10 days of performances after testing positive for COVID-19.
First announcing on Saturday that she could not perform at that night's show due to an "inconclusive test result," the Glee star told her Instagram followers in a story post that night that she would be out until September 20.
"Unfortunately, I have officially tested positive for COVID. In following production protocol I cannot return to the theater for 10 days," she wrote on Instagram. "Thankfully staying home today and catching this early protected so many members of our company from being exposed."
"Funny Girl has been and still is tackling a tremendous wave of COVID with close to a dozen company members currently out," Michele continued. "We are almost on the other side of this and our swings and understudies are doing such an incredible job to keep our show on its feet. This week has been a dream come true and I cannot wait to get back—You better get ready. See you soon."
After being cast in the show in July following Beanie Feldstein's early departure, Michele debuted as Fanny Brice last Tuesday, receiving a warm welcome back to the Broadway stage for the first time in 13 years, with at least six standing ovations on opening night.
Despite Michele's success in the first week, she will have to hunker down for the next week or so as Julie Benko, who currently stars in the title role on Thursday evenings, takes over as Fanny Brice for all performances through September 18.
The show said in a recent statement, "We are so thankful to the entire 'Funny Girl' company, including our standbys, understudies, swings and everyone working on the production for their remarkable commitment to keeping the show going and ensuring audiences have a great experience at every performance."
The Broadway show tells the story of Fanny Brice, a young Jewish New Yorker in the 1920s who strives to reach the Broadway stage despite criticism that she isn't conventionally beautiful. Prior to her COVID test, Michele stated that the role was "a dream come true."
"I'm so incredibly honored to join this amazing cast and production and return to the stage playing Fanny Brice on Broadway. See you September 6th," she said in a statement in July after announcements of the casting changes were made.
Despite some critics' doubts about her ability to perform, the actress has previously stated that she feels "more ready than I ever have before, both personally and professionally," to put on the performance of a lifetime in Funny Girl.
And Feldstein, who played Brice earlier this year and left the show in July due to the production team wanting to take the show "in a different direction," has recently landed her first movie role since leaving Funny Girl. She will star in Ethan Coen's solo directorial debut, which has yet to be titled. The film will also star Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan.
Newsweek reached out to a representative for Michele for further comment.
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