Lea as Young Cosette
Lea Michele Sarfati (born August 29, 1986) played Young Cosette in Les Misérables on Broadway from 1995 to 1998. She also played Éponine in Hollywood Bowl's Les Misérables Concert in 2008.
Career beginnings and stage roles[]
Michele has the vocal range of a soprano. She made her Broadway debut in 1995, at the age of 8, as a replacement in the role of Young Cosette in Les Misérables. Michele was also the understudy for the role of Gavroche. This was followed by the role of Tateh's daughter, the Little Girl, in the 1998 original Broadway cast of Ragtime. Michele had been portraying the part of the Little Girl for a year in the original Toronto cast, before the production was transferred to Broadway. In 2004 (during her senior year of high school), Michele played Shprintze in the Broadway revival of the musical Fiddler on the Roof. She also understudied the role of Chava. Michele then performed on the 2004 Broadway revival cast recording of Fiddler on the Roof. She starred as Shprintze at the 2004 Broadway Easter Bonnet benefit with the cast of Fiddler on the Roof. She played the role of Wendla Bergmann in Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik's musical version of Spring Awakening, starring in early workshops and Off-Broadway and finally originating the role in the Broadway production in 2006 at the age of 20. In February 2005, she performed as Wendla at the Lincoln Center. Around the same time that Spring Awakening was set to go to Broadway, she was offered the role of Éponine in the Broadway revival of Les Misérables. She elected to remain with Spring Awakening, which debuted on Broadway in December 2006. She was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for her performance as Wendla Bergmann in the category of Outstanding Actress in a Musical.
Lea Michele in her Éponine costume
In December 2007, Michele performed at the Lucille Lortel Theater for Unsung: 'Tis The Season To Be Naughty. The event was in aid of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. The following month, in January 2008, she performed at the "Alive in the World" benefit concert as the character Phoebe. The performance was in aid of the Twin Towers Orphan Fund. In 2008, she again took part in the Broadway Easter Bonnet benefit, this time with the cast of Spring Awakening. In February, April and June 2008, Michele played shows at Feinstein's. In April 2008, she performed a Flops n' Cutz concert at Joe's Pub with her boyfriend at the time, stage actor Landon Beard. On May 18, 2008, Michele left Spring Awakening with her co-star Jonathan Groff, where they were both replaced the next day by Michele's understudy Alexandra Socha and newcomer Kyle Riabko. She then performed in a reading of Sheik and Sater's new musical, Nero, in July 2008 at Vassar College. In August 2008, she portrayed Éponine in the Hollywood Bowl's Les Misérables concert, which was directed by Richard Jay-Alexander. She starred alongside Brian Stokes Mitchell as Javert and John Lloyd Young as Marius, both of whom would go on to guest star on Glee. While in Los Angeles for the Les Misérables concerts, she sang at the Upright Cabaret at Mark's Restaurant in Hollywood in August 2008. The next month, she performed at the benefit Broadway Chance Style: Up Close & Personal along with stars such as Laura Bell Bunby, Eden Espinosa and Kristoffer Cusick. In December 2008, she performed again at Joe's Pub for the Spring Awakening Holiday Benefit Concert. In October 2010, Michele and co-star Matthew Morrison performed as Janet Weiss and Brad Majors, respectively, in the 35th Anniversary Benefit of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The event benefited The Painted Turtle and also starred Jack Nicholson and Danny DeVito
Glee, Louder, Movies, Brunette Ambition[]
Lea Michele was the lead on the Fox show "Glee" (2009-2015) where she played Rachel Berry. In 2014 she released her album "Louder". She starred in the movie "New Years Eve" (2011) as Elise, and voiced Dorothy Gale in the animated movie "Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return" (2013). In 2014 she released a part memoir, part how-to book titled "Brunette Ambition". She now plays Hester Ulrich on "Scream Queens" (2015-present).
