Yes, Funny Girl, the 1968 debut vehicle for Barbra Streisand that won her an Academy Award, is getting a remake -- but not with the McKinley High belter you expect. According to E!, Lauren Ambrose, best known for Six Feet Under, is close to getting the part. Weird! But never fear, Lea Michele: We can think of three Streisand films that deserve remakes and you on the marquee.
Hello, Dolly
We know Michele will play off her Spring Awakening/Glee credibility and power at least one Broadway remake on the big screen, so why not choose a Streisand with slightly less exposure than Funny Girl, but just as much of a Great White Way legacy? As Dolly Levi, a role originated by the perhaps-actually-immortal Carol Channing, Michele could pump up the grandiosity of the original film with some MTV editing (like on Glee) and va-va-voom stage presence.
What's Up, Doc?
Truthfully, Michele could stand to get away from the bland trappings of overblown musical theater. Her character on Glee is often more cutting and sarcastic than a traditional Broadway powerhouse, and that's why Peter Bogdanovich's 1972 comedy What's Up, Doc? is right for her. Streisand's role of Judy Maxwell, the trouble-attracting dame who is expelled from a number of colleges (but still manages to hum a tune here or there), provides a forum for subtler whizzbang that could ease viewers away from Ryan Murphy's bursting bacchanal. Plus, I'm personally interested to see who the modern-day version of Madeline Kahn would be. Jayma Mays? Ari Graynor?
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Nuts
I like remakes of films that weren't great the first time. That makes a remake practical, right? Nuts is bland, dated, and formulaic, but the concept of a delirious call girl with a shaky past is a cinematic evergreen. ("Love... soft as a witness stand...") Michele could bring convulsive characterization to the role of Claudia Draper, which is a form of theatricality that could best suits a scenery-chewer such as Rachel Berry. Maybe she'll say "Don't judge my b---jobs!" with similar brio!
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