Spring (Awakening) Fever: An Interview with Lea Michele
Lately, it's been Spring (Awakening) Fever on Broadway with fans, celebrities and more coming to see the new show – not to mention that it received the best reviews of the 2006/2007 theatre season. In this first of a three part series, we check in with the second of the show's talented young stars – Lea Michele, who created the role of Wendla in Spring Awakening – 7 years ago!
 Before we get into Spring Awakening, let's rewind a bit – where were you born and raised?
I was born in the Bronx, and that's still where most of my extended family lives right now. But at a young age my parents decided that it would be best for me, for my education to move to New Jersey. I went to elementary school in Tenafly, New Jersey, which is right over the George Washington Bridge.
It's got very easy access into New York City and when I started doing theatre and when I got my first Broadway show, which is when I was 8 years old, we then started renting apartments in Manhattan. So, I had my life and school and place to live in New Jersey, but we also had a place to stay when I was doing whatever show that I was doing in the city. It was a pretty good deal!
I think a lot of our readers will be jealous of that! Tell me about that first show, it was Les Miserables, correct? How'd you get involved?
That was Les Miz, which I love very, very, very, very much. I tell this story all the time, but it's a funny story and it amazes me every time I tell it.
My best friend at the time, when we were about 8 years old would take me to see musicals with her. We went to see Camelot and I think that I fell asleep, and then we went to see Cats and I was scared. Finally, we went to go see The Phantom of the Opera, and I think that was the first time that I really saw the beauty of theatre and I instantly fell in love with it.
And, just a couple of days later, they were having an open call for young Cosette in Les Miz in my town and she wanted to go audition and her father unfortunately got very ill the night before. Her mother asked if we would take her since it was such a huge dream of hers, and for whatever reason I decided that I wanted to audition as well. I had been listening to the soundtrack of Phantom non-stop and had memorized "Angel of Music". I went in and sang at the open call "Angel of Music" a cappella and I ended up booking it right then and there and that's what started it all for me.
Tell us about that open call...
I went on the open call, and this was with the casting director and they called my mother into the room and they said "there's something here, we're going to call her back" and my mother said "ok, whatever, sure." I was like "wow Mom! I can't believe this happened" and she told me not to get my hopes up, that they probably say that to a lot of people. Anyway, I went in and auditioned for Richard Jay-Alexander and he told me at that callback, before we left, that I booked it.
What was your working relationship with Richard like?
I remember Richard being there a lot (he was directing at the time), and I remember how close he was with my family. He was very close with my mother and my father and even when I left Les Miz, and went on to do Ragtime, he would always keep in touch with us, which was so sweet. How long did you do Les Miserables for?
I did Les Miz for a year and a half till I outgrew it, which is what happened with most young Cosettes. I think that I left Les Miz on like August 1st or something like that and took a week's vacation with my family. I came back, auditioned for Ragtime and was literally on a plane to move to Canada by the 30th of August. We packed up our bags, my mother and I, and we left for Toronto. It was literally one thing right into the next.
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 Robert Diamond founded BroadwayWorld.com in 2003, which has now become the largest theatre web site in the world. He also serves as the site's Editor-in-Chief, covering Broadway and beyond, with specific local coverage for 100 cities in the United States, 30 countries worldwide and 15 other related areas of entertainment - including dance, opera, fashion, concerts, comedy, films, television and more.The 2001 Syracuse University graduate (School of Information Studies) is also the owner of Wisdom Digital Media, an award-winning leading design company for entertainment and technology web sites. In his previous life, he held an executive position for the world's leading publisher of technology magazines, web sites and conferences and, as a result, was named among the "Top thirty magazine industry executives under the age of 30" by FOLIO Magazine. Diamond got his start in the entertainment field, accidentally, when he created the 'official web site' (while in college) for Michael Crawford, the popular actor and original Tony and Olivier Award-winning star of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. (He still blames Crawford - and credits him - for anything that goes particularly right or wrong during an average day.) As a respected member of the Broadway and theatre community, Diamond also served as Lead Producer for a series of sold-out shows using the BroadwayWorld.com 'brand' for a set of 'Standing Ovations' concerts, which also branched out into titles that included Holiday Shows and even more specific concerts like 'From Stage to Screen and Back Again' in tandem with publishers and movie studios. All proceeds were in turn donated to Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS, the industry's leader in aid for performers in need. Robert lives in Manhattan with his wife and two dogs, growing the business and getting little sleep. In addition, you can usually find him in a theatre many nights a week. Robert's very popular blog, 'The Broadway Pulse' appears daily on BroadwayWorld.com and he also writes weekly about theatre for the USA Network's Character Approved blog. In December of last year, Diamond was one of 5 Syracuse University Alumni, all having achieved success in the world of start-ups, business growth and venture capital, participating on a panel addressing young alumni who are currently pursuing their dreams of running their own business and experiencing the day to day challenges of a startup. It is part of the university's new Student Accelerator Program, for which Rob was recommended by Syracuse University's i-School.
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