First Glimpse Of Idina Menzel On GLEE S4

Broadway superstar and beloved Glee alum Idina Menzel makes her long-awaited return to the hit FOX musical dramedy series next week and the first glimpse of Shelby Corcoran 4.0 - aka Rachel Berry (Lea Michele)'s mother - has now been released.

In next week's episode, "Sweet Dreams", of particular interest to Broadway babies will be the fact that Rachel takes on another classic theatrical role - one she was born to play - as the leading lady of FUNNY GIRL, Fanny Brice.

"Hello, gorgeous?" How about, "Hello, Idina!"

Incidentally, Menzel sang "Funny Girl" in one of her previous appearances on the show, in addition to contributing the stirring duets with Michele on Lady Gaga's "Poker Face", WEST SIDE STORY's "Somewhere" and the LES MISERABLES gem "I Dreamed A Dream", among others.

So, what will the mother and daughter duo sing this go round, you ask? Tune in Thursday to see!

Menzel has already Tweeted about her enthusiasm - exclaiming excitedly on March 24, "I still have this song in my head! @msleamichele" here - over a new track recorded with Michele, so we can rest assured that we have yet another GLEE treasure to anticipate soon that will be appearing somewhere in the final five episodes of Season Four.

When? Well, that's anybody's guess at this point!

"Hallelujah, we're saved!" says Brittany in the trailer - well, with Broadway royalty like Ms. Menzel back on GLEE, that's a big step in the right direction, for sure!

GLEE airs Thursdays at 9 PM on FOX.

Check out the new teaser for next week's Glee below.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride