Ryan Murphy Says FUNNY GIRL, Starring Lea Michele, Is on the Back-Burner

Since Ryan Murphy nabbed the stage rights to FUNNY GIRL last year, there has been virtual radio silence on whether the show -- ideally a star vehicle for Lea Michele -- will ever appear on Broadway. During a panel at EW Fest over the weekend, Murphy finally commented on the project.

Despite Lea Michele revealing last spring the pair had held "exciting first meetings with a really fabulous director", Murphy said Saturday, "We had talked about it for sure. But then I feel like we so many of those songs and so did many of those scenes [on GLEE] that in a weird way, I feel like we did it in some way." He continued, "I don't know, never say never. We've talked about a lot of different things. Maybe. It's not on my docket right now."

Earlier in the interview, Murphy talked about his "jaw-dropping experience" having dinner with original FUNNY GIRL star Barbra Streisand and a select group of celebrities, including AMERICAN HORROR STORY: HOTEL actress and pop star Lady Gaga.

FUNNY GIRL was the first movie he saw at 4 years old with his mother, and he recalled, "I looked up at the screen and I thought to myself, 'That's me.'" Murphy added, "Meaning that I knew I was different, and she was different, and yet she was being celebrated. And thinking, 'I want to be myself and be loved,' and that's what Barbra was and what she did."

So, Murphy's connection to and passion for the musical is still there. Let's hope FUNNY GIRL climbs back onto his "docket" soon. For now, he's focused on producing Roundabout's LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT, starring AHS alumna Jessica Lange.

Across the pond, FUNNY GIRL, starring Sheridan Smith, returns to the London stage in a sold-out run at Menier Chocolate Factory next month, before a likely transfer to the West End and possibly Broadway.

With music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Bob Merrill and book by Isobel Lennart, FUNNY GIRL follows Fanny Brice, who rose from the Lower East Side of New York to become one of Broadway's biggest stars under producer Florenz Ziegfield. While she was cheered onstage as a great comedienne, offstage she faced a doomed relationship with the man she loved. The score features now-classic songs such as "People", "You Are Woman, I Am Man" and "Don't Rain on My Parade."