Lea Michele is an award-winning actress, singer, and New York Times best-selling author. She is best known for her role as Rachel Berry on Ryan Murphy’s critically acclaimed, Golden Globe– and SAG Award–winning series Glee. In 2010, Michele was honored with an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Television Actress–Comedy.

From September 2022 to September 2023, Michele took on her dream role of Fanny Brice in the Broadway revival of Funny Girl. The performance was met with rave reviews, broke multiple box-office records, and was capitalized for $16.5 million in August 2023. Due to the success, Michele and the Broadway company re-recorded a cast album, which topped Billboard’s Cast Albums Chart. Since taking on this role, Michele has been named as one of TIME’s 100’s Most Influential People of 2023 and performed at the publication’s annual gala. At both the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and the 2023 Tony Awards, Michele performed the iconic “Don’t Rain on My Parade.”

At just eight years old, Michele made her Broadway debut as Young Cosette in Les Misérables. Since then, she has shared the stage with Broadway greats Audra McDonald and Brian Stokes Mitchell in Ragtime, as well as Alfred Molina in the 20th anniversary production of Fiddler on the Roof. She also received raved reviews for her performance in the role of Wendla in the Tony-winning Broadway production of Spring Awakening, which earned her a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Musical.

While appearing on television and stage, Michele’s love for music has been a focus of her career. She has had the honor of singing for the President of the United States and also performed at the Super Bowl. She has released four albums and has also traveled the world on multiple concert tours.

In 2014, Michele added New York Times best-selling author to her resume when she released her first book, Brunette Ambition. Her second book, You First, was released the following year. Michele now boasts a major presence in the fashion, beauty, and wellness spaces with more than 10 million social media followers and fans.

Steven Jamail’s original music, orchestrations, and arrangements have been performed on Broadway, as well as at the White House, The Public Theater, Theatre Under the Stars, Alliance Theatre, Arena Stage, and Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series. His television work includes original music and lyrics for Rachael Ray, as well as arrangements and lyrics for Howard Stern, The Martha Stewart Show, The Apprentice, The Rosie Show, and NBC’s Christmas in Rockefeller Center, which he also conducted. He has soloed onstage with jazz legend Chick Corea, performed live on Rosie Radio (Sirius/XM), and conducted Broadway tribute concerts for Chita Rivera, Cyndi Lauper, Queen Latifah, Ben Stiller, and Sir Ian McKellen. Jamail was commissioned to write an original number for the Career Transitions for Dancers’ gala in honor of Angela Lansbury with Kirsten Guenther at New York’s City Center. This past year, he was commissioned by Bloomberg to write the opening music for the 9/11 Memorial & Museum benefit. His original lyrics and arrangement of “Fever” were heard on the finale of The Oprah Winfrey Show at Chicago’s United Center. He has served as a pianist, music director, and/or arranger for Rosie O’Donnell; BeBe Winans; Olympic medalists Jeremy Abbott, Adam Rippon, and Kaitlyn Weaver; Tony-nominated and Olivier Award–winning Orfeh and Andy Karl; Broadway veterans Katie Rose Clarke, Teal Wicks, Rachelle Rak, and Stephanie Gibson; West End star Danielle Hope; and, most recently, Lea Michele on her Life in Music tour.

Jamail is the associate artistic director of Rosie’s Theater Kids in Manhattan and a proud graduate of The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. He would like to thank Lea, Nikole, and Jared for this opportunity; Chantal, Lori, and Orfeh for opening the doors; and Coleman for being his rock.

Jamail dedicates tonight’s performance to his parents, Steve and Barbara, for making all things possible.