Tovah Feldshuh on Celebrating 50 Years on Broadway & Bringing Rosie Brice Home in Funny Girl

In 1973, Tovah Feldshuh made her Broadway debut in Cyrano. She went on to appear in eight more productions and earn Tony nominations for Yentl (1976), Saravá (1979), Lend Me a Tenor (1989) and Golda's Balcony (2004). Now in her tenth Broadway production, Feldshuh is back on stage as Mrs. Rosie Brice alongside Lea Michele as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl. In an interview that's been extended from a recent episode of The Broadway Show, Feldshuh spoke with Broadway.com Editor-in-Chief Paul Wontorek about why she was born to play this role, entering the third act of her life and more.

Feldshuh and Michele took their first bows in Funny Girl at the August Wilson Theatre i September. "I asked my director, 'Do you think that I'll get entry applause?'" Feldshuh said. "There was this atom bomb explosion when, of course, they welcomed Lea and welcomed me back to the stage that I have trod for 49 years. In May, it'll be 50 years."

"This means everything," she said. "It's one of the privileges of being a senior citizen. You take nothing for granted. Not to be morbid, but once you bury both your parents and you realize that time in this body may not be eternal, you appreciate every dawn. We live on Central Park West and we used to live on Riverside Drive where we saw every sunset. It ain't so bad to see every dawn when you're in the third act of your life."

For Feldshuh, taking over the role of Mrs. Rosie Brice required freedom in the rehearsal space to make the character her own. "Michael Mayer, our fabulous director, gave Lea and I the opportunity to recreate the roles, not to replace," she said. "It's very, very important. In terms of interior beats and interior life, we were given great freedom. It's a fabulous gift, an unexpected explosion of a bountiful gift for an artist to come to a show and feel so beloved by an audience that's been with me for five decades. As I say to my daughter in act two, 'A person wants to matter.' That's how we feel on that stage. As an artist, a mother and the first actress of the Jewish religion to play Rosie Brice in 60 years, I'm bringing it home. I was born to play this role."

Watch the extended interview below. Head here to check your local listings for The Broadway Show. Hosted by Emmy-winning anchor Tamsen Fadal, it is the only nationally syndicated weekly theater news program