Jane Lynch, a veteran of many a Chicago stage, is poised to make her Broadway debut.
In the current revival of "Annie," she'll replace Katie Finnernan as Miss Hannigan, the orphanage matron with a malevolent streak reminiscent of her "Glee" character, conniving cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester.
"I'm so thrilled I can't see straight," the actress told the AP. "It's a preposterous fantasy come true."
Lynch will sit in for at least eight weeks, from May 16 through July 14, after Finneran leaves to film a new NBC comedy series with Michael J. Fox.
She said she knows "every breath of this musical," having grown up listening to the cast album with her mother. She recalls seeing the film in the mid-1980s and adoring Carol Burnett, who played Miss Hannigan.
Lynch grew up in Dolton and cut her teeth touring with Second City, playing Carol Brady in the Annoyance Theatre's "Real Live Brady Bunch" and appearing at Steppenwolf.