Checking in with LEA MICHELE

Lea Michele may not get to sing quite as much with “e Mayor” as she did in “Glee,” but at least for now, that’s fine with her. The Broadway veteran (“Spring Awakening,” “Les Miserables”) who attained meteoric television fame as glee-club member Rachel Berry has come o a subsequent two-year run in “Scream Queens” to play the principal aide to a rapper turned surprise mayoral winner (Brandon Micheal Hall) in ABC’s new Tuesday comedy. “The Mayor” teams Michele with a fellow Broadway alum, since “Hamilton’s” Daveed Diggs is among its executive producers. “I don’t know what it is, why I’m drawn to very driven Type A characters,” Michele reects, “but I think that there is a similarity. Jeremy’s (‘e Mayor’ creator-producer Jeremy Bronson) writing is so incredible, and I think more than anything, it was the musical aspect of this show which attracted me. I’ve been a fan of Daveed’s for such a long time. She is driven, but she is a much more grounded character, which is also something that I was looking for in (my) next project.” While she understandably cites “Glee” as “one of the most incredible experiences of my entire life,” Michele – who released her second studio album, “Places,” earlier this year – appreciates how “The Mayor” incorporates music in a much different way. “Using music as just a larger character in the show to deliver these messages and the things that we want to say and that we want to make important, that’s what I love,” she says. “And having that as a part of this project is so inspiring for me. I really, truly believe in it. “I’ve said to Jeremy a couple of times that I get that same sensation with this group that I did with ‘Glee’ at the very beginning, where you just know you have something very, very, very special, but that really means something. And this cast, they’re so talented. ey don’t even know how talented they are, so I think we have something incredibly special on our hands.” Birthdate: Aug. 29, 1986 Birthplace: Bronx, N.Y. Current residence: Los Angeles Marital status: Single Other television work includes: “Glee,” “Scream Queens,” “Dimension 404,” “Sons of Anarchy,” “The Cleveland Show” (voice only), “Third Watch” Movie work includes: “New Year’s Eve,” “Glee: The 3D Concert Movie,” “Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return” (voice only) Broadway work includes: “Spring Awakening,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Ragtime,” “Les Miserables” On working at not so high a pitch in “The Mayor”: “Not playing a psycho killer, it” fun for right now, not having to wear a straitjacket. It’s really great. I just constantly want to keep doing things that I find challenging and exciting, and after coming off of ‘Scream Queens,’ I felt that this was a perfect role for me to play next.” Favorite movie: “‘Funny Girl.’ ” Favorite television series you’re not on: “‘Felicity.’ ” Favorite singer: “Barbra (Streisand) and Celine (Dion).”