Lea Michele in Glee character.

Move over, Gossip Girl and 90210. TV’s latest teen drama has all the juicy intrigue of other high school series, but with the added element of music and dance. Cashing in on the popularity of American Idol and High School Musical, Glee hopes to do for high school show choirs (a combo of choral singing and dance) what the HSM franchise did for theatrical productions—in a less squeaky-clean Disney way. The show, debuting Sept. 9 on FOX, follows an optimistic teacher who has been charged with turning the school’s glee club—a haven for outcasts—into a winning ensemble.

The show needed some serious triple threats: actors who could sing and dance to play the misfits already in the glee club and the fresh blood recruited to restore its diminished glory—and take it to nationals. It took a lengthy nationwide search to find the right actors for the eight principal teen roles, but in the end Broadway veteran Lea Michele won the part of ambitious singer Rachel, and Dianna Agron was cast as Quinn, the cheerleader in danger of losing her quarterback boyfriend to Rachel. Glee may set the two up as rivals, but offscreen they get along just fine and have something major in common: their Jewish heritage.

The daughter of an Italian-Catholic mom and Spanish-Sephardic Jewish father, Lea was raised with both religions, though she didn’t attend Hebrew school or have a bat mitzvah. “I want to learn how to make latkes,” she says, also confiding that despite her success onstage, she was told she’d never make it in TV “because I looked too ethnic, too Jewish. So to have the opportunity to be in this is so amazing.”

Dianna, whose mother converted to Judaism before marrying her Jewish father, is quite connected to the spiritual and traditional aspects of her faith. “I went to Sunday school, Hebrew school and a Jewish [day school] through third grade. My brother and I loved everything about Hanukkah and Passover and all the food,” she remembers, noting that she loves entertaining family and friends with her mom’s recipes for traditional dishes like kugel. She has fond memories of her bat mitzvah and looks forward to celebrating other family milestones. “We’re so scattered, so bar mitzvahs and weddings are the times we come together,” she explains, adding that she also hopes to visit Israel.

Dancing since she started ballet lessons at 3 and singing since she was cast as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz in fifth grade, Dianna segued from musical theater to TV guest roles, including recurring spots on Heroes and Veronica Mars. Now 22, she’s grateful for the “slow and steady build” that prepared her for her dream job on Glee, even though she’s nothing like the holier-than-thou “mean girl with a twist” Quinn.

Native New Yorker Lea, also 22, grew up on Broadway. She made her debut at 8 as young Cosette in Les Misérables and went on to appear in Ragtime, Fiddler on the Roof and Spring Awakening. Last summer, she won the role of good-girl Rachel. “She’s definitely not the bitchy villain type,” says Lea, “but to say she’s the nice girl makes her sound more simple than she is. She’s not the cool kid but she’s very outgoing, very proud of who she is. She was raised by two gay men. She has a quirky edge to her.”

Learning numbers by contemporary artists like Rihanna and well-worn ones like Salt-N-Pepa has been fun for Lea, who also loves her Glee wardrobe. “You’ll see Rachel in a cardigan and skirt, but with a crazy bedazzled necklace.”

Dianna is excited about the chance to sing, dance, act and show her comedic side. “It’s not something that people have usually [auditioned] me for. It took time to finally do that. I loved Lucille Ball growing up and wanted nothing more than to be like her.”  

Both girls think Glee could be a major hit because it’s about people you can root for. “It’s about a group of underdogs,” says Lea.

Gerri Miller writes and reports from Los Angeles for Men’s Fitness, M, Scholastic and others. A big fan of movies, Scrabble and crosswords, she’s a New York native but has been enjoying California weather since 1993.