So today my good friend and fellow Gleek Kristen sends me an uplifting link on a dreary Monday – the news that the cast of Glee is going on tour very briefly to hit four cities – with right here in Chicago being among the lucky places. Am I excited to see one of my new guilty pleasures live in and in the flesh? You bet.
The news is the latest coup in a string of validating successes for the musical-drama-comedy hybrid, and even if I wasn’t a fan of Glee I’d have to nod my head and give it props. The thing with Glee, as I’ve written before, is that it’s taken a lot of the formulaic stuff from various shows and turned it on its head, creating an original show that’s able to stand on its own. With accolades from the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild, anda dedicated, rabid fanbase, Glee is set to continue its successes in 2010. Heck, when you can get the attention of the First Lady to provide a performance, you know you’ve made it big.
There are a few musical acts out there that aren’t as good live as when they’re in the studio, but musical performances almost always come up aces “IRL”. The reason, among others, is the need to have strong performance presence in a theater production that doesn’t go through much, if any soundbooth editing and tweaking. Musical performers have to have the standout talent to entertain people live, and if you’ve watched or listened to anything Glee has to offer, you know the cast has the chops to get the job done. Aside from that, the mere fact that a show about geekery outcasts is good enough to get live performance requests is validation of the potential success geeks have in a world that sometimes shuns them.
Glee returns with the second half of their first recording run in April, and I’ll be looking forward to seeing how the story progresses after the success of the club after sectionals. Will they get too big for their britches? Will rival club Vocal Adrenaline become a menace to be feared? The longevity of the show will be challenged depending on how the writers and producers handle the aftermath of formulaic geek success and keep us Gleeks entertained. I’ve got confidence and optimism though (big surprise), and I can’t wait to get my fix back – both on the TV and live.