'Glee Live!' and Kicking
It was New Directions, those shiny, happy kids from William McKinley High School in Lima, Ohio. In other words, a musical revue from the cast of TV’s buoyant musical comedy, Glee.
The only group to have charted more singles than Elvis Presley lit up the Wells Fargo Center Wednesday night.
It was New Directions, those shiny, happy kids from William McKinley High School in Lima, Ohio. In other words, a musical revue from the cast of TV's buoyant musical comedy, Glee.
In between a rousing opener (Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'") and closer (Queen's "Somebody to Love"), the ensemble sprinted through a healthy sampling of its trademark blend of pop sprinkled with show tunes.
The performance moved at such a fast clip that even the encore lasted five songs. And they did it all in character. Kevin McHale spent the night in Artie's wheelchair, and Heather Morris, as Brittany, got a ditzy soliloquy.
There were moments of vocal prowess -- Mercedes (Amber Riley) slaying Aretha's "Ain't No Way" with the backing of a youth ministry choir.
There were moments of pure movement -- a leotarded Kurt (Chris Colfer) doing his best Beyonce on "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)".
And there were also some cheesy High School Musical-worthy moments -- Sam (Chord Overstreet) and Quinn (Dianna Agron) dueting on "Lucky".
Then about ten songs in, there was a three-song showcase for Blaine (Darren Criss) and the Warblers. If they didn't steal the show, they sure hijacked it for awhile, especially on Pink's "Raise Your Glass".
There were smoke, pyrotechnics and fireworks. (A little too much gun powder nearly blew up Finn on his cover of "Jessie's Girl").
The predominantly young female crowd at the Wells Fargo lapped it up like a big cherry Slurpee.
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