Lucy Watches Glee

Due to an unfortunate combination of preoccupied friends and exhaustion I have spent the first half of the weekend locked in my dorm room catching up on season three of the Glee and hanging out with the theater kids who are rehearsing right outside my door. Could be worse I guess.

I am an unashamed fan of Glee. Of course I do have problems with the show (where are the interracial couples? and why is everyone in a relationship? could you get anymore cheesy?) but I cannot help but have soft spot for a show that puts quality musical theater onto TV.  I am so glad that they have decided to include more classic songs from Funny Girl, West Side Story, and the like along with all the other delightful Katy Perry remixes.

Like many a fan girl, Darren Criss is probably the main reason I decided to keep watching this season. As a huge nerd I have of course seen A Very Potter Musical and A Very Potter Sequel several times...in fact I have the soundtrack on my ipod. So glad to see someone so talented from the youtube community becoming "main stream famous." His voice makes me melt and his character's relationship with the ever adorable Kurt is definitely my favorite story line. 

Lea Michelle's character, however, makes me want to pull my hair out, until she starts singing that is. I guess this is the writer's intention but to be honest I can only take so much Rachel. There are so many other great talents to feature! For instance Harry Shum as Mike Chang. His starring episode, Asian F, is probably my favorite so far. Some will probably argue that it only promotes the stereotype of over bearing Asian parents and they would be right, but the heart of the story was in the right place...plus seeing him dance is always a pleasure. 

I have also been loving the West Side Story thread running through the season's first couple episodes. It is such an iconic show with perhaps some of the most beautiful music to ever be sung on Broadway and undoubtedly the best dancing. I would love to think that there is some lonely preteen out there who has perhaps never even seen a musical that is watching Glee and starting to think this might be a world they want to be a part of. Perhaps they will rent West Side Story from the local library, start watching youtube videos of rising stars, go to a local performance, inspire a program in their own school...it all starts with that little flicker of magic in someone's imagination.

This is why, as Glee is promoting without apology, the arts must stay in our schools! Setting Sue Sylvester, the Glee club's hilarious nemesis, as an enemy to arts education probably did more for the cause than a million irate facebook posts. Thanks Glee! You are flawed but doing your best...just like the rest of us! Now I am left wondering...what the hell are you doing on Fox!?

Next up: My review of Priscilla Queen of the Desert