Glee Covers Roundup 11/8/11: The First Time

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Nov 092011
 

Every Wednesday, our resident Gleek Eric Garneau gives his take on last night’s Glee covers.

In “The First Time,” McKinley High prepares to open their production of West Side Story, but stars Rachel (Lea Michele) and Blaine (Darren Criss) find themselves full of indecision after musical director Artie (Kevin McHale) suggests they need sexual experience to properly portray their roles.

West Side Story‘s over, and I’m not sure how much there’s left to say about McKinley High’s (really professional-looking) production of the classic musical. I’m really surprised this plot sustained itself over five episodes (with its songs making it into three of the last four), but it seems that for now we’ve seen the last of the West Side. Is that a good thing? Continue reading »

Glee Covers Roundup 10/4/11: Asian F

 Posted by at 10:30 am  5 Responses »
Oct 052011
 

Every Wednesday, our resident Gleek Eric Garneau gives his take on last night’s Glee covers.

In “Asian F,” auditions for West Side Story continue, with Mercedes (Amber Riley) and Rachel (Lea Michele) battling it out for the leading role of Maria. Meanwhile, Mike Chang (Harry Shum, Jr.) starts to falter academically, and Will (Matthew Morrison) tries to get Emma (Jayma Mays) to introduce him to her parents.

Week by week, Glee threatens to make me more culturally literate. Last week we got an education in West Side Story, while this week’s episode takes on something of a Dreamgirls theme — one of its songs comes from that classical musical-turned-film, while two others hail from the film’s stars. Unlike last week’s episode, however, we’ve got three more songs thrown into the mix as well: another from West Side Story, one from the musical Fame, and Coldplay‘s monster ballad “Fix You.” That gives us a bit more musical variety than we’ve seen so far this year, although songs from actual musicals still take up perhaps more than their share of space. Also, with all these songs from West Side Story already performed, do you think we’ll actually get to see the musical? There won’t be anything left to do! Continue reading »

Glee Covers Roundup 9/27/11: I Am Unicorn

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Sep 282011
 

Every Wednesday, our resident Gleek Eric Garneau gives his take on last night’s Glee covers.

In “I Am Unicorn,” McKinley High gears up for their production of West Side Story, with several of our principal characters battling for the leads. Meanwhile, Kurt makes a run for class president, and music coach Shelby Corcoran (guest star Idina Menzel) steps back into the lives of Rachel (her biological daughter) plus Quinn and Puck (the parents of her adopted child).

Last week in this column we talked about Glee’s apparent attempts to carry out season three with a purpose many claimed the show lacked last year. One of the through-lines established in “The Purple Piano Project” was the performance of the school musical, which we learned would be West Side Story. I assumed they’d save its whole production for a few episodes down the line (much like last year’s Rocky Horror), but it seems the show is really taking to heart the notion of letting plots build throughout a season. Here we get only part of the West Side story in the form of auditions, with several of our main characters (namely Rachel and Kurt, but also Kurt’s boyfriend Blaine) attempting to claim the leads. That’s a serious change of pace from last season, where Rocky Horror was announced, produced, performed and cancelled in the span of 45 minutes. Continue reading »

Glee Covers Roundup 4/26/11: Born This Way

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Apr 272011
 

Every Wednesday, our resident Gleek Eric Garneau gives his take on last night’s Glee covers.


In “Born This Way,” Coach Schuester tries to teach his glee club students to accept the things that make them self-conscious, and how better to impart that lesson than with Lady Gaga’s new single?

It seems every time Glee does Lady Gaga, Fox will promote the show as though she fills the whole episode when really we only get a song or two. Last season’s “Theatricality” brilliantly paired Gaga with KISS, arguing that the four-piece arena rock band was the male equivalent of pop music’s current mistress (Alice Cooper might actually provide a better analogy, but whatever). This episode was not as focused musically, offering Glee‘s usual genre-spanning mix and capping the episode with “Born This Way,” marking the first time Glee‘s ever featured a song before the album it’s on even comes out. Way to stay ahead of the curve, Glee. Continue reading »