with the pilot
:)
I was excited for Glee ever since I first started seeing the commercials with glorious bits of "Don't Stop Believin" teasing us. Musical theater dork that I am, I was pumped to see Lea Michele and Matthew Morrison on a television program... added bonus that the show was going to be about a glee club.
So, after that Idol episode, I tuned in to Glee, and I was hooked.
The pilot introduced us to the misfits of McKinley High School in Lima, OH. As someone who has lived most of her life in the Buckeye State, I take pride that a bunch of shows use Ohio as a location for comedic effect.
I am impressed about the amount of talent creator Ryan Murphy was able to amass for the cast.
The glee club is lead by broadway veteran Lea Michele (who most recently appeared in the Tony Award winning musical "Spring Awakening" - a-maz-ing as Wendla!). Lea Michele plays Rachel Berry, a talented young ingenue whose talent is wider than her smile, but whose social skills regarding her peers are borderline nonexistent. Berry has her eyes on the prize... being the best singer/entertainer/glee member. Her talent is bigger than Lima, OH... that's for sure.
Another Broadway actor is glee instructor/Spanish teacher Mr. Shuester... played by poor man's Orlando Bloom, Matthew Morrison. He's adorable, has a great voice (and dance skills), and great chemistry with Jayma Mays... aka Emma, the doe-eyed guidance counselor. Scenes between the two of them are charming and heartfelt.
A touch of brilliance was casting Jane Lynch (one of my comic icons) as Sue Sylvester, the cheerleader coach. Though she doesn't sing on the show (or at least, she hasn't yet), the way she delivers her smartly written lines of dialogue is sheer genius.
All of the glee club participants are amazing. Though the number of members ultimately increases over the next few episodes, the main core of kids are Rachel, Kurt, Artie, Tina and Mercedes... and I love them all.
Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer) is in a word, fabulous. He's got the look down, the confidence ("Mr. Cellophane"? I think not!), knows when to play up the funny parts, but can also break your glee-loving heart (see episode 4, "Preggers", for the full range of Kurt).
Artie Abrams (Kevin McHale) is the wheelchair-bound, bespectacled, guitar playing member of glee. He has some great one-liners, but we don't really get to see him shine until episode 6, "Vitamin D".
Tina Cohen-Chang (Jenna Ushkowitz) made me smile ever since her audition of "I Kissed a Girl" (complete with hand gestures... hahaha). She's fierce, she stutters, and unfortunately, we haven't seen (or heard) much from her. Fingers crossed she gets a solid solo sometime soon :)
And then there is Mercedes Jones (Amber Riley - a vocal powerhouse). She's a diva in the best sense of the word... as in she's got Whitney pipes and she knows how to use them. She's a fashionista and looks to be Kurt's BFF.
But my favorite glee member is late-comer Finn Hudson (the always adorable Cory Monteith). In the pilot episode, he was not an original glee member, but ended up in the club after a small incident involving some weed. There's nothing better than a tall, physically awkward guy rocking out to REO Speedwagon while in the locker room.
The Pilot episode gave us a solid overview of what we should expect from the show... a talented/funny cast with great comedic (and at times, bittersweetly serious) skills, amazing dialogue and ridiculously catchy music numbers.
In this first episode we were treated to a variety of small music numbers with a grande finale of "Don't Stop Believin"... The music was so powerful with all of the harmonies and an overall feeling of happiness and determination - I had goosebumps and a grin that was just about plastered on my face. I can't believe we had to wait until September for new episodes!
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