Posts tagged artie abrams

“The First Time” may have been the most anticipated and supposedly controversial episode of Glee yet. Knowing the topic of the episode, but no major details, left me worrying about how they would handle the supposed sex scenes. However, I had absolutely no reason to worry. The scene was handled very, very delicately and was really sweet. There was no need for any controversial backlash, people, myself included, were worried over nothing.

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“Asian F” was getting a lot of buzz as one of the best episodes of Glee. I try not to read spoilers for the show because RIB seem to change their minds on the plot all the time. I found it’s easier to ignore all spoilers and interviews about future episodes, because I don’t want my feelings toward what is happening or might happen in an episode to effect my thoughts beforehand. Similarly, I try not to listen to the songs prior to them airing on the series, because I don’t want any one to be more favored than another.

That being said, despite trying to be impartial going into this episode, all the buzz I was seeing on my Tumblr dash was getting me a little excited for what could happen in “Asian F.”

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“I Am Unicorn” was a beautiful episode of Glee. Honestly, there are times when I don’t understand how this show is a comedy and not a drama. I wish things could be nominated as both. The episode offered many heartwarming and breaking moments.

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When I went to see Glee: The 3D Concert Movie, I expected a play by play of the concert I had already seen. However, this concert movie isn’t just about the music or the show’s cast. Its about the show’s fans and people whose lives have been touched because of the series and its characters.

While there are many little things through out the film, that I could critique. I feel its unnecessary. The movie is quality for what it is. Fans of the series will love it regardless, and people who aren’t fans of the series and are just looking to bring it down, are missing the whole message the movie is trying to get across. What the movie accomplishes is mixing upbeat, uplifting performances with moving testimonies from a few of the series fans who’s lives have been forever changed for the better.

Simply put, the Glee 3D Concert Movie is beautiful, heartwarming, inspiring, and hopeful. Its the best and most moving concert movie I’ve seen. Peoples lives have been changed and touched by the characters on Glee. The show, its characters and cast make a difference to so many people, its amazing how one show can change peoples perspective for the better. One life changed can change the world. The Glee 3D movie is a must see for anyone who even remotely likes Glee, and hopefully the film will even make some new fans.

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I attended the Glee tour at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey on June 16 and 17. I was also able to attend the movie filming and rehearsals during those days as well. To read more about my experience you can read about it at Colfer/Groff, another tumbleblog of mine. [Read More] This post will mostly be regarding reviewing the concert with very little mention of filming.

Set Lists for June 16 & 17 at the end.

For those of you who have been following Glee and the Tour, you may have heard that they are filming a 3D Concert movie due out August 12, 2011. The movie was being filmed at the two New Jersey shows as well as during the morning and afternoon of those days. Thanks to filming, there were slight differences between the shows at Izod and the rest of the days on the tour.

Firstly, Gwenyth Paltrow attended filming on Thursday afternoon and recorded Forget You with the cast. She also made special appearances both Thursday and Friday nights at the show to perform with the cast. The second special guest came in the form of Jane Lynch. As those of you who have watched tour videos or attended the tour are aware, Jane Lynch and Matthew Morrison recorded video clips that play throughout the concert. However those people who attended the Thursday night show were treated to another surprise… Jane Lynch herself was there to introduce the concert at the beginning and then again to introduce the Warblers during their portion of the show. Both Gwenyth and Jane were great surprises and much welcomed additions to the concert by the fans. Despite already having two guest stars, I and many other fans were disappointed that there was no special appearance by Jonathan Groff (Glee’s Jesse St. James). Earlier Friday night, Lea Michele tweeted that the show would be special, and many fans assumed “special” meant Jon; however, he was not there. Her boyfriend Theo was in attendance, so I would assume he is who she meant. While I was thoroughly disappointed, I understand how having her boyfriend there would be a special night for her.

The tour started around 8pm both nights, featuring The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers (LXD), as the opening act. The dance crew features some amazing talented artists including my favorite So You Think You Can Dance alumni Twitch, as well as SYTYCD alumni Will and Legacy and Glee’s Harry Shum Jr (Mike Chang). Their routine was about 20 minutes, and was completely fantastic. Whether you liked the dancers or not, I feel this was a great choice for an opening act. My only complaint is I wish they had a longer set time, or that the cast of Glee came on earlier. There was about 30-40 minutes between LXD and Glee.

Overall, I was very happy with the song choices, although there were a few I wish they would have covered including For Good, Blackbird, Bills Bills Bills, Pure Imagination, Somewhere Only We Know, and Take Me or Leave Me. (and any song with Jonathan Groff).

The Glee Cast set is relatively short, but is very fast paced. There is no down time between numbers which keeps the show moving. With the number of songs they perform I’m sure their set is typical of a normal show, but due to the fast paced and no banter between songs, it felt very quick.

All the numbers were amazing. You can tell that some of the cast sings live and others use a backing track, but for numbers like Slave 4 U, It would be hard for Heather Morris to sing and keep up with the strenuous dancing.

My favorite performance, was actually during filming Friday afternoon. When Chris Colfer sang I Want To Hold Your Hand, it took my breath away. It was the best I have ever heard him sing that song. It was so pure, honest and full of emotion. This is not to say that his performances during either Thursday or Friday’s show wasn’t amazing, because they still were, but vocally, his performance in the afternoon filming was flawless. I really hope this is the version the use for the movie, so that everyone can hear what we experienced.

Single Ladies is also another favorite of mine. Seriously, who doesn’t enjoy watching Chris Colfer dance like that? I was very disappointed when they cut that number in order to refilm two of the other songs.

Overall, Thursday nights show was perfect. Everything ran smoothly and vocally all the live numbers and vocals were phenomenal. With the added bonus of Jane Lynch and Gwenyth Paltrow, Thursday Nights concert was the better of the two in my opinion.

Friday’s show was great but it did lack Jane Lynch. They cut Single Ladies. Darren Criss fumbled the lyrics to Teenage Dream during the second run through. There was no Jonathan Groff. And they cut Single Ladies.

My only major complaint about the two shows was them filming the movie. Due to this, there were numerous additional cameras throughout the venue, many of them quite large. These cameras blocked portions of the viewing area, especially in the closer seats. On Friday I had row 4 seats in the side section closest to the stage which would have been the best seats if it wasn’t for this huge camera which blocked almost half the stage. While I am thrilled that I was able to attend filming during the days, and know that the shows I attended are the ones that will be in the film, I wish I had realized how much the cameras would hinder my view because I would have sacrificed the closer seats for ones farther back where I could actually see the whole stage.

Overall, the tour was everything I expected and more. I loved every minute of both days, and wouldn’t trade them for anything. I am so grateful that I was able to attend and am thoroughly looking forward to next years tour, which due to it being the last for the original cast will be so bittersweet.

Lastly, I understand why they don’t come out to sign after the shows, but I really wish they did. I waited with many other fans after both shows, with no luck. There weren’t that many people that it would have been unmanageable, but I’m sure after filming all day and the show at night they were exhausted. One day I hope to meet them. They all seem like amazing people. Ryan Murphy did come out to greet some fans Friday night, which I thought was nice. I didn’t get to talk to him but I would have rather talked to him about Nip/Tuck than Glee, so I decided not to approach him because I was afraid Glee fangirls would attack me for wanting to talk about things other than Glee.

Set List for June 16

• Jane Lynch Introduction
• Don’t Stop Believing
• Dog Days are Over
• Sing
• Slave 4 U
• Fat Bottomed Girls
• I Want to Hold Your Hand
• Ain’t No Way
• Pretty Young Thing
• Born This Way
• Firework
• Teenage Dream
• Silly Love Songs
• Raise Your Glass
• Happy Days/Get Happy
• Lucky
• River Deep, Mountain High
• Forget You with Gwenyth Paltrow
• Klaine Skit
• Don’t Rain on My Parade
• Jessie’s Girl
• Valerie
• Loser Like Me

Encore

• Single Ladies Dance
• Safety Dance
• Empire State of Mind
• Somebody to Love

Changes for Friday June 17

• No Single Ladies Dance :(
• Darren Criss Introduction
• Teenage Dream (twice, due to filming)
• Happy Days/Get Happy (twice, due to filming)