I am a Gleek. So, of course, I saw "Glee, The Concert Movie" (on 3D) the first day it came out, and I loved it. I was bewitched by Lea Michele and her Broadway-trained talent. Seeing her do "Don't Rain On My Parade" is life-affirming, although really, it just apes Streisand. And even when she sings a newer song like Katy Perry's "Firework" she is mesmerizing. And break-out star Darren Criss has the chops and the star quality that you don't need 3D for him to pop off your screen. He croons "Silly Love Songs" leading-man style to make it a crowd-rouser. Amber Riley has the powerhouse soul for Aretha's "Ain't No Way" although the song may be too small for the concert. I especially liked that this concert was filmed in my old backyard - the IZOD Center (I'll always know it as the Brendan Byrne Arena) so when they sang "Empire State Of Mind" there was a hometown energy to the song. It's funny how Corey Monteith (his face is huge but still handsome on 3D) isn't really served by this project - his vocal limitations are highlighted, and he seems ill at ease most times when on stage. And Heather Morris, while fantastic on her Britney number, does not even wince about lip-synching. (Most Gleeks don't care, anyway) I get kind of confused if these are the television characters performing or the actors themselves - on the back stage interviews, Lea Michele is Rachel Berry in character, while Darren Cris doesn't seem to be Blaine. Interspersed with the concert footage are heartwarming stories about real-life Gleeks, and while they are quite touching, they are pretty much on the "preaching to the choir" mode. Still, I can only applaud vehicles that bring Streisand/Garland duets to the tweens of today, and have them greet it with screams and cheers. And these messages of tolerance and equality, if we feed them to the young, will give me hope for a next generation that may be wiser than mine.
i enjoyed the movie a lot. were they really lip-synching?!? what is the point of it being a live concert then? grrr. i loved the stories about the three gleeks. i was all verklempt when janae was picked for prom queen. i also felt awful for the one guy and his notebook being passed around. kids are so cruel to one another. "glee" is like "rocky horror" for me in some ways...it brings people together from all walks of life. i didn't fit in when i was growing up, but when i went to "rocky horror" towards the end of h.s., none of that mattered. i felt attractive and people found me interesting. it was nice. it gave me a lot of confidence to approach college with a new lease on life.
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