'Glee'-ful

Thanks to the runaway popularity of a TV show, it's hip to be a Gleek.

Glee club and its more flamboyant sibling, show choir, have long been considered the bailiwick of theater nuts and nerds by the cool kids. But since "Glee" burst on the scene last fall, some local show choirs have seen a bump in auditions, at least one new metro-area choir has started up and more students are aware of the talents required to compete in this intense subculture of high-school dramatic arts.

"'Glee' has definitely opened up many eyes out there across the country to even knowing what show choir is," even though show choir has always been huge in its own world, said freelance choreographer Kevin Chase, who is hired by many show choirs in the region to spiff up their dance moves.

"Glee," which follows the fictional McKinley High School's show choir, New Directions, opens its season this week with two new cast members.

The show's popularity was "definitely the reason" Beth Hellstedt saw 100 Maple Grove High School students audition for her first show choir tryouts last year. Hellstedt, the school's music director, had wanted to start one for a few years.

Aaron Olson, director of the up-and-coming Waconia Power Company choir at Waconia High School, started 12 years ago with 24 kids and now has 130.

But he doesn't credit "Glee" with helping boost interest all that much.

Totino-Grace in Fridley, which has one of the nation's top-ranked choirs, hosts its competition -- which draws choirs from across the country -- in March. Waconia and Hastings show choirs will each host one during the latter half of the school year, mostly attracting other Midwestern groups.

Twenty years ago when it began, the Totino-Grace choir's working budget was $750, estimates director Terry Voss. It has grown to $50,000, with income from member fees ($600) and the annual competition (at least $20,000). The school's other choirs include an all-male group, the Testostertones, backed, naturally, by all-female band the Estro-Jams.

More dancing, fancier costumes

When asked to contrast "Glee" with real life, show choir folks sing in unison. Real show choirs have three to four times as many members, and much more elaborate choreography and costumes. They also have more backup musicians and crew members who help with props and split-second costume changes. (Bemidji's show choir, in particular, is known for its quick changes onstage, sometimes involving ripaway clothing.)

The number of costume changes on "Glee" is not realistic, either, Hellstedt said. "Show choirs will pick one or two outfits for the season, and a dress might cost $500. But two outfits only wouldn't translate well on TV."

"You go into Illinois and Indiana, it can get ugly between the schools," said Olson. "The directors and kids don't talk to each other, and talk a lot about each other. Our kids are friends with the Totino-Grace kids. We even went on a cruise last year with them."

Breaking gender stereotypes

But some aspects of "Glee" really resonate for Waconia senior AnnMarie Powers, who has been in show choir all four years of high school, plus two in middle school before that.

"It's has become a lot more popular now that [other students] have seen the show, which is fun, that they're learning more about it," she said. "Show choir and 'Glee' are different things, but the part where a lot of different kinds of people form a group, that's the same."

As on "Glee," where jocks are recruited from the football team and cheer squad, Powers is also in sports. She's the manager of the volleyball team and plays softball.

"I know many athletic guys who have no problem going from the locker room to the choir room," he said. "I have also heard some say that show choir practice can be more intense than football workouts."

'Glee' boosts arts ed

Ryan Murphy, the Hollywood writer/director who created "Glee," calls the show "a love letter" to arts education in the face of most high schools' severe cutbacks in that area.

"We get e-mails and letters all the time from kids who watch the show and don't have any arts program in their school," he said. "They go to a faculty adviser, who then begins a music program, and I think we have gotten word of over 150 of those, so we know that it's happening."

Because show choir is not an official state high school league activity, "it takes a director coming in and saying, 'This is something I love,' " said Hellstedt, who organized Maple Grove's show choir last year with no budget at all. "Eventually it turns into the marching band thing with parental involvement and a big booster club."

Show choir started in the Indiana/Illinois/Ohio area, Hellstedt said.

"Iowa and Wisconsin have a bunch, and in Minnesota we're more spread out. It's a very Midwest culture thing."

As why more large urban schools don't have show choirs, she said it's sometimes easier to get one started in a community where everyone in town is focused on the high school, and football games are the biggest event. "In the cities, we're pulled in a thousand different directions," she said. In smaller towns, "a thousand people will attend the show-choir preview concert."

Hellstedt sums up what every student, parent and director seems to like most about show choir:

"The great thing about 'Glee' is that it focuses on the group doing something together. It's a team effort, not just about one person being a star."