Star Tribune photo by Renee Jones Schneider
There are two ways of looking at the cast of Glee Live! — it's a boy band that happens to have some girls in it or it's a cast of vocalists who belong in choirs or stage musicals but not in a rock or pop context.
Lea Michele, "Glee's" top diva, has a big, showy voice but she belongs on Broadway, not in arenas like Target Center, where Glee Live! drew 13,000 on Wednesday. Amber Riley, who has done a few diva turns on TV, has a big gospel voice but so do many other church singers the masses have never heard. Chris Colfer showed a fascinatingly fluttery high tenor but his stage presence was more impressive than his vocalizing.
The person with the most pop-star potential Wednesday was Kevin McHale. (Minnesota's own Kevin McHale, the Timberwolves boss and coach, never had a Target Center performance like this.) Whether he was in Artie's wheelchair or dancing his dream in "Safety Dance," he commanded that stage. He connected with the crowd. His voice may not be that distinctive but his personality and presence were. Of the singers, he was easily the most agile dancer. If "Glee Live!" is a boy-band, he's its Justin Timberlake.
Much of the rest of the group — some of whom didn't get singled out in my review due to space limitations — are strictly chorus people. Adequate vocalists but not strong soloists, competent dancers. (There also was a troupe of dancers on a few production numbers.) The biggest weakness, though, was the unnamed director (not Mr. Schu). As mentioned in the review, the pacing — 24 songs crammed into 76 minutes — was ridiculously and unncessarily brisk. This is not a 60-minute TV show. Was there some kind of union restrictions? A need to send the tween Gleeks home before 10 p.m.?
Give the audience — and the singers — a chance to breathe and take in the moment. Things seemed so rushed that Riley didn't even get a chance to let Aretha's "Ain't No Way" build. The show could have been divided into two 45-minute sets — sans an opening act, with a prompt 7:30 start.
The repertoire — mostly radio hits and only one two-song show-tune mashup — pandered to the "Glee" demographic, which seemed to be heaviest on tween girls and their parents. The kids went gaga for "Friday," "Empire State of Mind" and "Firework." There's a fine line between Gleeks and geeks, and the set list could have offered more for Broadway geeks.
The production was done with style and pizazz (stage lit from below, fireworks, stage-fog gushers, BRITNEY in big lights) but not over the top. The merchandise — McKinley High football jerseys, T-shirts for each individual star as well as ones emblazoned with "Glee" slogans like "Likes Boys" — had the feel of Disney marketing.
