Glee Live! In Concert!

Glee Live! In Concert!
world tour by Glee Cast

Promotional poster for tour
Associated album Glee: The Music, Volume 1
Glee: The Music, Volume 2
Glee: The Music, The Power of Madonna
Glee: The Music, Volume 3 Showstoppers
Glee: The Music, Journey to Regionals
Glee: The Music, Volume 4
Glee: The Music, Volume 5
Glee: The Music Presents the Warblers
Glee: The Music, Volume 6
Start date May 10, 2010 (2010-05-10)
End date July 3, 2011 (2011-07-03)
Legs 3
Number of shows 31 in North America
13 in Europe
44 total
Website www.gleetour.com

Glee Live! In Concert! is a concert tour performed in character by members of the cast of the popular television series, Glee. The tour, created by series creator Ryan Murphy was designed due to the overwhelming response to the series. The show reached North America, the United Kingdom and Ireland. Murphy states the series' soundtrack and concerts were an additional revenue stream for the series.[1] The tour received great responses from both music critics and fans of the series. The first North American leg of the tour in 2010 was seen by over 70,000 spectators, generating over five million dollars in ticket sales and ranking ninth on the Billboard Hot Tours list.[2] The 2011 tour was seen by an audience of over 485,000 and placed sixteenth on Billboard's annual Top 25 Tours list, earning over $40 million from 40 shows.[3]

Background

McHale during "Don't Stop Believin'" in June 2011.
“ The response of the fans to our little show has been so immediate and so gratifying, we wanted to get out and thank them live and in person,” commented Murphy. “And what show lends itself more to a concert than ‘Glee?’ We can’t wait to take this show on the road and the actors couldn’t be more excited to perform live for audiences in these four cities. ”
— Ryan Murphy, Glee Live! press release

Initially, the cast of the series performed a small promotional tour ("The Gleek Tour") at various Hot Topic stores in the U.S. to showcase the series' soundtrack and to meet with fans of the show.[4] This was followed with a performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Citizens Bank Park for the 2009 World Series. A concert tour was hinted by several cast members via Twitter at the beginning of 2010.[5] The success of the promotional outing lead to the creation of the concert tour.[6] The tour was officially announced via Fox on March 1, 2010 at the conclusion of the first season.[7] Lea Michele (Rachel Berry) expressed her excitement for the tour stating, "This has been such an extraordinary year for 'Glee' and I can’t think of a better way to finish up the first season than performing live on stage with the cast". Her comments were later shared by Cory Monteith (Finn Hudson) stating, "This show has changed my life in so many ways. If you had told me a year ago that I’d be performing classic rock songs in concert theaters around the country, I would never have believed you. We are psyched!". The tour performed over a dozen sell-out shows in the United States.

Special appearances were made by Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester) and Matthew Morrison (Will Schuester) for a performance at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York.[8][9] Jonathan Groff (Jesse St. James) performed along with Michele at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, California and at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York.[10]

As the series entered its second season, Fox announced an additional tour leg in Europe. Murphy responds that the show in the U.S. saw an amazing response and the tour extension was to thank the fans overseas for their dedication to the series and promised an additional U.S. tour in the summer of 2011.[11] Amber Riley (Mercedes Jones) shared the cast's enthusiasm for the tour extension remarking, "I loved performing for the fans in Los Angeles, Chicago, Phoenix and New York last year and didn’t think there was any way to top that experience. But performing in the great arenas of London, Manchester and Dublin? How cool is that? We cannot wait." Joining the tour extension are new cast members Chord Overstreet (Sam Evans), Ashley Fink (Lauren Zizes) and Darren Criss (Blaine Anderson).

Concert synopsis

Criss on the tour.
Ushkowitz on the tour.
Overstreet and Agron performing "Lucky" on the tour.
Monteith on the tour.
Salling on the tour.
Riley on the tour.

2010

Michele performing "Somebody to Love" on the tour.

The concerts began with a pre-recorded greeting from Jane Lynch as cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester, insulting both audience members and the forthcoming performances.[8][12] Cast members all performed in character, including able-bodied actor Kevin McHale appearing in a wheelchair as disabled glee club member Artie Abrams.[8] As in the show, for the performance of "Jump" the stage was filled with mattresses and the cast wore matching pajamas, while an Escalade was used as a prop for the performance of "Bust Your Windows". Cory Monteith, performing as drum-playing football quarterback Finn Hudson, played the drums as backing for "Sweet Caroline", and several cast members wore Lady Gaga costumes for the performance of "Bad Romance".[8] Dancers appeared as rival glee club Vocal Adrenaline, for a masked dance routine of "Rehab" and "Mercy", with no singing involved.[12] The main setlist concluded with a performance of "Like a Prayer", including backing singers dressed in choir robes, while the encore consisted of "True Colors" and "Somebody to Love".[8]

2011

After a 20-minute support set from The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers and the handing out of "Sue's Barf Bags", the main show opened with a pre-recorded video from Sue and Mr. Schuester that introduced the New Directions. The cast members were all in character, and again began their setlist with a performance of "Don't Stop Believin'" with the whole cast on stage. Tina and Mercedes then took the lead vocals in a performance of "Dog Days Are Over", and Rachel and Finn took the leads in "Sing", with the full cast remaining on stage for both songs. There were then smaller group/solo performances, including "Fat Bottomed Girls" by Puck which began with the first venture onto the second stage at the back of the arena with Finn accompanying on the drum-kit, and a raunchy performance of "I'm a Slave 4 U" from Brittany, which was preceded by a conversation between the character and Mr. Schuester, with the latter performing via a pre-recorded video. The nature of this pre-set conversation meant that some of the dialogue was lost as it was drowned out by crowd reactions, as Mr. Schuester could not ride the laughs. The whole cast then came back together to perform "Born This Way", including all their original episode T-shirts (a number of which were also made for sale at the merchandising stalls). Rachel then performed "Firework", before a video interlude from Sue introduced the Warblers, who began a three-song set with "Teenage Dream" on the second stage. The setting of the New Directions' choir practice room was then projected onto the stage and the show took on the typical feel of an episode with various characters performing as their accomplishes sat/stood around and watched. Brittany then appeared on-stage to begin a skit with Blaine and later Kurt, which led into a performance of "Jessie's Girl" by Finn. The last number of the main set was a whole-cast performance of original song "Loser Like Me".[13]

The Glee Cast perform the "Single Ladies" dance as part of the Glee Live tour on June 18, 2011

After a short interval, Kurt appeared unannounced with Brittany, Tina and a number of other dancers on the second stage and performed a short version of their dance to Beyoncé's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" as seen in the first season, although the original vocals were kept. Artie then performed "The Safety Dance" as seen in a dream sequence which saw him removing himself from his wheelchair. The whole cast then returned to the main stage for the last two numbers of the night, "Empire State of Mind" and, as was the case in the 2010 tour, "Somebody to Love".[13]

Critical reception

Ed Masley for USA Today described the opening concert as "equal parts musical theater, giddy pop culture phenomenon and Journey-loving rock show". He felt that Riley was the strongest performer, praising her renditions of "Bust Your Windows" and "Beautiful", and preferred the more "wholesome" songs, opining that: "The raps and overt sexuality on Salt-N-Pepa's "Push It" felt a little forced and out of character, especially sandwiched between "My Life Would Suck Without You" and "Don't Rain on My Parade"."[8] Amanda Kwan of The Associated Press was critical of the tour, deeming the debut concert "an evening that only a fan would appreciate" and "a glorified high school talent show". Kwan felt that the setlist was "disjointed", and noted that the cast slipped confusingly in and out of character throughout the concert.[12] Martin Cizmar of the Phoenix New Times deemed the concert over-sanitized, criticizing the decision to change the "Bad Romance" lyric "I'm a free bitch, baby" to "I'm a freak, baby."[14]

Mikael Wood for the Los Angeles Times enjoyed the first Gibson Amphitheatre concert, writing that it "had the triumphant, sometimes self-satisfied feel of a victory lap."[15] MTV's Aimee Curran also gave the concert a positive review, writing: "The cast was able to make every song their own while still managing to maintain the original artist's integrity."[16] Hahn Nguyen of Zap2it wrote: "seeing it live is well worth the money and effort. Not only is there an elevated, infectious energy you don't get from just watching the show at home, but the feeling of togetherness can't be matched." and "One can truly hear the quality of the live vocals, which in the case of Lea Michele is the real deal. She sounds even better than on the show...Her "Don't Rain on My Parade" live is an amazing and thrilling treat."[17] Variety's Andrew Barker gave a less favorable review, writing: "while its distinctive blend of high camp and recognizable tunes may click on the small screen, when translated to stage the conceit becomes little more than a frantic, under-imagined jukeboxer, and only occasionally a well-performed one. Four-city tour will likely rake in the cash and merit a reprise, but whether it deserves it is a different matter." Though he did, again, note Riley's "solid" performances and calling Lea Michele "the most obvious pro" claiming her songs were performed "with power and presence". "Wisely, the producers never left either woman offstage for long.""[18]

Opening act

The opening act for the US leg of tour was the Legion of Extraordinary Dancers (LXD), the dance project of cast member Harry Shum, Jr.. He described it as being like "worlds colliding", explaining to the New York Post that in the run-up to the tour, he was rehearsing with the cast, then practicing with LXD until midnight, working closely with the group's choreographer Christopher Scott. He commented: "I think [Glee and LXD] go hand-in-hand in terms of creating art. That's what's so great about them choosing LXD. They could have had an opening band but I think it's going to be a much different show having elements of LXD in it."[19]

Setlist

Shows

List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, opening act, tickets sold, amount of available tickets and gross revenue
Date City Country Venue Opening act Attendance Revenue
Leg 1 —North America[32]
May 15, 2010 Phoenix United States Dodge Theatre N/A 9,539 / 9,539 $595,938
May 16, 2010
May 20, 2010 Los Angeles Gibson Amphitheatre 23,720 / 23,720 $1,649,743
May 21, 2010
May 22, 2010
May 25, 2010 Rosemont Rosemont Theatre 8,895 / 8,895 $624,453
May 26, 2010
May 28, 2010 New York City Radio City Music Hall 29,739 / 29,739 $2,161,304
May 29, 2010
May 30, 2010
Leg 2 — North America[33][34]
May 21, 2011 Las Vegas United States Mandalay Bay Events Center The LXD 8,210 / 8,210 $879,880
May 23, 2011 Sacramento Power Balance Pavilion 10,224 / 10,224 $783,520
May 24, 2011 San Jose HP Pavilion at San Jose 23,086 / 23,086 $1,858,140
May 25, 2011
May 27, 2011 Anaheim Honda Center 11,643 / 11,643 $801,591
May 28, 2011 Los Angeles Staples Center N/A 25,420 / 26,725 $1,721,168
May 29, 2011 San Diego Valley View Casino Center The LXD 9,449 / 9,449 $737,801
June 1, 2011 Minneapolis Target Center 12,209 / 12,209 $988,346
June 2, 2011 Indianapolis Conseco Fieldhouse 11,449 / 11,449 $882,744
June 3, 2011 Rosemont Allstate Arena 33,204 / 33,204 $2,708,378
June 4, 2011
June 6, 2011 Uncasville Mohegan Sun Arena 4,461 / 4,461 $555,475
June 7, 2011 Boston TD Garden 12,735 / 12,735 $1,075,343
June 8, 2011 Philadelphia Wells Fargo Center 14,649 / 14,649 $1,274,073
June 9, 2011 Washington D.C. Verizon Center 13,462 / 13,462 $1,182,755
June 11, 2011 Toronto Canada Air Canada Centre 54,462 / 54,462 $4,452,129
June 12, 2011
June 13, 2011 Auburn Hills United States The Palace of Auburn Hills N/A 13,801 / 13,801 $1,052,618
June 14, 2011 Cleveland Quicken Loans Arena The LXD 12,779 / 12,779 $1,029,611
June 16, 2011 East Rutherford Izod Center 28,694 / 28,694 $2,401,433
June 17, 2011
June 18, 2011 Uniondale Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum 24,669 / 24,669 $2,043,832
Leg 3 —Europe[33]
June 22, 2011 Manchester England Manchester Evening News Arena The LXD 28,895 / 28,895 $2,363,373
June 23, 2011
June 25, 2011 London The O2 Arena 103,513 / 103,513 $8,488,444
June 26, 2011
June 28, 2011
June 29, 2011
June 30, 2011
July 2, 2011 Dublin Ireland The O2 33,412 / 33,412 $3,576,663
July 3, 2011
Total 562,319 / 563,624 $45,888,755

Performers

Cast members perform in character as their Glee counterparts.[8]

Performers (2010)[35]
Performers (2011)[11]
  • Dianna Agron as Quinn Fabray
  • Chris Colfer as Kurt Hummel
  • Darren Criss as Blaine Anderson
  • Ashley Fink as Lauren Zizes
  • Kevin McHale as Artie Abrams
  • Lea Michele as Rachel Berry
  • Cory Monteith as Finn Hudson
  • Heather Morris as Brittany Pierce
  • Chord Overstreet as Sam Evans
  • Amber Riley as Mercedes Jones
  • Naya Rivera as Santana Lopez
  • Mark Salling as Noah "Puck" Puckerman
  • Harry Shum, Jr. as Mike Chang
  • Jenna Ushkowitz as Tina Cohen-Chang

Broadcasts and recordings

20th Century Fox released the movie of Glee Live! In Concert!, entitled Glee: The 3D Concert Movie, in theaters on August 12 for a two-week limited engagement; it was directed by Kevin Tancharoen.[36][37] The film was shot during the concerts on June 16 and 17, 2011, in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The 3D concert film features the entire concert with Behind the Scenes footage, with special guest Gwyneth Paltrow as Holly Holliday.[38] The DVD and Blu-ray of the film, including a 3D Blu-ray, were released around the world in December 2011, and featured exclusive performances which were cut from the film and introductions by Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester.[39]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Glee Live! In Concert!.

References

  1. ↑ Albiniak, Paige (21 September 2009). "Can't stop the music". New York Post. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
  2. ↑ Allen, Bob (June 10, 2010). "Hot Tours: Depeche Mode, Metallica, 'Glee'". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved June 13, 2010.
  3. ↑ "Top 25 Tours of 2011". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 8 December 2011. Archived from the original on 27 December 2011. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
  4. ↑ Berens, Caitlin (31 July 2009). "'Glee' Cast Hits The Road With 'The Gleek Tour'". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
  5. ↑ Kayian, Suzanne (20 January 2010). "'Glee' tour in the works". LiveDaily. Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
  6. ↑ Little, Lyneka (2 March 2010). "Julianne Moore Gets Soapy; 'Glee' Tours; Holt Halts Hiroshima Book". The Wall Street Journal (Dow Jones & Company). Retrieved 4 March 2010.
  7. ↑ "glee LIVE! IN CONCERT!" (Press release). Fox Broadcasting Company. 1 March 2010. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Masley, Ed (May 16, 2010). "'Glee' fans keep the faith as tour kicks off". USA Today. Retrieved May 16, 2010.
  9. 1 2 Pareles, Jon (May 30, 2010). "'Glee' in Concert Favors Passion Over Plotlines". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved June 13, 2010.
  10. ↑ In Glee’s L.A. Concert, Lea Michele Says "Hello" to Jonathan Groff
  11. 1 2 "London calling!: Glee Live! In Concert! heads to stages across the Atlantic this spring" (Press release). Fox Broadcasting Corporation. 19 November 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  12. 1 2 3 Kwan, Amanda (May 16, 2010). "National 'Glee' tour takes show to its Gleeks". The Associated Press. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  13. 1 2 3 Larsen, Peter (28 May 2011). "Gleeks go wild for Glee tour in Anaheim". The Orange County Register. Freedom Communications. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
  14. ↑ Cizmar, Martin (May 16, 2010). "Glee at Dodge Theatre". Phoenix New Times. Village Voice Media. Retrieved May 17, 2010.
  15. 1 2 3 Wood, Mikael (May 22, 2010). "Concert review: 'Glee Live!' - Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
  16. ↑ Curran, Aimee (May 21, 2010). "'Glee' Cast Brings More Than Mere Covers To L.A. Tour Stop". MTV. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  17. 1 2 3 4 Nguyen, Hahn (May 21, 2010). "'Glee: Live' high and low notes: 'Bad Romance,' Brittany and barf bags". Zap2it. Tribune Media Services. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  18. ↑ Barker, Andrew (May 21, 2010). "Theater Review: 'Glee' Live! In Concert! - Theater and Musical Production Reviews". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  19. ↑ Wieselman, Jarett (11 May 2010). "Harry Shum Jr: I love that people see dancers as artists now". New York Post. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
  20. ↑ Nguyen, Hanh (17 May 2010). "'Glee' tour set list peek: 'Bad Romance,' 'Push It,' Vocal Adrenaline". Zap2it. Tribune Media Services. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
  21. 1 2 Gelman, Vlada (May 23, 2010). "'Glee' Live!: Sue Sylvester does not approve, but we do". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  22. ↑ Hankinson, Bobby (June 1, 2010). "Glee Live! Review: Radio City Music Hall, New York City becomes a Gleek paradise". Houston Chronicle. Hearst Corporation. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  23. ↑ "Concert Review: Glee Live! Brings Magic Of TV Show To The Stage". Radar Online. May 24, 2010. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  24. ↑ Hughes, Sarah (June 1, 2010). "Glee Live, Radio City Music Hall, New York". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  25. ↑ "Glee live tour set list revealed!". ninemsn. 23 May 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
  26. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Burgua, Bill (25 May 2011). "Glee Cast is a Huge Hit at Glee Live! Sacramento Show". Sacramento Press. Castle Press, LLC. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
  27. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Woolsey, Brittany (28 May 2011). "Glee Live! at the Honda Center". OC Reloaded. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
  28. ↑ Hartlaub, Peter (26 May 2011). "'Glee Live!' review: Just like TV only better". San Francisco Chronicle. Hearst Corporation. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
  29. ↑ https://twitter.com/DiannaAgron
  30. 1 2 Adams, Mark (25 May 2011). "http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/2011/may/25/weekly-sends-its-resident-gleek-glee-live-concert/". Las Vegas Weekly. The Greenspun Corporation. Retrieved 27 May 2011. External link in |title= (help)
  31. ↑ "'Glee' at the Izod Center: Gwyneth Paltrow makes surprise appearance for concert film taping". The Star-Ledger. June 17, 2011. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
  32. ↑ "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2010-06-11. Retrieved 2010-106-24. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  33. 1 2 "Billboard Boxscore — Current Scores". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. August 20, 2011. Archived from the original on August 5, 2011. Retrieved August 11, 2011.
  34. ↑ North American box score data:
  35. ↑ "Report: What Songs Are on the GLEE Concert Tour". Broadway World. May 16, 2010. Retrieved May 16, 2010.
  36. ↑ McClintock, Pamela (May 4, 2011). ""Glee Live! 3D!," featuring the North American tour, will be released Aug. 12.". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 4, 2011.
  37. ↑ "Glee: The 3D Concert Movie (Motion Picture Soundtrack) Available August 9". gleethemusic.com. July 19, 2011. Retrieved August 1, 2011.
  38. ↑ Maloy, Sarah (June 17, 2011). "'Glee Live!' Surprises With Paltrow Appearance, a Proposal". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
  39. ↑ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Glee-Concert-Ultimate-Blu-ray-Digital/dp/B0058SQ42C/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1319284889&sr=8-2
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