My friends, family, and colleagues are starting to wonder what the hell a grown businessman is doing with all this glee excitement. To tell the truth, he has everything to do with children. It was another way of bonding with the girls. The TV series is good, but the concert pushed me to really appreciate, understand and support the show and the team.
Julia and I arrived an hour early. Cars were pulling into the parking lot like crazy, filled mostly with high school and college girls. There were also some mixed parents in the mix. Some of the dads had a face that said “I know, I’m here for my daughter, this is important to her.” I shared a similar thought, a great night out with my daughter. Once inside the controlled mania continued. We immediately lined up to get our concert going, a couple of T-shirts for Tracy and Kailey and a show schedule. 30 minutes later we walked up and found our seats.
The show started at 7:30 with a lot of girls screaming (I think my ears were more sensitive to their screaming than the volume of the music). The opening act was an amazing dance act, lots of spinning and gymnastic moves, great talent. Then I thought the show was ready to go and the screaming would die down, no, an intermission. 20 minutes later the screaming started again and Glee took the stage.
The show was incredibly well organized. This is Glee’s first tour and they only have a handful of dates. With so few dates one would think it would be a small stage, minimal changes and little show. I was wrong. The show was a mix between a concert and a stage production, changing sets and settings on average every 3 songs. They incorporated costume changes, moving flashbacks, lights, videos, and even incorporated a Cadillac Escalade and springboards. I was also impressed that the group used a full band. The great musicians certainly complemented the great singers.
The cast sang with the talent and vigor of Broadway stars (because some of them were) giving a Broadway performance. The energy was high, the action packed dance moves, audience interaction, great vocals and tremendous skill provided an uninterrupted hour of interest. I didn’t take my seat.
The thought that this show is on its first tour and is just getting started made this dad believe in the Glee crew. It will be great to see how far this group will go!
