Heather Morris in "I Wanna Dance with Somebody"
“Dance with Somebody,” directed by Paris Barclay and written by Ross Maxwell, is the quickly assembled tribute to Whitney Houston
Why are they singing about “a boy I know” while clutching Whitney’s photo? Is this supposed to be simultaneous inner monologues? If so, why does Will (Matthew Morrison) overhear them? If not, why doesn’t anyone else seem to hear them? And why were they singing in the library? In contrast with Smash, which clearly distinguishes its realities, Glee still has no rules after three seasons.
Darren Criss in "It's Not Right, But It's OK"
“It’s Not Right, But It’s OK,” sung by Blaine (Darren Criss), is another song that – while well performed – also defies logic. We begin with Blaine singing in the choir room, cut to a music video with him and four leather-clad backup dancers, cut back to the choir room with his classmates now singing along – and then we get a mashup of music video and classroom realities. What the heck? Why are the classmates not in leather too? Why do they keep disappearing in front of the video’s strobe lights? What have they done with Kurt?
A slightly more straightforward number is “I Wanna Dance with Somebody,” which is well performed by Santana and Brittany (Heather Morris), who also shines in the dance sequences.
The purpose of the episode, though, is not just to hear Whitney songs. Will asks New Directions to choose their songs as a way not only to address their grief about Whitney’s death but also to work through their anxiety about graduation and the losses that will entail. However, the show avoids exploring these emotions in any detail, in favor of the usual gift-wrapped endings. For example, in response to Blaine’s musical accusation, Kurt offers “I Have Nothing,” which quickly brings Blaine to tears. Next, we see Emma (Jayma Mays) counseling the couple, which of course ends with the two of them back in each other’s arms by the commercial break.
The episode ends with Mercedes and Artie (Kevin McHale) singing “Your Love Is My Love,” eventually joined by all the gleeks, as Will watches from the wings – the gift-wrapped moment for his slightly creepy and insane storyline.
), which closely mimics 1920s musicals, is a rusty antique knockoff, that sobers you up faster than a cup of black coffee. Why spend so much energy making something new that’s already old?
, director-choreographer Kathleen Marshall follows by time-traveling back to the previous decade and dipping into the songbook of George and Ira Gershwin. The results are diverting, even if they don’t quite match the effervescence of that last excursion. Broderick is winningly paired with the luminous Kelli O’Hara (
), and the leads are backed by a string of top-notch character turns. … For Gershwin fans, Nice Work will be intoxication enough.
-light version of Snow Patrol’s “
.” I’m still not a fan of McPhee’s doe-eyed acting, but I appreciated the choice of the song to foreshadow Karen’s problems with boyfriend Dev (Raza Jaffrey).
and McPhee sound and look great in this biggest production number the show has done so far. The entire cast is given cameos, even Linda (the under-utilized Ann Harada), but the best moment was Ellis stealing jewels from Eileen (Anjelica Huston). The number also serves to further question Karen and Dev’s relationship (“Is tonight the last or does the future hold a lifetime of delights?”).
, adapted from the 
, have been almost unanimously negative so far. Below is a sampling. For the record, the 
– from the Puritans to Dan Quayle – and of the market fundamentalism in which everything “can be bought, sold and measured” and which trivializes the arts as mere souvenirs of “cultural tourism.”
investors at “an apartment on the East Side [where] there was no air conditioning and you could hear the tugboats. She didn’t raise one penny.” If repeated auditions proved unsuccessful, some producers resorted to making cold calls from the phonebook, as lampooned in 
, until lawmakers intervened.
received more than half of its $5 million capitalization through crowd-funding from a group of about 700 investors, who donated as little as $1,000 each. In return, shareholders get regular e-mail updates, webinars, discount offers, and more. Lead producer Ken Davenport said he was inspired by the success of Obama’s 2008 campaign and by 
, I don’t understand the preoccupation – unless it’s schadenfreude.
– which he seems to base on a singular TV clip and not the live production, which I remember fondly – I do agree with him that “People come to musicals for the emotion, so to give them fake emotions for their money is fraud. And it’s a fraud perpetrated so widely, especially in commercial musical theater, that audiences generally accept it without complaint. Or they think musicals are just inherently shallow and phony. Which they’re not.” However, that is assuming we’re talking about “book musicals” like Evita and about the protagonists of those musicals, because there are some shows and some roles that demand to be performances.
. In contrast to Smash, there is a surfeit of music here, and last night’s episode covered nearly the entire 
soundtrack.
and “So Long, Farewell” from 
are program songs, that is, songs presented as performed songs, that also provide insight into their characters or the themes of their shows.
to 
, from 
to 
, many stars who were not able to sing opera, as Eileen (Anjelica Huston) quips, were able to deliver Tony-winning musical performances.