CMU School of Drama


Sunday, April 25, 2010

‘Glee’ series fuels interest in high school show choirs

The Boston Globe: "Could this have anything to do with “Glee,’’ the Fox television series about an Ohio high school glee club full of losers? A club that bears a striking resemblance to Music Unlimited? Lopez prefers to think the change of heart occurs when his classmates see how good his show choir is. Still, he says “Glee’’ has made a huge difference in his life. The series “brought more of my personality out,’’ said Lopez, who had never danced before. “I used to be really shy. I used to have stage fright. I used to be scared, a lot. Now I’m not scared of going up on stage anymore.’’" Via ArtsJournal

15 comments:

MONJARK said...

I have never been a big fan of Glee. It simply does not appeal to me. I am just not a dancing and singing type of person. However, I am very happy to see the positive effects it is having on the view society takes on the arts. Too often, the arts a viewed as "gay" or "sissy" when in reality, that is not the case; it is just something American culture has falsely done. If Glee is able to show kids and other impressionable people that choir, performing, dancing, and singing is fun, then I am pro-Glee. After all, it was just said today at the awards ceremony; we need people to be interested in theater if we want an audience in the future...

Katherine! said...

Glee is sucha ridiculous, I am glad that some good is coming out of it. While it does have lots of singing and dancing and breaking out into song, my favorite is that they never need to tech any of the lights or music. The band that is always in the choir room in Glee always know the songs and the arrangements, and the light are always amazing when it comes time to perform. I wish Glee showed more of the hard work involved, but I guess you can't get everything in an hour show focused more on breaking the stereotypes.

Unknown said...

I think its really cute that Glee has helped made school choirs, etc "cool" again. Glee is also taking extras who audition through their website and I think that its great to give talented people who are not in the entertainment industry a chance to shine like American idol, etc. It really shows that the producers of Glee really believe in the show that they're making and hold a real reverence for people involved in and who appreciate singing, music, and dancing.

mrstein said...

I will say that for all my choir friends in high school, they never saw themselves as nerds. The choir kids were I lived were fiercely proud of being in choir and very passionate about it. For them Glee was just another thing to make them even more proud to be a choir kid. Though I don't like the show, I am happy to see it encouraging music in education across the country.It's sad that it takes popularity of a television show to get schools to fund arts education. It's nice to know however that something as simple as a choir show can have such a big impact. It encourages me about what a large impact theatre and entertainment can have on people.

C. Ammerman said...

Regardless of my feelings towards Glee, it's nice to see something shown on Fox having a positive effect on things. What worries me is that while Glee is making the whole school choir thing "cool" once again, what happens when Glee is no longer the hot thing? The idea that suddenly, and somewhat overnight a TV showed managed to turn something that use to guarantee a weekly hazing into something that people think of as cool.

Sylvianne said...

Glee is an interesting subject because in reality, it is pure spectacle. There is nothing special about the story, the characters are relatively two dimensional, and the acting is pretty atrocious at points. However, it is so successful because people are craving to see talent, they want more artistic skills to go into film and tv. I am not surprised at its success, or at the effect it has on highschoolers as mentioned in the article. It is appealing to a large age group as well as a variety of social groups.

Chris said...

Putting the issue of if Glee is a good show or not aside, it is a positive change that it is making in the perceptions of the students in our schools. While I agree with some of the previous posters that show choir kids definitely don't see themselves as nerds. It is good to see that students are getting some exposure to the performing arts (albeit, not a particularly good one). This can be only the start. If other organizations (both in schools and other performing arts organizations) are able to capitalize on the success of the show. This could be the way to decrease the average age of the theater audience. To bring theater and the performing arts to younger people. The next step is to convince these people that theater is not just flashy costumes and bright lights.

tiffhunsicker said...

I agree with most of the comments above... especially Katherine. It would be nice to see more of the work that goes into having a performance, but at the same time I can see why they don't. The show is all about the breaking into song and dance, and to show the talent of the performers, not whats behind them. And although I think it's great that it's having the effect it is on high school chorales, I think that it is giving a false impression at the same time. They only show the glamorous parts, which obviously is not all there is to it. But it is really great that it is sparking more interest towards the performing arts.

Hjohnson said...

I haven't seen much of Glee, but I used to just think of it just as the current "big thing" that would eventually lose popularity after a few years. It's pretty cool to see that the show has such a positive effect on choir participation in schools. Five years ago, this might have been an activity that kids were hesitant to participate in because it was "lame," but now those kids have one less social pressure to worry about, all because of a TV show.

Devrie Guerrero said...

I love Glee and it makes me happy that it can have such a positive effect on high school choruses. Art and music programs in schools have been deteriorating and it really does help with more people are taking an interest.
It does bother me a little bit how tv and media effects how people view things. Tv can make people so closed minded and it is interesting that it took a tv show to have kids interested in the arts.

Rachel Robinson said...

Personally, I think Glee is a really bad television show. It can be slightly amusing to watch, but it's not really high quality television. However, I definitely think that it has had a pivotal effect on chorus groups in high schools all over the nation. The show is highly popular among teenagers, and it definitely gives choruses a "coolness" factor that will attract many teenagers who would not have previously considered joining their school choir. Glee has made choirs "popular", and it will be interesting to see how this effects the arts and theatre programs in high schools in the years to come.

Timothy Sutter said...

While I love the show glee, I think tha toften times the morals and the writing really are in your face. While I live the premise for the show, anyone who joins a real show choir will be sorely disappointed. I think that in the long run, the the show will greatly affect the amount of people in show choirs. I love the idea of people that were once to affairs to join a performance art are now able to do so freely and explore the world of performance art.

A. Surasky said...

It's great to see a show having an impact and bringing back the show choirs. Well I myself am not exactly a fan of Glee, I think it has definitely given a bit of credibility back to show choirs, and allowed them to become cool among high school communities, which has further encouraged people to join them. It's great to see more people taking an interested in learning music and becoming involved in it, and if it's because of a TV show that people are getting involved, even if it's one I don't like, that's fine with me.

Annie J said...

I think it's great that Glee is making it more acceptable--and dare I say, popular?--to join show choirs. The school I went to didn't have anything like this, but it would have been nice if it did. Regardless, it's amazing that this show is helping arts programs around the country to find a reason to fund show choirs. If there were more shows like glee about the arts, particularly the performing arts, I think it would be more accepted and, hopefully, better funded. Now, if only we could get a show about Tech theater out there! Can you imagine what that would do? Most people I've spoken to don't realize that what we do is even a profession!

Unknown said...

Although I just saw some episode of Glee and I was not font to Glee, I know many people love Glee. I know one of my friends who wants to apply Glee audition. Also, Glee has positive impact on many student to enjoy musical and theatre.