Glee offers a fresh take on the musical - it's sometimes called a "postmodern musical" - in the form of light TV comedy-drama. The plot revolves around a high-school glee club responsible for putting together productions that incorporate song and dance. In a classic underdog story, the glee club's members all strive to realize their potential as performers, but unlike most musicals, there aren't arbitrary bursts into song; instead, the glee club attempts to put together appropriate school performances.
The cast is teeming with experienced performers and Broadway stars. The main cast includes Matthew Morrison (Hairspray, The Light in the Piazza, South Pacific), Jane Lynch, Jayma Mays, Jessalyn Gilsig, Lea Michele (Spring Awakening, The King and I), Cory Monteith, Chris Colfer, Amber Riley, Kevin McHale, Jenna Ushkowitz, Dianna Agron and more. Earlier this month, the first album-length spin-off, Glee: The Music, Volume 1, came out. The disc features a series of a cappella covers and instrumental versions of popular rock, contemporary pop, hip-hop and R&B songs.
Here, Lea Michele (Rachel), Cory Monteith (Finn) and Amber Riley (Mercedes) join David Dye to chat about the hit show and its music in a session from World Cafe.
The twenty minute interview talks about the cast drawing from their high school experiences (or in Cory's case, lack thereof), divas-in-training, musical theater, Jill Scott's "Hate On Me," what the original artists think about the covers, the fans, and a bunch of other things. There's also a slightly vague spoiler from Adam Anders about a song that we've already seen alluded to in the November promo.