Glee, musicals, The Tony Awards and other things

I have loved musicals as long as I can remember.  My grandmother started me on movie musicals at a very young age which resulted in a huge crush on Gene Kelly!  To this day, Singin' In The Rain is my favorite movie.  When I started high school, I really wanted to try out for the musical (which was Oliver that year) but I was too scared so I settled for playing in the pit orchestra instead.  It was still amazing to see something live on stage for the first time. Living in southern Indiana doesn't offer many opportunities to see great Broadway musicals although some really good tours do come to The Centre.  My problem is getting someone to go with me since David doesn't like musicals at all!  I basically rely on the internet to watch video clips and I faithfully watch The Tony Awards each June to catch the performances of the nominated musicals.  There are two shows that I have been dying to see for years.  The first is Jersey Boys.  I discovered Jersey Boys while watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade back in 2005.  I have watched every YouTube clip I can find from this show.  I listen to the soundtrack like crazy and I adore John Lloyd Young who originated the role of Frankie Valli.  The Jersey Boys tour is coming to Indy and Louisville this summer and (fingers crossed) I will finally get to see it! 

Trey and Ty showing their Jersey Boys love!


The second show is Spring Awakening.  It is no longer on tour so I most likely won't get to see it but I still enjoy the soundtrack!  This is where I segway into Glee.  I saw the Spring Awakening cast perform during the 2007 Tonys and I discovered Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff.  Any Glee fan knows Lea as Rachel Berry and Jonathan Groff is now starring as Jesse St. James.  I began to follow their careers and discovered in early 2009 that Lea was starting work on a pilot which was eventually titled Glee.  I was so excited about this project because it would be like watching a little movie musical each week, not to mention that John Lloyd Young would be making a guest appearance (you might remember him as Henri St. Pierre the thumbless shop teacher in the Acafellas episode).  I began to tell everyone about this show and tried to convince them to watch it when the pilot premiered after the May 2009 finale of American Idol.  To my surprise, they watched it AND they loved it!  Thank goodness America feels the same because I would be lost without Glee!  I know there are other avid musical lovers out there, they just aren't in my circle of friends so to be able to share a little bit of that love with my friends through Glee is amazing!