'Glee' delivers unpalatable mix of ham and cheese

The stage show based on the US television phenomenon brought plenty of sparkle to Dublin but little substance or humour

IT WAS quiet enough walking up to the O2 on Saturday evening, but slowly, surely, you were hit by the force of Glee: minibuses from Limerick; full-sized buses from Donegal; street sellers touting "I Love Kurt" hats; and gaggles of pre-teens and tweenies waiting outside the venue's access gates to catch a glimpse of Finn, Rachel, Puckerman, Artie, Brittany, Mercedes, Sam, Tina and their colleagues from the show.

The force of Glee– and its associated cost to parents – continued inside the venue: €20 for a programme, €30 for T-shirts sporting phrases drawn from the television show ("Like Boys", "Can't Sing"). It was, as they say, a great day out for the kids.

The live show based on the US television phenomenon that is Gleelanded in Dublin at the weekend. When the show was announced at the start of the year, demand for tickets was so big that matinees had to be added.

Anticipation was high among fans young and old (with this critic among the latter) that the live production would replicate the vim and vigour of its television counterpart. The multiple Emmy award-winning musical comedy-drama is as smart and snappy as teen television gets. Revolving around a musical “glee club” called New Directions at McKinley high school which competes on the choir circuit, the show touches on teen concerns such as bullying, relationships, sexuality and social issues, to which the songs covered on the show refer.

Unfortunately, the live show came nowhere near the pace and zip of its small-screen relation.

While the cast of former unknowns and Broadway professionals (including Lea Michele and Jenna Ushkowitz, who play Rachel and Tina respectively) belted out a range of ballads, Eighties rock and latter-day pop from the likes of Britney Spears, Lady Gaga and Jay-Z, you could sense some of them wondered why they had travelled so far from home for onstage parts that defined the term “bit”.

The music was broken up by filmed segments featuring the glee club’s nemesis Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) and the club’s tutor and mentor Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison).

It was all a bit like The X Factor: a sparkling show with lots of lights, action and sound; but with so little substance that you found yourself occasionally checking your watch for the time.

Apart from exceptional outstanding performances by 'Ms Michele and, as Brittany, Heather Morris, former backing dancer for Beyoncé), Glee Live!mixed the wrong kind of cheese with the wrong kind of ham and a side order of humourlessness.

On the way out, hawkers offered "the last of the GleeT-shirts" for €10. A female voice said: "Brittany was fantastic but Sam didn't even get to sing a song. Like, he's lovely lookin' an' all, but, like, what was he doin' here?"

Not to worry, madam. The improbably named Chord Overstreet, who plays the pouty Sam Evans, has reportedly been dropped from the television series. Sometimes, even in the world of Glee, it can be glum.