Glee Club
cast list
Bruce Barton, Robert Buckwalter, Steven Burns, David DeGrosso, Carter Jackson, Stephen Speights, Tom Staggs, Matthew Trumbull
directed by
Matthew Freeman
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Glee Club is a hilarious, un-PC and totally unexpected exploration of men’s friendships. It grabs hold of you like that passive-aggressive gym coach everyone was afraid of in high school and never lets up. Although everyone will find this show funny, ultimately it's a “guy show” that reintroduces men to their adolescent worries and finds raucous humor there.
The production is bare bones. The Romeo Vermont Glee Club is practicing for a critical performance, for a nursing home that houses one of their few remaining donors. On the cusp of the big performance, the soloist revels a disastrous secret to the group which jeapordizes his performances. How this odd collection of men reacts to the news and attempt to move forward with the recital is the only plot of the show. But within this simple premise lies a rich vein of laughs.
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Director Matthew Freeman keeps the action boiling along so fast that you neither notice nor care that the plot is paper thin. Each man in the show is allowed to shine in their own special way. The club itself consists of adult versions of high school stereotypes, the shy weird guy, the kiss-up, the put-upon artist, and the crazy guy, amongst others. But being an adult doesn’t mean these men have matured. In fact, Glee Club might only exist to give their inner teenager a day out in the world. One night a week they get to act out, be goofy and bond by insults, just like the good old days.
They are practicing a song, The World Will Make You Smile, by Stephen Speights, who plays the Glee leader in the show. There is only the one song, but it is held back, just out of reach for most of the show. By the time the Glee Club finally sings it, the audience is fully with the team. And the song is a perfect cap to the show, unexpected, irreverent and stupidly funny.
The acting of the entire ensemble is great. They bring to life these characters that are earnest, devious, and obviously devoted to each other and the club. There wasn’t a bad performance (or voice) in the show. Carter Jackson, who plays Greg with deadly seriousness and Steven Burns, who plays Paul from out of left field, stand out - primarily because their roles are so unexpected.
Don’t be thrown by the title, this bears almost no resemblance to the TV show Glee. It brings a everyday point of view that is rarely seen in the theater. Glee Club finds humor and life in a bunch of normal guys bonding without sexual tension or a mysterious murder in the past or coincidences piled high – just a piano, a silly-ass song and a dream. See it.
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New York reviews
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Three Sisters, Classic Stage Company
The Piano Lesson, Yale Repertory Theatre
The Momentum, Laurie Beechman Theatre
The Walk Across America for Mother Earth, La MaMa E.T.C.
John Gabriel Borkman, BAM Harvey Theater
Blood From a Stone, Acorn Theatre
Malfi, Inc., Theatre 54
Pieces, 59E59 Theaters
A Delicate Balance, Yale Repertory Theatre
The Memorandum, Beckett Theatre
The Scottsboro Boys, Lyceum Theatre
Driving Miss Daisy, Golden Theatre
Futura, TBG Theatre
La Bete, The Music Box Theatre
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre
A Life in the Theatre, Schoenfeld Theatre
In Transit, 59E59 Theaters
theatre
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