Friday , March 29 2024
Music from the May 25 episode of Glee highlights guest star, Idina Menzel.

Music Review: Music From Glee Episode 1×20 “Theatricality”

The cast of Glee went Gaga during the May 25 episode entitled, "Theatricality." The audience was treated to two Lady Gaga songs during the episode, as well as songs by KISS and from the movie Funny Girl.

Upon learning that that their rivals, Vocal Adrenaline were going to be performing a Lady Gaga song at Regionals, Mr. Schuester, played by Matt Morrison, assigned New Directions to do a Gaga-inspired performance.

While Rachel, Quinn and Mercedes, played by Lea Michel, Dianna Agron and Amber Riley, are spying on Vocal Adrenaline's rehearsal, Rachel discovers that her mom is Shelby Corcoran, played by guest star Idina Menzel, who is the vocal coach for their rivals.

Shelby decided to show her glee club the importance of theatricality while performing the song "Funny Girl" (In the previous episode, Rachel found a tape of her mother singing and was able to recognize Shelby by her voice). Idina Menzel's voice is spectacular. She was definitely the right pick to play Rachel's mother, because not only do Menzel and Michele look somewhat alike, they each have stellar, powerhouse vocals.

The girls of Glee and Kurt, played by Chris Colfer, perform Gaga's "Bad Romance" that week during glee club. Decked out in their Gaga-inspired outfits (designed by the same person who works with Gaga), the group puts on quite the show. The song is kicked off by Colfer, who sounds fantastic singing in his lower register. What I really loved was that Tina, played by Jenna Ushkowitz had a big solo during the song. Naya Rivera's (Santana) voice was also highlighted during the song, instead of just the usual suspects being Michele and Riley.

Listening to the recording of "Bad Romance" by itself, it it just as catchy and just as fun to sing-a-long to as Gaga's original. Glee definitely did Gaga justice.

The guys of Glee decided to go a different musical route to show their theatricality by performing the KISS song, "Shout It Out." On the show, it was quite the sight to see, as all the guys donned full-on KISS make-up, spandex outfits and platform shoes.

"Shout It Out" was a perfect fit for Cory Monteith (Finn) and Mark Salling's (Puck) voices. Salling is proving to have one of them more versatile singing voices on the show out of the guys. I hope that Glee continues utilize his voice as the show continues on.

Keeping with the Gaga theme, before saying goodbye to her mother, Rachel asks Shelby if she'll sing with her. They sing a stripped down version of Gaga's hit song, "Poker Face." I think Glee was going for the right idea here, but sort of missed the mark.

It is kind of strange to listen to Menzel and Michele sing this mother/daughter duet to a song that Gaga herself said is about a woman fantasizing about another woman, while being intimate with a man.

The musical arrangement was very Gaga. She does perform this song stripped down during her shows, so the way Glee went about this performance was fitting.

Singing-wise Menzel and Michele sounded nothing less than amazing. Some of the phrasing in the song left something to be desired, but overall it is a pretty good track.

A side storyline in episode was Quinn and Puck arguing about what to name their unborn baby girl, that Quinn is putting up for adoption. Puck had originally suggested the name, "Jackie Daniels."

During glee club rehearsals, Puck gets up in front of everyone to tell Quinn that he was wrong about the name. Puck and the other guys that performed in the earlier KISS number got together and performed, "Beth."

This is probably the best that Salling has sounded all season. His voice was built for this type of rock song. Also, the song rounded up the baby name storyline. Puck tells Quinn that he wants to be there when their baby is born and wants to name her "Beth."

Overall, the music of "Theatricality" was very fitting for this episode of Glee. Now that Glee has pulled off performing two of Lady Gaga's biggest hits, which pop phenomenon will be next?

About Kirsten Coachman

Kirsten Coachman is a writer and editor from the San Francisco Bay Area. Visit her long-running music blog, Wait...WHAT, at waitwhatmusic.net. Follow Kirsten Coachman on Twitter: @KirsCoachman

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