“Gleeks invades New York City” Allison O’Hagan

In the city that never sleeps, fans from all over flocked to Pace University to meet with John Lipton, otherwise known as the host of “Inside the Actors Studio”, who had his studio  full of “gleek’s.” On December 18th, the studio audience was filled with parents, children, and teens of all ages cheering for one thing and one thing only; Glee. Select members of the Glee Cast were there including Lea Michelle, Cory Monteith, Chris Colfer, Jane Lynch, Matthew Morrison and even the shows co-creator, Ryan Murphy.

John Lipton went into detail about the past of every guest, and how they got started on this “Glee journey.”  “Glee” has grown from having a mere 9.77 million viewers in its first season, to 10.112 million viewers in its second season. Every actor had a different story to how they received their current role; some of the actors had journeys much more complicated then others.

When asked about her first experience on stage by John Lipton, Leah Michelle said  that she first came to the stages of New York City in the 1995 Broadway performance of Les Misérables. Matthew Morrison stated that his first encounter with the stage came when family members he was visiting just “threw him in a community theater production just to get him out of their hair.” Eventually, he made it on to Broadway himself in the 1998 Production of Footloose.

The interviews progressed with questions that confirmed that Jane Lynch was an “over night success”, and even went deep into the verbally abusive past of Chris Colfer that had to deal with various bullies throughout his childhood.

A separate interview with Cory Monteith went into depth about his journey from his native country of Canada to his current home in the United States, and how he eventually pursued his dreams. Monteith shared a story about his first encounter with the United States border authority who asked him why he wanted to enter the United States. He answered, “I wanted to surf.”

The personal and the impersonal questions proceeded throughout the night. At the end of the night guests in the front row even got to ask the actors questions about their craft, and their experiences on stage. The interview has been a tradition for the “Inside The Actors Studio” audience. Much of the audience on the lower level consisted of students from Pace University who are studying the performing arts.

The Glee fan base even have fans in WJPS, such as senior, Alyssa Longo who is a fan of the hit show. “The show is musical genius,” Longo said. “It brings out the good in anyone.”  Longo also adds that her favorite character has to be Finn, the character that Corey Monteith plays.

Teachers like Mr. Petrotta also enjoy watching the show. “My favorite part is the music, I like how it combines pop music and musical theater style.” When asked what his favorite character was, Mr. Petrotta said, “Artie is pretty awesome.”Glee has been called an “over night success”, and it shows through the response from fans of all ages.