Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Glee: The 3D Concert Movie' not just about music

LOS ANGELES - Concert movies typically offer a peek into the private moments of a pop star's life. "Michael Jackson: This Is It" revealed the entertainer's perfectionist tendencies, and sly sense of humor. "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never" showed the teen singer's drive for success.

But "Glee: The 3D Concert Movie," opening Friday, is an 83-minute romp with the fictional characters who populate the Fox TV series. It's multi-purposing at its finest: Stars Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Kevin McHale, Chris Colfer, Amber Riley, Heather Morris and the rest maintain their "Glee" personae while performing hits from the show during the concert tour that traveled the country earlier this summer.

And that's what sets it up for success, says director Kevin Tancharoen.

"It would have been completely disconnected from what made (the show) extremely popular if it had turned into, 'Oh, look at Lea Michele and Cory Monteith and Harry Shum Jr. be superstars and rehearse and do press and record and go on tour,'" Tancharoen said.

"That's why I think it's different from those other concert films," he continued. "Those are all rock stars and musicians, and these are characters who mean something different to everybody else. They are extremely talented and they all sing very well and perform very well, and that's another big part of the show that was very popular, so we kind of wanted to mix all that stuff together to make this 3-D concert experience."

In addition to on-stage performances of songs such as "Teenage Dream" and "I'm a Slave 4 U," the film also shows its stars giving backstage interviews in character. In one segment, Michele's character, the spotlight-loving Rachel Berry, explains her pre-performance ritual of drinking "lukewarm hot water."

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