Hana Chan

A lot of things that have been happening lately, like Chris not being a focus in recent Glee promo in favor of DaleaStreet (gag) and the total lack of mention of Kurt spoilers for season six (if there is a season 6 at this point). I'm betting that Chris signed on for this project a long time ago and his team has been in active discussion with the Glee management about Chris having time to be away to work on the film. If production is set to begin at the end of the summer, that would have prevented Chris from being available for at least the first few episodes. My guess is that with the time jump, they would have planned that Kurt was either busy working on a show or away working on a film (yay meta!) to explain his absence or limited screen presence. But now that season six is up in the air and there are serious questions about how many episodes we'll actually get and when Glee production might actually start, how much filming Chris might miss is an open question. If Glee isn't coming back until 2015 and the whole premise needs to be reconsidered and likely rewritten in order to accommodate a more limited season then production might be pushed back until after Chris is done with filming his movie and can be on the Glee set full time. Regardless, it appears that this is only the first of Chris's film projects. He's clearly moved beyond Glee and if his presence on the show is more limited because he's working on outside projects and not because of RIB favoritism, then I'll be well satisfied.

This is getting me to thinking that Rachel quitting NYADA when she did is going to have some pretty significant repercussions. Going to a school like that is partly about learning technique and stage craft, but it's also about learning to handle the business side of being an actor. Learning how to conduct yourself and behavior that is expected and how to handle the pressures of being a working actor. Maybe things like dealing with poor critiques, how to handle finances (because once a show closes, those fat paychecks stop and you have to survive on your savings until a new part comes along). Not attending the after party is another episode of Rachel just showing that she doesn't know how to behave. It's rude to her cast mates and the production crew (who hired her). It's a missed chance to network (which can help her in getting work in the future) and it just keeps showing that Rachel has no real interest in the show beyond how it benefits her. I cannot imagine that Rachel is particularly liked by the rest of the cast as she ran off her understudy and doesn't seem to interact with any of them beyond what they can do for her. Rachel might have some good will at the moment because of the great reviews she received, but it's really easy to burn through that with a misstep and she's losing the chance to really get the cast and crew on her side to weather the rough times that we know are coming down the pike.

As much as I love Chris's singing (and I think that he could handle pretty much any role for a young man in the tenor range without any difficulty), I would rather see him do a non-musical show. Either a straight play or a comedy, but something where he can really show of his acting chops. I find that sometimes with musicals the need to play up the songs can mask what the actors are really capable of ad are too stylized to really allow the more subtle nuances that an actor like Chris is capable of. Of course, if he does do a musical, I have my wish list and since I live in close proximity to NYC, I'd be there in a heartbeat to see him perform.

Besides having Max make a quick guest appearance (and damn, did he look good), this was a boring hour considering that Rachel finally making her debut should have felt more like an event. But it was basically an hour long tongue-bath with everyone (except Sue) propping up Rachel who apparently has the emotional fortitude of an overcooked noodle at the least hint of adversity. So much of this had my eyes rolling in disbelief. I hate to break it to the show, but in NY Rachel would barely be considered a celebrity enough to get a gay bartender shitting in his pants that she entered his establishment (and on that note, we had to wait until now for the gay characters to make it to a gay bar?). Celebrities like NY because they can be normal here and people (for the most part) leave them the fuck alone. And seriously... with the way Rachel was behaving with her "oh woe is me" bullshit and acting like an ass with her friends, they should have let her stew in her own misery and rise or fall under her own power. I will never understand why every other character on this show feels the need to make it their personal mission that Rachel succeed in all endeavors when she treats them all so badly on a regular basis.