Cast in Other Roles

[Cranberry]

I actually loved Popular. Yes, there was a time when I actually thought that Ryan Murphy was a great writer and showrunner. I was excited about Glee partly because it was a Ryan Murphy show. I was so young then, so naive...

 

(I did not watch Nip/Tuck. I do watch AHS.)

[dizzyizzy01]

I really liked Popular, but it started to go off the rails in S2 I thought.  It should have been an early omen =P.  Nip/Tuck went horribly wrong after a while.  Ryan had more seasons of that show to mess with though.

[Rick Kitchen]

Lindsay Pearce, performing "All Grown Up" from Bare: A Rock Opera in Los Angeles (with Katie Stevens from "Faking It").

 

The play is about a Catholic boarding school, the two main characters are a gay couple who are roommates, one of them is the school Big Man on Campus who is afraid to come out (one of the lyrics he sings is "Who ever heard of a hero who is queer?") and they get into a fight when his boyfriend wants to come out, so he sleeps with Lindsay's character, who is the school Queen, and she gets pregnant.  This song is her reaction to finding out.

 

[caracas1914]

Chris Colfer is apparently filming an episode of Season 6 (the last) of Hot in Cleveland.

 

 

[fakeempress]

Ashley Fink is taking part in the 24 Hour Musicals event this year. 

 

Very tangenially related but throwing it in for good measure cause I like him: Andrew Rannells will co-star in a yet untitled Universal Pictures comedy produced by Judd Apatow's company. 

Edited April 9, 2015 by fakeempress

[fakeempress]

NYTimes: After Turbulent Flight, Finding Neverland Alights on Broadway

"Next Mr. Weinstein pursued Mr. Morrison, calling him in early 2014 while he was on the set of “Glee.” After several follow-up phone calls and lunch at a swanky Beverly Hills hotel, Mr. Morrison signed on for a developmental workshop of the show that spring. Soon he found himself on the Weinstein payroll, signed to star in one movie, “Tulip Fever,” and provide his voice for the company’s English-language remake of an Argentine animated feature. (With that have come regular invites to industry events and parties, including this year’s Weinstein Company bash held the night before the Oscars, where he and the pop singer Rita Ora performed tunes from “Finding Neverland.”) ....
Next up was Broadway, but not everyone made it there from Cambridge. The star of “Neverland” last summer was the Tony nominee Jeremy Jordan (Mr. Morrison had been unavailable), and Mr. Jordan had hoped to play the role on Broadway, according to friends. But Mr. Weinstein seemed wedded to Mr. Morrison, as were people close to him; his wife, the fashion designer Georgina Chapman, at the opening-night party, said she favored Mr. Morrison because of his sex appeal. Mr. Morrison was again tapped to play Barrie; Mr. Weinstein said he had another project in mind for Mr. Jordan, who also starred in his company’s film “The Last Five Years.”
Mr. Weinstein also went through several actors playing the key role of Barrie’s producer, Charles Frohman. Ms. Chapman suggested Kelsey Grammer of “Frasier” fame, and he was successfully recruited."

[TheGourmez]

So I’m four episodes into Hulu’s Resident Advisors, and appearances so far include Romy Rosemont, Alex Newall, Vanessa Lengies, and just now...Jayma Mays!

It's moderately funny. I'm mainly watching because of Ryan Hansen.

[fakeempress]

So I’m four episodes into Hulu’s Resident Advisors, and appearances so far include Romy Rosemont, Alex Newall, Vanessa Lengies, and just now...Jayma Mays!

It's moderately funny. I'm mainly watching because of Ryan Hansen.

I feel ashamed that as an erstwhile VM fan I haven't kept tabs after the VM movie. T-u, I'll check it out! 

Edited April 9, 2015 by fakeempress

[Pink ranger]

Finding Neverland officialy opens this Wednesday night. The show itself seems to be either loved or hated, the out of town trial recieved  mixed reviews but but it is selling very well so far. I just hope that Matthew gets good notice.

[tom87]

Exclusive: Kevin McHale on Glee end: 'Casting directors gave up on the Glee cast'

Read more: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/british-tv/s57/glee/news/a635339/kevin-mchale-on-glee-end-casting-directors-gave-up-on-the-glee-cast.html#ixzz3XCMV9yGs

 

 

Kevin McHale has admitted that the Glee cast missed out on opportunities outside the show because of its hectic schedule.

    The actor - who hosts E4’s panel show Virtually Famous - told Digital Spy that casting directors began to realize that there was no chance of hiring any of the cast.

    Speaking about the end of Glee, McHale said: “I would love to do more television. But we’ll see. This will be the first time I’ve had any free time in the past six years, so it’s terrifying and exciting all at the same time. I got to do a film last year and I really enjoyed doing that.

    "It was a weird thing too because our schedules were so tough that people knew they couldn’t hire us for six years. When a show becomes successful people want to hire the people on the show for other things, and we would all try to do other things but we could never end up doing them so casting directors were just like, ‘Enough of them! Don’t touch the Glee kids because you can’t use them!’ So now it’s like we’re going back out in the real world like, 'Hi! We’re all available now!’”

    McHale explained that he hadn’t missed out on any huge opportunities, saying: “I realized pretty early on that I just wouldn’t pursue things so I wouldn’t get there. There were a couple of things that weren’t make or break that if I did it, it would be the most amazing thing. But for other people I think there were a couple of things that would have been great that they couldn’t end up doing.”

    However, he added that he had a tough time working on the movie Boychoir while filming Glee.

    “I was flying between the East Coast and West Coast, doing Glee from the plane to the Glee set, and then from the Glee set to the plane,” he said. “It was nuts. It was a crazy thing because I came out here to do the pilot for Virtually Famous, and went back for a night to do one scene for Glee, and then I flew out the next day to New Jersey and was in New Jersey for 36 hours – I met Dustin Hoffman to work on this film I was doing. I was like, 'What the hell’s going on?’

    "And then I flew back to do Glee for a week, and then I went back to Connecticut to do this movie but then on the weekends I’d go back to Glee. It was really bad. In classic Glee form it was like, 'I’m going to be gone’, so then they wrote the biggest storyline I had all season.”

    He went on: “I remember just getting back to Glee and I had been up over 24 hours and at night I had done a scene with Kathy Bates, Eddie Izzard and Dustin Hoffman in Connecticut, outside in the freezing cold, then got on a plane and flew to LA and had to do this weird STD storyline on Glee, and I’m sitting there at midnight dressed in this STD costume and I was like, 'My brain is fried!’

    "One of the PAs, I was like, 'What’s my line?’ And he would say my line because my brain was just gone, I was completely fried. The girl who was on the episode, who was a guest star, she would look at me and go, 'It’s so hard for me to say my line looking at you in this costume’. And then I would lose it. If I cracked, I was never going to get it. I was chugging coffee and Diet Coke. The caffeine wasn’t working any more because I was so beyond. It was crazy.”

    But McHale admitted that the end of Glee feels “weird”, saying: “I think in terms of the show itself, it’s time for it to end. I think we had a really good run and we did our thing and said what we needed to say on the show, but the sad bit is just not seeing everyone every day. And not having steady employment!

    "It’s the routine of it – of getting up every morning to go into the studio, to shoot, and it was the small things you don’t see on TV. I really loved the studio we were filming in, Paramount in Hollywood. It’s this beautiful lot, and you become friends with all the security guards. It’s like when someone goes to university and that whole vibe of being there, it’s all gone. And the sets are being destroyed now.”

    He added: “When we did the last scene, we were sitting in the choir room. As much as we hated that room a lot of the time because we were always in there and those scenes would take forever and I had spent more of my life in that room than anywhere else in the past six years, it is sad. It’s all going to be gone. It is weird that it all just gets crushed and thrown away. It’s something that has represented something for people watching and for all of us. And it’s just gone.”

    “It’s also one of those things where seeing people ten or 25 years down the line, and then looking back at how they were playing high-schoolers, it’s this weird thing. Unless you’re in Saved By The Bell, because those people don’t age! If It made sense for some reason, then I’m sure we would. But it would have to make sense. It would be stupid to do it just to do it, if there’s no need to do it. Glee: The Reunion Tour! It’s like Cher. One last tour! And then another! Just holding on…”

 

Edited April 13, 2015 by tom87

[jaytee1812]

For those in the UK Kevin McHale hosts the second series of Virtually Famous on e4 from tonight at 10. 

[Pink ranger]

Jayma has been cast in a movie with Tom Cruise and her character is a foul mouthed and hard nosed. Can't wait!

http://deadline.com/2015/04/jayma-mays-mena-tessa-thompson-war-on-everyone-1201409123/

[Rick Kitchen]

Darren Criss is performing as Hedwig on Broadway.

 

https://twitter.com/DarrenCriss/status/587718370805452800/photo/1

Edited April 13, 2015 by Rick Kitchen

[caracas1914]

Amber tweeted about her upcoming album so it may finally be released in the next few months.

[caracas1914]

'@msleamichele Back at it in the recording studio today beginning my second record! #grateful The past two years since finishing #Louder I’ve experienced so many moments of strength, tears, joy, growth, change and happiness… I’m so excited to put all of that into this next record.. I’m so grateful to be where I am today feeling so strong… And nothing makes me happier than singing from my ❤ it’s the greatest feeling and I’m so beyond excited!'

[fakeempress]

Pretty neat for Alex that he performed with Clean Bandit at Coachella. According to Fuse:

"Alex was recently allowed out of a suffocating recording contract based on a technicality unsurfaced by his clever legal team, and now he's taking the entertainment sector by storm as an indie. A path that previously would have landed Newell in the same club as Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken on a long enough timeline, just jumped the track and afforded us this perfect collaboration with The Knocks."

 

Alex seems to be doing well being featured on dance / house tracks and working with DJ's. 

[caracas1914]

Was Alex still with Columbia, ie is that the "suffocating recording contract" the article refers to? 

 

Another question: we know the Original Glee cast such as Lea, Kevin, Chris, Amber, etc were signed with Columbia records to have first dibs on an album.  Some of them, like Naya, Amber and Darren and clearly had some expenses incurred, whether recording sessions (at home or in a studio). musicians, tracks laid, songs/songwriters used,  etc that has to be hashed out with Columbia , since Lea as of now seems to be the only one to actually release an album (with a second one already underway) .  IOW, they could have had some advances and other prep work , the financial details needing to be ironed out to be officially let go.   I thought I read  Amber bought out of her Columbia contract but I could be mistaken.

 

IN contrast , from all accounts, Kevin, Jenna, Chris, Dianna had zero recordings/expenses  for any  planned album with Columbia,   So does that mean due to inactivity that those recording contracts , with Glee no longer running, have lapsed or will lapse with some statue of limitations?  I would imagine some of the contracts were penned back in 2008/09, and again, with no money changing hands I doubt they would stay valid indefinitely.

Edited April 14, 2015 by caracas1914

[jaytee1812]

'@msleamichele Back at it in the recording studio today beginning my second record! #grateful The past two years since finishing #Louder I’ve experienced so many moments of strength, tears, joy, growth, change and happiness… I’m so excited to put all of that into this next record.. I’m so grateful to be where I am today feeling so strong… And nothing makes me happier than singing from my ❤ it’s the greatest feeling and I’m so beyond excited!'

Oh god no, that's gonna be original music.

I'd run to buy an album of decent covers from Lea. But unless it's a billion times better than the last lot of songs she recorded I'd give that album a hard pass.

[Hana Chan]

The Glee recording contract sounds a lot like the contracts that the American Idol contestants had to sign. Out of all the outside projects for the cast, the only ones that the show runners seemed to exert this kind of control over was music (probably because music was so much a part of the show's identity). It would make sense that they would want to lock in the prospective recording artists that they would record only under the Glee banner since they felt that any albums would reflect upon the Glee brand (and why Mark seemed to be punished for releasing an album independently).

 

The downside for the cast is that they got stuck with a label that wasn't focused on them as individual artists and once Glee ITunes sales began to plummet, the likelihood of them getting their albums to see the light of day diminished. Then Lea's album didn't exactly sell gangbusters and that pretty much did it for the chances of anyone else getting their albums released. Which is a shame because it doesn't appear that it was a question of merit, but being tied to the diminishing Glee brand. Now the only shot they have of getting an album out is for Columbia to drop them (like Naya and Amber) or to sue their way out (like Alex). Otherwise they'll be like Darren, with their album stuck in limbo.

 

Make me very glad that my favorite expressed no interest in releasing an album and that the show runners had no interest in having a say in projects like books or films (so long as production and promotion didn't conflict with the Glee schedule).

[caracas1914]

Well Jaytee, I won't deny I wish Lea"s first album was better, but overall I liked some songs.   The fact that Columbia is footing the bill for a second Lea Michele album to be recorded IMO indicates they were satisfied with the first album on some level.  I'm guessing a limited tour this summer to promote it. 

[jaytee1812]

I just found the whole thing very meh. I mean it's decent but it sounded like something Meaghan Trainor could produce, and that's not a compliment. It's very Taylor Swift lite, it's teen pop, why would you do that when you have a voice like Lea's?

Also, I thought there were at least four covers because four songs have the same title as four hit songs. Just thought I'd mention it because I thought it was weird.

[fakeempress]

Without knowing anything, I assumed there is some term to the Columbia first album dibs or whatever the contract is. Like, if the option isn't picked up by this and this date - which I assumed would be the end of the Glee run or a set number of years - the actors can go do whatever, they just can't use the material they may have worked on and recorded while under the Columbia contract? Do they have to be expressly released even if Glee is now dead, and they haven't recorded anything? There was a poster here, bravelittletoaster, who knew about these things, but she left a while ago. 

Edited April 14, 2015 by fakeempress

[caracas1914]

Do they have to be expressly released even if Glee is now dead, and they haven't recorded anything?

 

Yes, that was my main question.   My guess is that if say, Kevin, never had any recording sessions with Columbia while Glee was on, there is a statue of limitations with Glee ended, where as at some point Kevin can simply  sign with another label.  I doubt they can keep Kevin in perpetuity as part of the Columbia label.    It's different with the cast where expenses/recordings may have already occurred so things have to be ironed out financially.  

 

My impression is that recording sessions are usually passed on to the artists by the Label as "advances" to have be be paid back eventually once an album is released.

Edited April 14, 2015 by caracas1914

[dizzyizzy01]

Was Alex still with Columbia, ie is that the "suffocating recording contract" the article refers to? 

 

Another question: we know the Original Glee cast such as Lea, Kevin, Chris, Amber, etc were signed with Columbia records to have first dibs on an album.  Some of them, like Naya, Amber and Darren and clearly had some expenses incurred, whether recording sessions (at home or in a studio). musicians, tracks laid, songs/songwriters used,  etc that has to be hashed out with Columbia , since Lea as of now seems to be the only one to actually release an album (with a second one already underway) .  IOW, they could have had some advances and other prep work , the financial details needing to be ironed out to be officially let go.   I thought I read  Amber bought out of her Columbia contract but I could be mistaken.

 

IN contrast , from all accounts, Kevin, Jenna, Chris, Dianna had zero recordings/expenses  for any  planned album with Columbia,   So does that mean due to inactivity that those recording contracts , with Glee no longer running, have lapsed or will lapse with some statue of limitations?  I would imagine some of the contracts were penned back in 2008/09, and again, with no money changing hands I doubt they would stay valid indefinitely.

 

It's not a statute of limitations, but there will be a time when the contract is no longer valid.  A lot of contracts are structured based on a number of albums and a prescribed time period.  In the case for the cast of glee, it may be tied to the show ending, but I actually think it's more likely there's some sort of rights to their first album and potential subsequent albums, maybe there's a time period post show where the contract lapses but it's hard to say.  I think this was kind of a new world in terms of television productions/recording contracts.  Also, the majority of the cast wasn't really in a great position to negotiate favorable terms.  You can always seek to be released though if the label has no interest in you, and they may let you go.  However, it depends on how difficult they are and what releasing you/vs. keeping you for the future may be worth (or not) to them.  Though if it's clear there's no movement or some terms that appear unfair, a lot of bands have gone through legal channels like appealing to state labor codes to be released from a contract early.  Sometimes people may not necessarily have the resources to do so though.  Also, with the cast that seem to have no interest in music, they'll probably just let whatever terms lapse.

 

Bottom line though, is yes.  There likely needs to be some explicit release.  Either a buy-out of the contract or some mutual agreement. Also, contracts that don't necessarily have a set prescribed time expiration (i.e., a number of "guaranteed" albums) can be found to violate state labor codes after a certain period of time, and that's another avenue people have used to renegotiate terms or get out of existing deals.

Edited April 14, 2015 by dizzyizzy01

[mercfan3]

It could actually be worse than that for people like Lea, Darren, and Amber who have/had a contract. 

 

Columbia seems to be okay with Lea, but we've gotten nothing out of Darren and Amber. I don't know if they are still in contract or if they've been dropped..but record companies can be nasty about some of that stuff. As in..not let them out of their contract but not plan on actually releasing an album either. (Basically, don't want the competition to get them, but don't really want them..or think at some point they could use them when they are more successful in something else.)

 

If you are on a label that isn't interested in you, it can be much worse than being unsigned. 

[fakeempress]

Amber isn't with Columbia any more. I think it was late last year she said she was let go. She also mentioned on the radio show with Kevin about looking for a new label and trying to get an album done -- which now seems set to come out soonish.

Edited April 14, 2015 by fakeempress

[jaytee1812]

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/04/13/darren-criss-tweets-first-photo-himself-full-hedwig-makeup

Darren in full Hedwig make up.

Not sure if I like that. You know how some guys look great in make up (Harry in eyeliner during 'Scream') and some just look like men with make up on. I think Darren's the second.

[Snow Apple]

I think all the Hedwigs so far look like men with makeup, except for JCM (and that may be because I'm use to seeing him as Hedwig since the movie).

 

As for record companies, from what I'm reading, they suck. So they have no interesting in certain artists, yet they won't release them and are preventing them from working elsewhere and earning money? I'm not even talking about the Glee kids. Just any singer in general.

Edited April 14, 2015 by Snow Apple

[tom87]

His Hedwig promo is a little to pristine imo.

[fakeempress]

Looks to me too clean and brightly lit, and he reads quite young. My guess it's because of the audience they're after with his casting. 

Edited April 14, 2015 by fakeempress

[caracas1914]

Was Naya ever officially dropped by Columbia?

[mercfan3]

I think all the Hedwigs so far look like men with makeup, except for JCM (and that may be because I'm use to seeing him as Hedwig since the movie).

 

As for record companies, from what I'm reading, they suck. So they have no interesting in certain artists, yet they won't release them and are preventing them from working elsewhere and earning money? I'm not even talking about the Glee kids. Just any singer in general.

 

A little off topic, but if your interested, take a look into JoJo's career. (Although a similar thing happened to Katy Perry early on.) 

[tom87]

Jayma Mays (Glee) has been cast opposite Tom Cruise in Mena, Doug Liman’s drug-pilot drama from Imagine Entertainment and Universal Pictures. It’s a fact-based tale about Barry Seal (Cruise), a pilot who was a gun runner and drug trafficker who transported contraband for the CIA and the Medellin cartel during the 1980s. The title refers to Mena, AR, where a lot of the illegal activity took place under the noses of Presidents Reagan and Bush and then-Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton. Mays will play Dana Sibota, the Assistant Attorney General of Arkansas. Foul-mouthed, unreasonable, demanding and the kind of boss everyone hates, she desperately wants to take Seal down

 

http://deadline.com/2015/04/jayma-mays-mena-tessa-thompson-war-on-everyone-1201409123/

[AndySmith]

she desperately wants to take Seal down

 

Which means her character will have no redeeming qualities or shades of grey, and we should start booing and hissing her as soon as she appears on-screen, what with this being a movie with TC as protagonist...

[Hana Chan]

Which means her character will have no redeeming qualities or shades of grey, and we should start booing and hissing her as soon as she appears on-screen, what with this being a movie with TC as protagonist...

 

Considering that I can no longer stand Tom Cruise, I'll be rooting for Jayma's character all the way.

[tab19]

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/04/13/darren-criss-tweets-first-photo-himself-full-hedwig-makeup

Darren in full Hedwig make up.

I'm sure a make-up artist on this board can help me with this:  Where the fuck are his eyebrows??  Do they pluck for the show, or just cover them up??

 

Also:  

 Mays will play Dana Sibota, the Assistant Attorney General of Arkansas. Foul-mouthed, unreasonable, demanding and the kind of boss everyone hates, she desperately wants to take Seal down

Might see the movie just to see 'Emma' be foul-mouthed!

[fakeempress]

 

I'm sure a make-up artist on this board can help me with this:  Where the fuck are his eyebrows??  Do they pluck for the show, or just cover them up??

They cover them, it's a theatre makeup thing :)

Here is a Buzzfeed tutorial on the Hedwig makeup

Edited April 15, 2015 by fakeempress

[tab19]

They cover them, it's a theatre makeup thing :)

Here is a Buzzfeed tutorial on the Hedwig makeup

Thank you!  I can't be the only one mostly stunned by the absence of eyebrows, one of Darren's more distinctive features...  :)

[shantown]

I'm sure a make-up artist on this board can help me with this:  Where the fuck are his eyebrows??  Do they pluck for the show, or just cover them up??

 

Also:  

Might see the movie just to see 'Emma' be foul-mouthed!

For those with Hulu Plus, you can see Jayma Mays in an episode of the show Resident Advisors. Vanessa Lengies (Sugar) also shows up in several episodes, as does Romy Rosemont (Carol Hudson-Hummel).

[ComfySweater]

Fair warning, Resident Advisors is not very good. It's a chance to see them, but I can't recommend it for entertainment value. I'm not talking about the skill of the actors. A lot of very talented people are in that iffy mess. Sometimes no amount of talent can elevate the material.

[AndySmith]

So its like the last 3 or so seasons of Glee!

 

Here is EW's review of Finding Neverland.

 

(spoiler alert, they gave it a B+)

Edited April 16, 2015 by AndySmith

[caracas1914]

I'd say overall the reviews for Neverland are mixed , at best,

 

Variety: 

http://variety.com/2015/legit/reviews/finding-neverland-review-broadway-1201473086/

 

Hollywood Reporter

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/matthew-morrison-finding-neverland-theater-789037

 

Huffington Post:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alexandra-villarreal/finding-neverland-its-tim_b_7074724.html

 

New York Post:

http://nypost.com/2015/04/15/glee-star-matthew-morrison-works-tirelessly-to-drive-overbearing-finding-neverland/

 

NY TIMES:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/04/15/arts/ap-us-theater-review-finding-neverland.html?_r=0

 

There are some good personal notices of Matt Morrison, and the box office has gotten off to a good start (10 million advance) however it's too soon to conclude whether it will recoup it's costs and become a hit. 

Edited April 16, 2015 by caracas1914

[Sara2009]

I'm not surprised tbh. Though with a few exceptions( like the NY Times) at least the cast aren't getting the brunt of the criticism.

I personally like the score, but I'm not shocked that the theatre critics don't.

[AdorkableSars]

 

Not sure if I like that. You know how some guys look great in make up (Harry in eyeliner during 'Scream') and some just look like men with make up on. I think Darren's the second.

 

He rocked the guyliner in the movie "Girl Most Likely". Looked super hot then...but yeah, not so much with the Hedwig makeup!

[fakeempress]

A lot of actors can look great in eyeliner ... and then there is Nestor Carbonell in a category all his own.

Edited April 16, 2015 by fakeempress

[TheGourmez]

A lot of actors can look great in eyeliner ... and then there is Nestor Carbonell in a category all his own.

 

No one can touch Netsor Carbonell in the eyeliner category. It's unfair to even attempt a comparison.

[caracas1914]

i"m not sure if Matt's notices are good enough to garner heat/momentum for a Tony nom for lead actor in a musical.   Not outside the realm of possibility but iffy from what I read of the reviews overall. 

 

"Neverland" itself seems polarizing , to say the least.

[AndySmith]

Don't discount the Miramax/Wienstein Marketing Machine...not sure how the Tony awards process compares to say, the Oscar awards process, but I'm sure he has definitely looked into it.

[Ceeg]

The way Broadway works now, good or bad reviews are almost meaningless. 

[caracas1914]

How so, Ceeg?