GLEEorious: The Grand Finale

When the US television series GLEE hits the boob tube in 2009, immediately it has caught the attention of the public. Kids, teenagers and young adults became very engrossed with the said series and has become a hit. It has enticed the viewing public with its realistic plots about high school and their covers of Broadway and pop hits. With its recent success, a play was produced by Sikat Academy of Iloilo showcasing the talents of local Ilonggo artists.

Based on the hit series, GLEEorious brings our beloved show choir from Mckinly High to the stage. Avid fans of the series will immediately notice that most of the lines in the stage are similar with the series which brings joy to the fans of the series.I have high expectations with the play. It has been staging for more or less 3 months and I was hoping for a near perfect performance, however, I was proven wrong.

One of the problems of the play is the audio itself. It seems that the audio was not able to showcase the total package of the voices of the ones who are singing. The microphones are not even enough for all the characters in the play and because of this, the actors resorted to some awkward exchanges of microphones during the song productions. 

Another observation is that some of the songs that were on the play were not placed strategically. I have a problem on how the Christmas Songs were injected in the play. I know that Christmas is just around the corner but it seems off key that it was included in the shortlist of songs.

The cast, on the other hand, has undeniably have beautiful voices. The kid who portrayed Rachel gives power vocal and acting performances. The other members of the show choir also showed good vocal showdown. I am very impressed with the teachers as they sing "Hallelujah" and the way I see it, that number is the best among all of the performances. The problem with the cast is that the other actors upstaged Finn and Rachel who were supposed to be the star of the show choir. This is evident at the final song where Finn and Rachel was not able to show much of their vocal prowess as compared to the series.

There might have been a lot of lapses with the production, however, the singing talents of the kids -- and the teachers who were involved in the play is worth the watch. It was a bit disappointing that the imperfections were not addressed, after all they have been staging for 2 months. The grand finale was a success not because it has exceeded the expectations on the technicalities but because it was able to showcase the talents of the youth and boost their self-confidence.

GRADE: C