I do not, however, in any way believe that NPH would have been cast as a "townsperson" after that kind of vocal audition, no matter how terrible his reputation around town. I do not believe any community theatre would pass on that kind of talent, regard of the diva baggage. I call Shenanigans on that plot device.

I was hoping that they would continue the rivalry with casting one as Jean Valjean and the other as Javert, which could mean a meaningful duet later in the season.

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We've started watching Glee. While I'm still getting up to speed on the plotlines, I lovelovelove the grab-bag journey through the popular music (in the broadest sense) songbook each week.

I do not, however, in any way believe that NPH would have been cast as a "townsperson" after that kind of vocal audition, no matter how terrible his reputation around town.

I figured Shue would be cast as Valjean, and NPH as Javert.

I was impressed with Artie's "Dream a Little Dream of Me." Not quite as good as Mama Cass Elliott's version, but I'm not sure anybody could reach that level.

(Conversational exchange during "Safety Dance," before the reveal:

Hubs: There's no way he could dance that well that soon.

Me: It's entertainment. Deal.)

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Great minds, Fred!

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Yep, Vortex -- I didn't see your comment until after I posted.

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Bscking up to when I realized that the actor, who plays Artie, is not actually disabled, I had thought - well, if they are going to cast someone who can walk, there better be a dream dance at some point. I had kinda forgotten about that.

When I get back from the dentist, I am rewatching. I hope it is up online cause my Tivo version has breaks for tornado warnings during the big NPH and Shue duet.

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Did we know Matthew Morrison was hiding this under his shirt?

I first became aware of him from his Humpty Dumpty striptease at Broadway Bares a couple of years ago, so it was no surprise.

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Did we know Matthew Morrison was hiding this under his shirt?

One of the nice things about looking for pictures for ita is things like this: [link]

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I was hoping for Valjean/Javert as well. Gah. I may need to break out my Les Miz cds.

Clearly mileage varies WRT Artie and how they're handling his story. But, yanno, when they can't even be bothered to get a wheelchair that fits him properly...

I first became aware of him from his Humpty Dumpty striptease at Broadway Bares a couple of years ago, so it was no surprise.

His who with the what now?

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But, yanno, when they can't even be bothered to get a wheelchair that fits him properly...

How so, smonster? My only experience with wheelchairs is The Prince of Darkness (AKA my brother) who had to finally start using a wheelchair because he's so massively overweight and his diabetes so out of control, his legs won't physically support him. Also, because he's a damned lazy mofo, but that's another issue altogether.

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A critique of the Glee wheelchair choreography (the "Proud Mary" routine from a while ago) by someone who does wheelchair dance: [link]

And then there's the sad fact of the "dancing;" the choreography sucks. The one potentially interesting move that McHale supposedly "does" is a cut -- he wheelies on one rear wheel. The rest is notable only for the way that it shows that able-bodied, non-wheelchair-using folk really do think of chairs as bicycles you move with your arms. There's absolutely no body-chair integration at all. They think of sitting in a chair as being only about not being able to move their legs (and in Artie's case as being about having his hips and legs twisted to one side). That mistaken understanding leads to some very weird looking people in chairs. On chairs would be a better phrase for it. The fake paralysis of their legs somehow wends its way up their bodies so that they are really only able to push with their elbows (no wonder they have sore arms!).

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