Glee's Matthew Morrison: An Onstage Study Of His Musical Contradictions
Monday night's show at the Scottrade Center was a spectacle to behold on many different levels, but let's focus specifically on Matthew Morrison. The 32-year-old came out onstage with vengeance, a bowtie and two back-up seductresses who were not afraid of a little grinding. The audience was also unafraid, but perhaps it should have been: The set, though short, was full of what-the-fudge moments. In honor of a show that left us both reeling and wondering whatever happened to Michael Buble, we have counted down the five onstage indications of Morrison's musical identity crisis.
Jon Gitchoff
5. He has trouble distinguishing himself from his Glee character.
After announcing "My Name," a song he wrote a year ago in London, Morrison told the crowd, "It's about the duality between being me and Mr. Schuester." It was unclear whether he realizes that he is not, in fact, Mr. Schuester, but then again, it was also hard to tell if the audience knew that.
4. Dude is really into Patrick Swayze.
Another shout-out involved Morrison praising his career and life idols, among them Patrick Swayze and Michael Jackson. The mix is slightly creepy but hardly surprising, especially if you were there for the dance solo he completed near the end. His moves, while spritely, are borrowed largely from Jackson and Dirty Dancing. We spotted both an R-rated moonwalk and a prostrate back-flip.
3. There's kind of an age gap.
While Mr. Schuester tends to steal the show from his students (bad teacher), he also tends to be significantly older than them. He was ten years older than the Backstreet Boys crowd and ten years younger than the New Kids on the Block devotees, which, obviously, made it totally normal for him to rock such jams as both "Young Girl" and "Mrs. Robinson." This actually happened.
2. He probably thinks he's "with it."
The clear highlight of Morrison's set was the smooth transition between the Simon and Garfunkel classic and, we kid, you not, "Gold Digger." For this purpose, the former Broadway crooner mustered up all the street cred he could manage and shouted, "We 'bout to get dirrrty now!" (There were definitely extra Rs.) Kanye West is rolling over in his sarcophpagus.
1. He was wearing a bowtie.
Jon Gitchoff
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