If you haven’t seen the Warblers perform “Teenage Dream” or New Directions do “Don’t Stop Believin’” live yet, you may have missed your chance. The two fictional Glee clubs, founded on Fox’s Glee, will not hit arenas this summer as plans for a new Glee Live! In Concert! tour have been scrapped.
The Hollywood Reporter broke the news last week, reporting that Glee creator Ryan Murphy has chosen to give his cast – which includes Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Matthew Morrison and Jane Lynch – a two-month break in place of performing for the concert series.
“We currently have no plans of touring with the cast this summer,” a Glee spokesperson told THR Friday.
Glee Live! In Concert! kicked off in 2010, and featured the entire young cast (Lynch and Morrison appeared only in pre-prepared videos) performing numbers from the first season. That summer saw only 10 shows, however, which were held in Los Angeles, New York City, Phoenix and Chicago.
Murphy extended the reach of the tour to include more U.S. cities as well as the U.K. and Canada for last summer’s version.
Back in 2010, Murphy was enthusiastic about the tour, seeing it as an obvious extension of the Glee franchise.
“The response of the fans to our little show has been so immediate and so gratifying, we wanted to get out and thank them live and in person,” Murphy said in a press release. “What show lends itself more to a concert than Glee?”
Now, after getting complaints of exhaustion from the cast, Murphy seems more focused on giving his hard-working stars a break than giving back to his fans.
While Glee Live! In Concert! did extremely well in ticket sales last year, becoming one of the Top 20 concert tours alongside Justin Bieber and selling out each its 40 dates, the film based on the shows (Glee: The 3D Concert Movie) was a low note for the show, and another possible reason for the cancellation.
Glee: The 3D Concert Movie only brought in $5.7 million in box office receipts its opening week. The film, however, was a $9 million production. It ended up breaking even and then some, but only by $2.9 million.
Although another full-fledged tour doesn’t seem to be in Glee’s cards, Murphy and Fox may prep a one-time concert event, hoping to raise funds for the charity Glee Give a Note, which supports arts education in the U.S.
If that event does happen, it won’t be until sometime next fall and will likely take place at California’s Hollywood Bowl.
Glee airs its midseason finale tonight at 8 p.m. ET on Global and Fox.
Are you disappointed you won’t be able to catch Glee Live! In Concert this summer? What Season 3 number were you hoping to see? Comment below.
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