the gleevent

Opera House, Wellington

24/09/2010 - 03/10/2010

Production Details



Inspired by glee!

It’s the concert event of the year and it’s coming to the Opera House in Wellington this September for a limited season. If you like the songs and spectacle of the popular TV series glee, you are going to love the gleevent. This show is a high energy celebration of music and dance from the producers of Miss Saigon, Cats and High School Musical.

The show features an exciting range of songs and includes something for everyone in the family. Witness some of your all-time favourite songs by Madonna, Adam Lambert, Queen, Neil Diamond, Lady Gaga and many more live on stage in the gleevent.

Breathtaking music, song and choreography combine to form this spectacular concert experience featuring dynamic staging, incredible lighting and superb technical effects, all while showcasing some of New Zealand’s most talented young performers.

It’s the gleevent. It will blow the roof off the Opera House this September. Don’t miss it!

Opening September 24 for a strictly limited season.

the gleevent!

The Opera House, Wellington
Fri 24 Sept – Sun 3 Oct
(No show Mon, Tue)
Wed- Sat, 7.30pm | Sun 4pm | Sat 03 Oct 2pm

Adults and Childrens tickets are available at the following prices. If you purchase an Adult or Childs ticket before August 31st you will receive $10 off the price of all Adult tickets and $5 off the price of all Childrens tickets. 

The Group booking discount as listed below remains available for the full season.

Adult – $59.90
Child price (14 years and under) – $39.90
Groups of 10 + Adults – $49.90
Groups of 10 + Kids – $34.90
Service fees, credit card charges and delivery fees may apply. Price includes $1.50 Performing Arts Levy. 

Book at Ticketek  


CAST 
Abigail Drane | Adam O’Hara | Alice Russell | Ashley Hale-Durham | Catherine Reid | Conor McCabe | David Hoskins | Eryn Street | Gemma Boyle | Hannah Bain | Hannah Candy | Hinanui Taputu | Hollie King | Ivy Rose Padilla | Jacinta Willcox | Jesse Finn | Jessie Maguren | Joanna Lees | Katty Lau | Jennifer Bateman | Lawrence Lugtu | Lizzie Callaghan | Louise Baker | Mariana Araiti | Pattarit Na Nagara (Mark) | Matt Mulholland | Ngahiriwa Rauhina | Patricia Butterfield | Phaedra Brice | Rebecca Trist | Rigie Abadies | Sam Bennett | Samuel McLeod | Sarah McMillan | Serena Daysh | Shauni Hannah | Skye Hay | Stephanie Jowett | Teresa Hoskins | Todd Williamson | Vernon Prime 



Absorbable, palpable, digestible

Review by Maryanne Cathro 25th Sep 2010

The name of this piece tells us a lot about what to expect – it is an event inspired by the television series glee. I’ve only seen a couple of episodes of it and it didn’t really do it for me, and as I’m assuming that most of you are not high school kids looking for an extension of the TV experience, consider it a red herring.

If you haven’t seen glee but you remember Fame, you’d be thinking along the right lines. The gleevent is really a musical revue, performing songs that are staged from a simple solo to an entire cast extravaganza.

The words “ridiculously talented” kept coming into my head. Perhaps there is a touch of envy in my choice of words! The young cast sing, dance and make great use of jazz fingers with enough energy to support the national grid. Only the most hardened cynic would fail to be uplifted by this amazing show. 

The music was mostly selected from the glee albums, with a few extras thrown in. Mostly chart-topping pop and rock songs from the 1960s to the 2000s, there is also a sprinkling of show songs. Highlights for me:

  • Matt Mulholland singing ‘Sweet Caroline’ in front of the curtain with such infectious humour and joy, many of the audience joined in;
  • Jessie Maguren nailing ‘River Deep, Mountain High’ – that woman has a voice that could raze mountains!
  • Patricia Butterfield’s many soaring vocal moments – she has the voice of an angel;
  • A hilarious staging of Olivia Newton John’s ‘Physical’ complete with leg warmers;
  • Some quite breathtaking popping (or is it crumping?) from Rigie and Lawrence;

And countless moments of beautiful choreography and vocal skills. These are in the hands not only of the talented cast but the exceptional talents of Leigh Evans and Michael Nicholas Williams respectively. Bearing in mind this show has none of the walking and talking down time moments of a traditional musical, they had a lot to achieve in two hours.

I must mention the contribution of Peter Stobbart whose state of the art audio visual work on the many stage screens blending live video elements with animated graphics added another layer of delight, amazement and, well, wow factor.

Put it this way – if I was in the mood for a spectacular evening’s entertainment and had to choose between going to WOW and going to gleevent, I’d choose gleevent in a heartbeat. The action is absorbable, the talent palpable, the experience digestible. It really is gleeful!
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