From
Inside TV at aol.com, which is also taking a poll about whether Kevin McHale (pictured) should perform in a wheelchair.
It's not just 'Proud Mary' that's gonna keep on rollin'.
Videos from the 'Glee' cast's performance at the White House annual Easter Egg Roll surfaced on Youtube today and amid praises for their always flawless vocals was one burning question: Why did they make Kevin McHale, who plays wheelchair-bound cutie Artie, perform in the chair?
McHale, who, unlike his character, is not paralyzed, stood up during the 'Glee' mall tour last fall but Sunday, he performed the show's iconic cover of Journey's 'Don't Stop Believing' and Queen's 'Somebody To Love' sitting in Artie's wheelchair.
The character's disability has been addressed sensitively and fairly on 'Glee' several times, including in one Artie-centric episode involving his inability to ride the bus to semi-finals with the rest of the Glee Club.
During dance-heavy performances on the show, Artie usually does the choreography sitting down or rips on the guitar on the sidelines. One show-stopping number -- the aforementioned 'Proud Mary' -- had the rest of the 'Glee' kids dancing in wheelchairs, too -- a touching (and teaching) moment for the musical comedy.
McHale addressed criticism about Artie being portrayed by an able-bodied actor to PopEater last November. "The point wasn't to get somebody who was in a wheelchair," he said. "It was the actor. It's the part that you're playing."
On Twitter and in the AOL offices, Gleeks were abuzz with why then McHale performed in Artie's chair yesterday. Was that the only way he'd learned the choreography and he just decided to stick with it? Is it part of some weird, blurred reality where the cast members are performing live as a mix of themselves and their on-screen counterparts?
At one point in the video, Lea Michele, who plays drama queen Rachel Berry, introduces co-star Matthew Morrison as his character, "our favorite teacher, Mr. Schuester." What does this mean for the upcoming Glee Live! tour this summer? Will McHale do the entire concert in Artie's chair? If so, is that at all fair to him when his co-stars are able to perform as themselves?
Dianna Agron's cheerleader character Quinn is pregnant (and showing) in Glee's universe. Does this mean Argon will don a fake baby belly for the entire summer tour?
Even though the kids performed 'Somebody To Love,' maybe another Queen song is fitting for McHale's weird wheelchair conundrum -- are these live performances the real life or are they just fantasy?
From Inside TV at aol.com, which is also taking a poll about whether Kevin McHale (pictured) should perform in a wheelchair.
