Glee is a musical comedy television series that airs on Fox. It focuses on a high school show choir, also known as a glee club, set within the fictional William McKinley High School in Lima, Ohio. A pilot episode of the show was broadcast after American Idol on May 19, 2009, and the rest of the season will begin airing on September 9, 2009.

The series features 12 main characters: faculty members Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison), Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) and Emma Pillsbury (Jayma Mays), Will's wife Terri (Jessalyn Gilsig), and students Rachel Barry (Lea Michele), Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith), Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer), Mercedes Jones (Amber Riley), Artie Abrams (Kevin McHale), Tina Cohen-Chang (Jenna Ushkowitz), Noah "Puck" Puckerman (Mark Salling) and Quinn Fabray (Dianna Agron). Broadway stars including John Lloyd Young and Kristin Chenoweth will feature in recurring and minor roles. A number of the principal actors were cast directly from Broadway, while those without theatrical backgrounds were required to demonstrate singing and dancing as well as acting ability.

In casting Glee, Murphy sought out actors who could identify with the rush of starring in theatrical roles. Instead of using traditional network casting calls, he spent three months on Broadway, where he found Morrison, who had previously starred on stage in Hairspray and The Light in the Piazza, Michele, who starred in Spring Awakening, and Ushkowitz, from the Broadway revival of The King and I. The role of Rachel was written specifically for Michele.

Colfer had no previous professional experience, but reminded Ryan of the character of Kurt from The Sound of Music, and was thusly cast as Kurt Hummel. He originally. auditioned for Artie with the song "Mr Cellophane", however Murphy was so impressed by his performance that the role of Kurt was created for him.

Colfer commented on his casting: "I'm so happy to be a part of something that is so new and different and so needed at this time. It's good to have something positive, especially for kids in small towns, like myself, who need a little pick-me-up. It's true: You can be famous - even if there's no money left in the world." Auditioning actors with no theatrical experience were required to prove they could sing and dance as well as act.

Mays auditioned with the song "Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch Me" from The Rocky Horror Show, while Monteith initially submitted a tape of himself acting only, and was requested to submit a second, musical tape, in which he sung "a cheesy, '80s music-video-style version" of REO Speedwagon's "Can't Fight This Feeling"." Monteith has deemed his casting "spot on" as: "I'm just like my character. I've never trained or had any lessons. I can just do it - with some adjustments, obviously." McHale came from a boy-band background, having previously been part of the group Not Like Them.

He auditioned with the song "Let It Be" and tested alongside Colfer and Ushkowitz. He explained that the diversity of the cast's backgrounds reflects the range of different musical styles within the show itself: "It's a mix of everything: classic rock, current stuff, R&B. Even the musical theater stuff is switched up.

You won't always recognize it." Lynch was originally supposed to have a recurring role in the show, but became a series regular when a Damon Wayans pilot she was working on for ABC fell through.

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