On The Set: Glee's Michael Jackson Tribute Episode
The thunder's just stopped rumbling, but a storm's still a-brewin' in a chilly parking garage just outside the Paramount Studio gates on a gusty Hollywood night. Inside, oblivious drivers exiting for the evening pass choreographer Zach Woodlee putting the warmly bundled-up Glee kids through a rigorous routine. Having only just been introduced to their complicated dance moves, the physically drained troupe will be in costume and before cameras in less than an hour shooting their big "Bad" production number — the crown jewel in a tribute episode to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, that airs on Tuesday, January 31.
As the deafening prerecorded track plays "I'm bad, I'm bad/Come on/You know it," Woodlee, a recognizable face himself as one of the judges on Oxygen's The Glee Project, shouts his marching orders: "Walk, walk. Swipe, swipe, punch. Now swing! Ladies, you have to start backing up against the wall like you're scared." Woodlee separates Lea Michele (Rachel), Naya Rivera (Santana), Dianna Agron (Quinn), Heather Morris (Brittany) and Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina) from the boys in a dance-off pitting the New Directions against the Warblers. "I promise you this will work. Well... maybe."
Tue, Jan 10, 2012