The phenomenal success of the TV show Glee is mainly down to its talented creators, Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan. The industrious threesome initially envisaged Glee as a movie, but the decision to make it a TV show has proved a winning formula. Now that Glee tour tickets are being snapped up by Gleeks everywhere, the perfect blend of show tunes and chart hits is going coast to coast! “Gleeks” is an appropriate term for fans of the production, as it has been dovetailed effectively with today’s technology; songs from the show are released on iTunes the week each show is broadcast, and Gleeks get to listen to their heroes as they go about their daily business…but what is the winning formula that has spawned this amazing Glee concert tour?

It was writer Ian Brennan who birthed the concept of Glee, based on his experiences as an actual member of a High School choir. Brennan wrote the first draft of Glee in 2005, but it was a few years until the show would garner the interest and subsequent critical acclaim it now has.When a TV producer friend of Brennan’s gave a copy of Brennan’s script to Ryan Murphy, Murphy related to it instantly; he was also in a show choir whilst at college. Murphy and his Nip/Tuck colleague Brad Falchuk thought that, rather than a film, Glee should be adapted into a television show, and the rest is history. Amazingly, Glee was picked up by Fox less than 20 hours of them receiving it, possibly because of the already successful American Idol, also carried by Fox. Nowadays Brennan, Falchuk and Murphy write all the material for Glee, and they can’t be happier over the soaraway success of the Glee Live! spin-off tour!

The many cover versions of songs featured in episodes of Glee are performed in a show-type format, not in a traditional musical style. This is one reason young people have so taken to Glee and are buying Glee tour tickets in droves; the reality-based approach helps audiences relate to their on-screen heroes and this gives tremendous momentum to every episode. Finding the proper balance between covers and show tunes was one of the most important aspects of the writing, and it is this reality-based format combined with huge the variety of songs that has won over audiences.

According to Ryan Murphy, the use of other artists’ songs wasn’t met by any resistance by record labels because they simply loved the show. “I think the key to it is they loved the tone of it. They loved that this show was about optimism and young kids, for the most part, reinterpreting their classics for a new audience,” Murphy explained. Among those who actively offered the Glee team their hit songs are Billy Joel and even Madonna. In fact, the avalanche of offers from established musicians became so huge that Murphy was inspired to write an episode called “Original Song” in which the glee club teacher instructs the kids to write their own piece of music.