Morrison breaks free from Glee

Matthew Morrison is best known as teacher Mr Schuester in hit series Glee, but he's now hoping to come into his own with a debut solo album and UK tour. The actor and singer reveals what it was like recording songs for the album with Gwyneth Paltrow and Sir Elton John, and why he wants to make a break with his much-loved screen persona.

By Lisa Williams.

To most he's Mr Schuester, the tank-top-wearing, well-meaning teacher in hit teen musical comedy Glee. But Matthew Morrison is out to prove there's more to his repertoire, and his wardrobe.

And what better way to break out of the staff room than to sing about his various exploits on his first solo album?

The 32-year-old has used his new-found fame to launch his own music career - something he's wanted to do since being "forced to sing" as a 10-year-old thrown into a children's theatre - and some of the lyrics on his debut single Summer Rain might make even those raunchy Glee cheerleaders blush.

"That song is a memory burn," says Morrison, unabashed. "It's a true story of making love on a roof with a girlfriend I had at the time. For me it was a story about being young and in love and in New York City."

The actor and singer, who is enjoying a rare bit of British sunshine on the terrace of his hotel room and looking considerably more trendy than his Glee counterpart in jeans and a leather jacket, admits he's trying to "open up and share myself a little bit" and to "get away from being typecast as Mr Schuester".

He's even written a song for the album called My Name, which is about strangers greeting him as his character and, with lyrics such as, 'We only look the same/And they don't know my name', pleads with fans to differentiate Matthew Morrison from his alter ego.

But there are plenty of signs that the two men sing from the same song sheet more often than Morrison might admit.

Gwyneth Paltrow, for example, who plays Mr Schue's love interest Holly Holliday, makes an appearance on the album, singing a duet with him of Somewhere Over The Rainbow.

"We loved working together," says Morrison, breaking out into a broad grin. "She became such a good friend of mine and I knew she was coming back to shoot another episode so I just asked her to be on the album, because I wanted a female duet.

"Our version of the song is very ukulele driven but I put a lot of strings into it which we recorded at Abbey Road. The bit I wanted to bring out in this song, which isn't done so much these days, is the great prelude to the song." He demonstrates his point by breaking out into the lesser-known 'When all the clouds...' introduction to the Wizard Of Oz classic. "It was beautiful," he adds.

He also managed to score a duet with Sir Elton John, a massive Glee fan whose song Don't Go Breaking My Heart featured in one episode.

"It was fun working with him, but it was surreal and for three days afterwards I was like, 'Did that really happen?'," says Morrison, who admits he was "pretty cool" on the outside despite feeling massively starstruck.

And though the curly-haired actor, who was a Tony award-winning Broadway star before landing a role in Glee, was ready to make the break from his character, he admits that it was still a daunting experience.

He says: "I was a little nervous about it at first because I usually get to hide behind a character in a show. It's kind of exposing when it's just you, so there were nerves - but once I let go and started writing the songs, it got better. People don't know who I am, they know me as Mr Schue, so it was good to open up."

It is perhaps a brave move, as the actor - who is currently single but has been linked to Olivia Munn and Kelly Brook in the past - says he has been uncomfortable with the amount of interest in his personal life since Glee hit the screens.

"We were part of something special when we started the show but no one expected it to be this phenomenon that it's become," he says.

"It's been quite a ride and there have been some great things that have come out of it but there have also been some trying, difficult things as well. 'Paps' hang out outside my home in Los Angeles, for example, but I'm so happy this is happening in my 30s because I got to live it out in my 20s without being in the public eye."

He's also hoping this attempt to establish himself as a recording artist will be more fun than his previous stab at the charts, when he and four other guys formed a boy band called LMNT (pronounced 'element').

"Well, that was not a fun year," he states, shaking his head. "It was very contrived and in the late 90s - when you couldn't throw a stick and not hit someone in a boy band."

It is obviously different this time around, with plenty of Glee aficionados there to form an instant fan base.

But with his career progressing at such a rapid pace - there's the album, a forthcoming tour and his ongoing role in Glee - he has little spare time, and doubts whether he will be able to see much of the UK while touring.

"I love it over here and I was so excited to come here, and fortunately or unfortunately I'm always so busy. I would love to have a day to, you know, go see something. But it is what it is and I'm really just trying to ride this wave and enjoy this time and get the most out of it.

"And hopefully someday I don't have to work as much and then enjoy my life a little bit more."

Don't stop believing Matthew...

EXTRA TIME - MATTHEW MORRISON :: On his Glee highlight: "A high point of the show was the Umbrella/Singin' In The Rain mash-up. I loved that episode and I got to do that Make 'Em Laugh number, when I got to do that backflip off the wall."

:: On the one thing he doesn't like about Mr Schue: "The sweater-vest thing he wears. I'm over it, but I get it, it's Ohio."

:: On the best thing about Glee: "I love how it opens up a dialogue with families. I've heard some stories about parents watching with their kids and then talking about being gay, bullying and teen pregnancy, stuff like that."

:: On working with Jane Lynch, who plays Mr Schue's nemesis Sue Sylvester: "She's really upped my game from when I thought I was being funny."

:: On the prospect of fans throwing underwear at him during the tour: "Just as long as they're clean I think that'll be all right, I'll take 'em."

source: halesowennews.co.uk