Lynner’s guest spot on ‘Glee’ TV show debuts this evening

LYNN – Lynn native Alex Newell won the chance of a lifetime last summer when he placed as one of the two runners-up in the reality show “The Glee Project” and landed a two-episode gig on the hugely successful FOX television show “Glee.”Finally, everyone will get to see him singing and dancing with the kids from McKinley High in tonight’s episode.”I’m so excited. I can’t wait to see it,” the Bishop Fenwick senior said. “I worked very hard on it.”Newell filmed the episode last month that is titled “Saturday Night Glee-ver.” It pays homage to the classic 1977 disco film “Saturday Night Fever. “For Newell being on the set of “Glee” was a dream come true.”I couldn’t ask for anything better,” he said.Newell said most people would be surprised about how much waiting around there is on set.”If you’re not in the scene, you just wait, wait and wait,” Newell said. “Until finally, it’s your time to get up there and do the best you can do.”He does admit filming was a grueling schedule.”You film a scene in a million ways. You do it in different angles and find ways to say the lines differently,” Newell said. “It’s like doing eight shows a week on stage in one day.”The aspiring performer developed a quick friendship with the cast.”I loved all the dancers. Amber Riley (who plays Mercedes Jones) is like my twin. Chris Colfer (who plays Kurt Hummel) is a sweetheart,” Newell said. “I loved them all. I can’t choose a favorite.”Newell didn’t want his “Glee” experience to end.”It was hard for me to leave. I got attached really quickly,” he said.Newell isn’t the only one excited to see his performance on the hit television show. His mother, Brenda Newell, may even be more excited to see her son on television.”I can’t even put it into words how excited I am to finally see it,” she said. “I am so incredibly proud of him.”For the proud mother watching her child on “The Glee Project” was a roller-coaster ride.”I was excited and also worried. I wanted to make sure he made it to the next round,” she said.A big part of Newell’s story on the reality show was coming out as a gay teenager, something he shared with his mother before he arrived in Hollywood.”I told him that I love him unconditionally and that still holds true,” she said. “I think he was sent to me for a purpose and we are beginning to find out why now.”Newell said he doesn’t know where he will watch the episode.”I guess I have to figure that out,” he joked.If “Glee” asked Newell back, he said he would take the role in a heartbeat.”I could do that every day of my life easily,” he said.Sara Brown can be reached at [email protected].