Gleeks

For nearly two years, Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff shared a stage in the Off Broadway and Broadway productions of “Spring Awakening” as Wendla and Melchior, the German youths who share feelings, a beating and many more intimate acts during an ill-fated romance. After enduring that for eight shows a week, Ms. Michele and Mr. Groff did not get sick of each other, and instead forged a friendship that, as you’ll shortly see, is unusual, even for theater people.

It’s a friendship that has lasted as Mr. Groff has continued his career in theater (“Prayer for My Enemy,” “The Singing Forest”) and film (“Taking Woodstock”) and Ms. Michele has become a star of the Fox series “Glee” (which Alessandra Stanley and Jon Caramanica debated in Arts & Leisure). On Tuesday the actors are reunited in the spring premiere of “Glee,” when Mr. Groff joins the cast as Jesse St. James, the lead singer of a rival high-school choir determined to make trouble for Rachel Berry, the aspiring superstar played by Ms. Michele.

In these excerpts from a recent conversation with ArtsBeat, conducted while Mr. Groff was on a break and Ms. Michele attempted to drive herself to her stylist’s house, the performers talked about their work together on “Spring Awakening” and “Glee,” and their unusual friendship, which manifested itself before a single question could be asked.

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No one wants to go through life known as “the Asian dude.” But for Harry Shum, Jr., it’s a dream come true. The 27-year-old plays football player and show-choir member Mike Chang on the hit show “Glee,” but he’s much better known for being “the other Asian,” a nickname dubbed by Jane Lynch’s scary cheerleading coach character, Sue Sylvester.

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( Madonna ep spoilers )