Matthew Morrison Announces Plans to Open 'GLEE' Schools

Will music students soon be bringing in an apple for a real-life Mr. Schuester? According to Yahoo.com Glee star Matthew Morrison, aka choir leader Will Schuester, has announced plans to open a string of "Glee schools".

Inspired by his TV role, the 34-year-old actor is developing an "international network of performing arts schools for talented students." He recently explained to the UK's The Independent, "My focus is on arts education. I'm trying to create an accredited school program that would go nationwide and hopefully global eventually,"

He continued, "It's kind of modelled after the performing arts school I went to [New York University's Tisch School of the Arts]. It would be great to have one in London. It's something I'd like to talk to Andrew Lloyd Webber about."

Morrison, who is currently in the UK to promote his second studio album, 'Where It All Began,' hopes that the schools will make up for a rash of budget cuts in school music departments worldwide.

"Where It All Began" was released through Adam Levine's record label 222 Records on June 4th. The album contains tunes from THE WIZ - a duet with Smokey Robinson, as well as selections from WEST SIDE STORY, MY FAIR LADY, OLIVER!, GUYS & DOLLS and others.

Although a Broadway actor since the age of 19, Matthew Morrison made a bigger splash on TV, where he began playing the role of Mr. Shuester - the well-meaning music teacher and adult star of Glee - in 2009. The show required its cast to sing and dance, two skills Morrison had sharpened during his time as a stage actor. A California native, he began performing in school plays and theater camp productions before relocating to New York, where he enrolled at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. After a brief stint in the boy band LMNT, Morrison returned his focus to acting and landed a role in the Broadway adaptation of Footloose.

More Broadway shows followed, including the first stage production of John Waters' Hairspray. The musical won a Grammy Award in 2003 for its soundtrack; Morrison also received his own nomination from the Outer Critics Circle Awards, having attracted a good bit of attention by originating the role of Link Larkin. As his reputation grew, so did his résumé, and Morrison began branching out into film and TV.

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