By JOHN CROOK

Nice-guy choral director Will Schuester may be heading for a gunfight at the OK Corral with his chief nemesis, but his real-life alter ego, Matthew Morrison, is nothing short of “Glee”-full as his show — the surprise hit ofthe 2009-10 TV season — returns to Fox with new episodes on Tuesday.

“Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) is coming back from ‘browning up a bit in Boca’ to unleash . . . on me,” Mor-rison says, “and (for the kids), it’s about dealing with that kind of fame, with the glee club winning (the sectionals competition before the show’s recent hiatus) and thinking that, ‘Oh, we’re suddenly going to be popular,’ and then to be slapped across the face and realize: ‘OK, we’re still in the glee club. Things haven’t changed too much.’”

Maybe not on the show, but for its cast? Wow.

TELEVISION

Lynch already has rocketed from “actor’s actor” status in a recurring role on “Two and a Half Men” and the Starz sitcom “Party Down” to anauthentic TV cult comedy icon, while Lea Michele (Rachel), who earned raves for “Spring Awakening” on Broadway, is gaining new success on the small screen. And Chris Colfer, who had virtually no professional TV ex-perience before the show, is still in pinch-me-I-must-be-dreaming mode as he builds a major following as gay student Kurt Hummel, a role “Glee” executive producer Ryan Murphy created just for him.

“I was horrible in school, because I had all these daydreams about something like this,” says Colfer, a 19-year-old native of Clovis, Calif.“Sometimes a town that has a million wonderful qualities can have its share of small-minded qualities, too. That started a lot of my hoping for an escape.

“I had nothing but tough times in high school. But I was the kind ofkid, very much like Kurt, who was so driven and set in what I wanted to do with my life and my future that I pretended that nothing they said both-ered me.”

And life has a way of imitating art on the set of “Glee,” where this dramedy about talented teen geeks (the show’s fans call themselves “Gleeks”) being mentored by an understanding grown-up was reflectedearly on by the relationship between the young cast members and Mor-rison, a Tony Award nominee for his work in Broadway’s “The Light in the Piazza.”

“At the beginning, I definitely was kind of the quiet, strong leader, but these kids have really come into their own.” Morrison says. “I don’t thinkthe show would be what it is without each and every one of their individ-ual contributions. Everyone is so special now. Chris, especially, looked up to me a lot in the beginning, because he is such a musical theater fan andknew about my career and all the shows that I have done, so he was like a‘superfan.’ But we see each other every day for so manyhours, even on weekends when we do press events together,so we really have become a family, doing this amazing thingwe love.”

Fans who knew Morrison as a handsome guy who could

sing and dance spectacularly must have been startled by a key moment earlier this season, as nice-guy Will discovered that wife, Terri (JessalynGilsig), his high-school sweetheart, was faking a pregnancy to manipulatehim. The harrowing kitchen face-off between the two was devastating, leading to the (apparent) rupture of their marriage.

“As an actor, you live for a scene like that, and especially since I hadbeen happy-go-lucky Will Schuester for most of the season,”

Morrison says. “It was such a great moment that flexed a differentmuscle. I wanted to approach that scene like a theater piece. In television, you usually rehearse right before you actually shoot. I asked the director of that episode if Jessalyn and I could maybe rehearse a couple of days outbefore that. They let us do it, which was crazy given the schedule we’re on, and it really felt ‘theatrical’ to me. I was so happy with how it all turnedout.”

Success breeds success, and “Glee” currently is a magnet for some of Broadway’s best performers. Jonathan Groff, Michele’s Tony-nominated“Spring Awakening” co-star, joins the show for several of these new epi-sodes, while Kristin Chenoweth reprises her hilarious yet poignant guestrole as boozy April Rhodes, and her “Wicked” co- star Idina Menzel showsup as the director of a rival show choir.

John Crook writes for Zap2it.

HIT MUSICAL DRAMEDY MAKES

WAY BACK TO FOXWITH GUEST STARSFROM BROADWAY

JONATHAN GROFFWHO HE PLAYS: Jesse St. James,the lead singer of Vocal Adrena-line, arch-nemeses of “Glee’s” NewDirections, and love interest forRachel (Lea Michelle).

THEATER CRED: He was a Tonynominee for “Spring Awakenings” and also starred off-Broadway in “Hair.”

“GLEE” CONNECTION: Michele was Groff’s co-star, and love interest, in “Spring Awakenings.”

KRISTIN CHENOWETHWHO SHE PLAYS: April Rhodes,the McKinley High School alumnwho also appeared last season and sang “Maybe This Time.”

THEATER CRED: Star of Broad-way’s “Wicked,” “The Apple Tree,” the current “Promises, Promises”and more.

“GLEE” CONNECTION: She starred with Idina Menzel in “Wicked.”

IDINA MENZELWHO SHE PLAYS: Shelby Corco-ran, conniving director of the rival Vocal Adrenaline troupe.

THEATER CRED: A Tony-winnerfor “Wicked,” also in the original company of “Rent.”

“GLEE” CONNECTION: Co-starred with Chenoweth in “Wicked.”

GUESTING ON ‘GLEE’ | TUESDAY, 8:28 PM | FOXThe fi rst three episodes of “Glee” are marked by three top-notch musical theater performers in guest-starring roles.

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