‘Glee’ season 5, episode 17 preview: Naya Rivera returns; Lea Michele’s ‘Opening Night’

Santana fans, rejoice! After an inexplicable absence the past two episodes, “Glee” will feature the return of Naya Rivera for next week’s “Opening Night.” Her departure from the show was both brief and also very bizarre. They wrote her out thanks to some trip around the world she took with Brittany, but that really didn’t have to be written in there.

Anyway, it’s hard to spend too much more time than this talking about Santana, mostly because her story is by and large going to be supporting for this hour. Lea Michele’s Rachel is back to being front and center, as she has to figure

“The night has finally arrived for Rachel’s (Lea Michele) Broadway debut in ‘Funny Girl,’ and she has very special guests in town to support her career-defining moment.”

By the end of this episode, you should at least have an opportunity to find out whether or not Rachel is going to be the next Broadway star … at least for now. The thing about opening night is that while it can go very well, you do need to have some continued successes after that in order to become a genuine star. Otherwise, you may very well end up referring to yourself as the stage version of a one-hit wonder, and if you bomb your first time on the big stage, let’s just say that it can be extremely difficult to ever get a second crack at making a first impression to critics and theatergoers alike.

What did you think about the promo below, and is there anything you want to see in “Opening Night”? Share your thoughts below, and click here if you want to read our review of “Tested.” You can also sign up to get further TV updates coming via our CarterMatt Newsletter.

Photo: Fox