Matthew Morrison Performs, Addressing Death of Cory Monteith

On Sunday afternoon, Matthew Morrison walked onto the small stage at 54 Below, in Manhattan, his first performance following news of the death of Cory Monteith, who starred with Mr. Morrison on the Fox television show, “Glee.”

Before the set began, Mr. Morrison first addressed Mr. Monteith’s unexpected death on Saturday, in a hotel room in Vancouver, British Columbia. Mr. Monteith played an upbeat high school student and singing coach on “Glee,” but he battled substance abuse problems in his personal life.

Calling Mr. Monteith a brother, he expressed his sadness and condolences. And, changing his opening number, he sang a capella, “What I did for Love,” from the musical, “A Chorus Line.” The song was also featured in “Glee” during the second season.

At the top of the number, Mr. Morrison also gave a two-fingered salute. As he finished, he acknowledged that it was “awkward” to continue the performance given Mr. Monteith’s death, but said, “You guys came to see a show, I came to perform a show, so that’s what we’ll do. And we’ll do it in Cory’s honor.”

He went on with a set of Broadway show tunes and jazz standards, even dancing on stage and quipping with the audience about the infamous drug-den history of the space under the 1970’s club, Studio 54 where the performance took place.