| “ |
We are the best of the best. |
” |
—Cassandra July, Wonder-ful | ||
Cassandra "Cassie" July is a recurring character on the fourth season of Glee. She is a dance instructor at the New York Academy of the Dramatic Arts in New York City. She acts as a mentor for Rachel at NYADA but, unlike Will, Cassandra's approach to teaching is based on negativity. Rachel was known as Will's 'favorite student' but in Cassandra's case, Rachel is constantly picked on by Cassandra and told she can't be successful.
Before becoming a teacher at NYADA, Cassandra was in a play on Broadway, Damn Yankees. After hearing a cell phone of an audience member go off during her performance, she got really angry, and threw his phone away. This led to the end of her career after someone posted a video of the events on YouTube. Because of this, she is sometimes known as "Crazy July".
She ends the show in Wonder-ful, the twenty-first episode of Season Four, when she acts nicer towards Rachel, revealing her harsh attitude to her is because she noticed something in Rachel and wanted her to be success in her life. She even wishes her good luck and supports her for her Funny Girl audition, making them friends in her final appearance.
She is portrayed by Academy Award nominated actress Kate Hudson.
Biography[]
Before becoming a teacher at NYADA, Cassandra was in a play on Broadway, Damn Yankees. After hearing a cell phone of an audience member, she got mad and threw his telephone away with her cane which lead her career to be destroyed after someone posted a video on YouTube. Because of this she was also known as Crazy July.
Cassandra welcomes her new students to her class: dance 101, and says that maybe two of them are going to make it into the business but the rest is just paying the rent of her loft in SoHo. She then changes the name of one of her students to muffin top, rice cakes and ipecac and adds that she should cut one of her buttocks. She then asks Rachel if her conversation with Lydia, who she calls "Muffin Top," had bothered her and calls her David Schwimmer and tells her that she bet she was a big star in Iowa. When Rachel replies that she's actually from Ohio, Cassandra then adds that Ohio is even worse and asks if she came to New York to show her how to run her own class. Rachel tells her that she just came to learn. Cassandra then shows her the lesson number one which is that Rachel is pathetic and her attitude is pissing her off, she then turns the music on, Rachel falls and claims that she don't need any help Cassandra, rudely, says she's not going to help her she just wanted to give her a big welcome to New York and adds that she sucks.
Welcome to NYADA
Later Cassandra is preparing what it seems to be a fruit milkshake when a student comes to thank her because her recommendation letter let the student to be on a broadway play, Cassandra hugs him and tells him that he won't forget his first play. The student then departs, and she adds rum to her milkshake.
Back in the class her first words are that Rachel is getting worse and starts to bother Rachel. She asks her why she's picking on her which Cassandra replies she's just motivating her, Rachel says that there's alcohol on her breath and Cassandra corrects her telling it's Listerine and adds that she might not be a wide eyed ingénue anymore, but she can out-dance any of them. Music starts to play and she sings and dances Americano/Dance Again.
On another class she tells her students that they're not improving and they've been a week there, then she tells Rachel to show her piqué and says it's better, Rachel says she's going to keep getting better which Cassandra replies that she has guts and she likes that spirit on her students because it will be funnier when she's making a hell of their life.
Cassandra is giving a lesson about Tango to her students and she tells them to practice it except Rachel because she doesn't have sex appeal.
Later Rachel arrives to Cassandra's class, late, and she tells her that she has prepared a number to prove to her that she's sexy. After Rachel's performance of Oops... I Did It Again she tells her she was good but not great and it was horrible, Rachel fig
Rachel finds Cassandra warming up and practising when she apologizes to her, Cassandra replies with rudeness telling her that that pressure is going to ruin her career and if it was up to her she wouldn't let her be in her class and also she punishes Rachel to do some laundry of the clothes for dance. At the end of the episode she has been seen to whisper in one of her male student's ear. He then asks Rachel to dance with him, which implies she might have told him to do it, and that she doesn't hate Rachel so much after all.
In the opening NYADA scene, a negative Cassandra walks in - with little thought on her students dance abilities - with several of her other better students so that they can show them how it's done. She then gets them to pair up, and Brody immediately goes to Rachel. During their walk down the line, they talk about Rachel's off-Broadway audition, and Cassandra can't help but overhear as her other students dance. After Rachel and Brody finish, Cassandra interrupts them and tells her that she is not tough enough. She tells her about her rough audition for the director Ivan, but Rachel insists she's ready for the opportunity. Rachel even tries to convince Cassandra to audition for one of the roles, to get her back in the game. She then quickly changes the subject by giving everyone a break, but pulls Brody aside. She needs a new TA and believes that he would be the perfect one, although it will take a lot of his time. He agrees to help, and she seems happy and eager to start. However Brody says that it would be better to start Monday, as he just committed to helping Rachel with her audition, and she agrees.
Cassandra telling Rachel and Kurt to go and see Grease at McKinley
Later, Cassandra walks into the dance studio where Kurt is helping Rachel for her audition and overhears them talking about the Grease musical at McKinley. When she wants more info, Kurt and Rachel give them a small backstory of how their exes are involved, but they still have several friends in it. When they tell her (while she works out on the bar) that it's on the coming weekend, Cassandra motivates them to go, telling them that it would be a great way to get closure (something Kurt is needing more), for fun, Grease, friends, or high school. When Rachel brings up the lack of money, Cassandra offers her JetBlue frequent flyer miles that she can't use after her Bloody Mary panic attack at 30 000 feet, resulting in the hospitalization of three flight attendants. She ends saying that she doesn't care what she does, but she's going to regret missing it.
During the number There Are Worse Things I Could Do, Cassandra and Brody are dancing over sexually in the studio, since Rachel left to McKinley and therefore abandoning the plans Brody and Rachel made. During the dance, Cassandra sin
After Rachel has a breakdown from the musical, she runs to the washroom and calls Brody, but is caught off guard when Cassandra picks up. When she asks for Brody, Cassandra tells her he's in the shower, and is unavailable. When Rachel doesn't quite understand, Cassandra immediately rubs it in her face, telling her how she spent the time with him and that he ended up at her place where she slept with him. Then she begins to insult Rachel directly, telling her that she needed a reality check and that she (Cassandra) never left the game. Cassandra continued for a couple of words until Rachel hung up on her.
When Rachel is invited to perform at the winter showcase, she is told by Cassandra that she's not ready for that performance. According to Cassandra, Rachel has still not become a better performer since she started training at NYADA. Rachel is not intimidated by what Cassandra says this time and stands up for saying that she knows she has become better. Because Cassandra wants Rachel to prove this to her, they have a diva-off in form of All That Jazz.
Afterwards, Rachel admits to Cassandra that she's a better dancer than her, but thinks that she is just as good of a singer. Cassandra does not believe her, but it is clear to Rachel now that she has to try and win the showcase through her singing.
Cassandra first appears when the two 'former Rachel's friends' tell her about Rachel's callback for the Funny Girl remake. Then, she surprises her when she's reading her lines, and Rachel asks her about who told her about the callback, but she lies. Cassandra tells her that her callback audition will happen as
She is briefly mentioned during a talk between Rachel and Carmen Tibideaux. Rachel says that she has beared with all the challenges NYADA offered to her, including that "lunatic Cassandra July."
Relationships[]
Brody Weston[]
- Main article: Brody-Cassandra Relationship (Cassidy)
Cassandra on the phone to Rachel after hooking up with Brody
In Glease they dance intimately together during There Are Worse Things I Could Do. They share a kiss at the end of the song. Later, when Rachel calls Brody, she finds out that Cassandra and Brody hooked-up.
Quotes[]
| “ |
Cassandra: What's your name, Muffin top? |
” |
—Cassandra July to Lydia, The New Rachel | ||
| “ |
Cassandra: Hold up, Did my conversation with Muffin Top offend you? |
” |
—Cassandra July to Rachel, The New Rachel | ||
| “ |
Tango, you have to have it in your arsenal people. The first thing you need to understand is, it's all about sex. When you're dancing the tango with someone, you're seducing 'em. |
” |
—Cassandra July, in Britney 2.0 | ||
| “ |
Partner up! Let's start with Abraso, the embrace. Not you, Schwimmer. Keep practicing those Jazz hands back in the corner. |
” |
—Cassandra July, Britney 2.0 | ||
| “ |
We're short of boys and a girl needs to sit out, and you don't have enough sex appeal to pull over incredible tango. You're awkward, intentitive and your body and you move like you're ashamed of it. |
” |
—Cassandra July, Britney 2.0 | ||
| “ |
Hey some advice, you're not ready for Ivan. You're not tough enough yet You dont have enough wounds. Look I auditioned for him for his "Hedda." He made me recite my monologue in a slip, standing on one foot, pouring tomato juice all over myself. Skip it, Schwimmer. Ivan will eat you alive. |
” |
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Rachel: We are not going to see it. |
” |
| “ |
Uh Let's see. You blew off your play date with the hottest piece of ass in NYADA to go visit your loser ex-boyfriend. Said hot ass was lonely, distraught. Didn't know what to do with himself. I was more than happy to come and help me choreograph a new routine when I called him up. And then one thing led to another and I see, you know he's in my place and... you know... |
” |
| “ |
Why don't we consider this one of those little nasty life lessons? Auditioning for an off broadway play. Throwing yourself at an upper classman, and telling me that I need to get back in the game. I need to get back in the game?! I think you were over reaching and needed a little bit of a reminder. I am the game, Schwimmer. And you are what you've always been. A privileged, self-indulgent, diamond.. |
” |
| “ |
This is NYADA. We are the best of the best. To make no mistake we will crush you to get the role ourselves. But we are also family. We get through it together and we celebrate each other when there's big news. And this is big news. |
” |
—Cassandra July to Rachel, Wonder-ful | ||
Songs[]
- Solos
- Duets
- Solos (In a Group Number)
|
Season Four | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Song |
Episode |
Solos with: | |
| There Are Worse Things I Could Do | Glease | Santana and Unique | |
Appearances[]
| Glee: Season 4 | |||||||||||
| "The New Rachel" Appears |
"Britney 2.0" Appears |
"Makeover" Absent |
"The Break-Up" Absent |
"The Role You Were Born to Play" Absent |
"Glease" Appears |
"Dynamic Duets" Absent |
"Thanksgiving" Absent |
"Swan Song" Appears |
"Glee, Actually" Absent |
"Sadie Hawkins" Absent | |
| "Naked" Absent |
"Diva" Absent |
"I Do" Absent |
"Girls (and Boys) on Film" Absent |
"Feud" Absent |
"Guilty Pleasures" Absent |
"Shooting Star" Absent |
"Sweet Dreams" Absent |
"Lights Out" Absent |
"Wonder-ful" Appears |
"All or Nothing" Absent | |
Trivia[]
- Cassandra is implied to be an alcoholic, as she is seen adding alcohol to a shake she makes in The New Rachel. Rachel herself later notices that her breath smells of alcohol, which Cassandra covers up by saying it was Listerine. But since then, she has yet to be shown drinking.
- In Glease, she mentions being banned from an airline because of a "bloody mary fueled panic attack."
- Kurt mentions Kate Hudson in I Am Unicorn while he talks to Burt at Burt's mechanical shop. Kate Hudson portrays Cassandra July in Season Four.
- She states that her first Broadway role was at 17 performing as a dancing spoon. (The New Rachel).
- Cassandra is the second person on the show known to stop a Broadway performance because someone interrupted. The first is Carmen Tibideaux as Kurt said in the episode, Choke, "Once, La Tibideaux, stopped a performance of Medea at the Met, because someone glanced at their watch while she was doing one of her 'I'm killing my babies' arias. She destroyed him." Coincidentally, they are both staff at NYADA.
- She auditioned for Hedda Gabler (a Broadway play) as Hedda; and the director, Ivan, made her recite her monologue in a slip, standing on one foot, and pouring tomato juice all over herself. (Glease)
- Her name could be a reference to the musical and movie A Chorus Line, in which a character called Cassie, a former dancer, is said to have stopped a performance, such as Cassandra did.
