Grease Live!

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source: Grease Live!

Obviously it is a big undertaking to mount a live television production of Grease. The stage musical is a mainstay of various theatre productions with regular revivals and the film version is a classic despite some of its cheesiness. Even John Travolta recently admitted the film has become timeless, popular with kids even with the suggestiveness of some of the dialogue and lyrics. Jessie J kicks of the rainy opening by singing Grease and we get to the setting very quickly and the opening number of Summer Nights. Julianne Hough is good as Sandy really evoking the memory of Olivia Newton John although her character hails from another part of the USA and not Australia. Aaron Tveit does well as Danny but never matches the cockiness of Travolta, which might had been easy to do if you are a young actor who just scored an Oscar nomination and a worldwide smash hit a year earlier with Saturday Night Fever. Vanessa Hudgens was less acerbic as Rizzo than Stockard Channing. The production has songs that are featured in the stage production which might not be familiar with those who have only seen the film version. The production knows it has go for those big tent-pole numbers like Greased Lightning, Hopelessly devoted, Sandy and the finale You're the one that I want. As it is a live television number there are stage set changes built in to the production as the cast have to get from one stage to another. There are lots of ad breaks. I cheekily recorded this to my TIVO and watched it 60 minutes after it started and then fast forwarded the ad breaks. The running time for me was about 2 hours and 15 minutes. I guess some people may not be happy with the diverse casting but Grease was always about people being true to their feelings rather than fitting in with stereotypes. The creators of the stage musical would only be too happy that the show has progressed. Some of the production limits it to its stage show origins. The car race was rather pedestrian masked by use of lighting and smoke. Despite the pruning of the lyrics in Greased Lightning, some of the dialogue might be deemed to to be rude to younger viewers but I think some of it flew over my son's head.

This is the fist time I have watched this since seeing the original one with Travolta many (too many) years ago. I thought it was very well choreographed and was in keeping with the original in many ways. It is something that no matter how young or old you are you will always find yourself tapping along with the songs and even singing them if you know them. A must watch for anyone, especially the "younger" generations as this shows just how good movies used to be before all the newer CGI inputs. Thanks you to all those that made this version possible JL

Vanessa Hudgens was hands-down the best thing about this. There Are Worse Things I Could Do was incredible. She was really the only one who I felt showed any sort of passion for her role. The guy who played Danny, although he had nice hair, was so bland and forgettable. I feel bad saying that because I wanted to like him. I tried so hard throughout the show. But I wasn't feeling it. Sandy was a little better, but still not my favorite. I thought Frenchy (Carly Rae) did great in her speaking roles, but her song was terrible. I kept looking at my sister saying "She's a singer?" The show in general wasn't bad. It was just...average.

As a viewer of the previously aired TV musicals such as The Sound of Music, and Peter Pan, i can definitely say that this is by far the best. The set was very unique and beautifully executed. While some of the performers may have seemed at times like they were copying the original cast, they each put a unique touch on their characters, and thats what a good actor should be able to do. In all honesty the biggest flaw i had with this was boyz II men trying to make a failed attempt at a comeback. Sorry Nathan, Shawn, and Wanya, but maybe we should leave Frankie Avalon to directing the rest of the Beauty School Dropouts. Overall the show was unique and entertaining to watch. I would definitely give it a watch at least once or twice.

Rated down for two major audio glitches ("Hopelessly Devoted" and "Hand Job") It fell flat in a few places. Diversity is a good thing, but The Pink Ladies should have all been pink. My 1970's high school was "mixed". Everybody got along fine, but did not mix socially at all. Just a fact. Taped on several of Warner's massive sound stages. Julianna Hough was great as Sandy but Arron Tveit lacked the charisma of Travolta's Danny Zuko. The production never pretended to be "real" and used the change-of-location as a clever "running gag" that worked well. Most of the sexual references were toned down, but hand job, as always, is just too obvious, isn't it? At it's worst when it tried to "carbon copy" the iconic movie. A breathless finale, although the "Greased Lightning" car is barely seen. High points included: The walk thru over "Grease". Sandy at the cheerleader try outs. Keke Palmer's break out USO number ("Freddie My Love"). "National Bandstand" (sadly, with "dead air" for several seconds). The drag race photography. Eugene became a hero. Vanessa Hudgens as "Rizzo" was the best performance of all. Sandy's catsuit and vocals. The finale. (Wow!) Closing comments: "The Coach" wasn't all that funny. Boyz II Men are not an aging rock star as "Teen Angels", and they should have performed it "50's Style". (I guess Johnny Mathis or Frankie Valli were busy?) The video-photography,using a special "film-look" process and overhead Crane cameras, looked seamlessly great. I would like to see it again, with better sound.