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Grease Live (Fox) - General Discussion


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The Wiz production was great, so they have a lot to live up to.

It's a little annoying to me that they seem to be taking cues from the movie. It's understandable, the TV audience is probably more familiar with that version; but they are clearly trying to make Hudgens look like Channing, and I don't that necessarily think that's the best way to go.

Edited by Trini
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Does anybody know if "Hopelessly Devoted to You" will be in this production, and if Kanickie gets back the songs they took away to give to Travolta in the movie?

I've never seen the musical version so it's going to be interesting to see what they take out to be more like the musical, and what they take from the movie that wasn't in the musical.

 

Honestly, Hopelessly Devoted to You works because of Olivia Newton John, and since I'm assuming that Julianne Hough isn't close to that level, they probably shouldn't keep it. It's really the only song in the movie that I thought really showed off Olivia's skill. I'm reading up on the actual musical, and Since I Don't Have You should be pretty easy to pull off.

 

I'm really looking forward to the Twitter tweets from people going "Wait, where the hell is Hopelessly Devoted to You?" Or, "Why isn't Sandy at the dance?" I'm glad that we won't have Danny singing at the drive-in. That song was AWFUL. It was purely fan service to Travolta fans.

 

 

Trini

Yest. 11:35 pm

The Wiz production was great, so they have live up to.

 

It's a little annoying to me that they seem to be taking cues from the movie. It's understandable, the TV audience is probably more familiar with that version; but they are clearly trying to make Hudgens look like Channing, and I don't that necessarily think that's the best way to go.

 

The Wiz really did raise the bar on these live musicals and proved that they can be a rating's winner, so the pressure's on, guys!

 

I do love Aaron Tveit, but come on, it felt unnecessary for him to be trying his damndest to mimic John Travolta here.

Edited by methodwriter85
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Carlos PenaVega posted this Instagram photo of Aaron.

Man, I don't care that he looks 35; I'm excited to see him do this. (Not so excited for the other cast, but he'll do what he can to salvage the show.)

It's probably OK Aaron looks 35; I mean, in the movie, Olivia Newton-John was in her 30's (I think early 30's, but still...) when she played teenage Sandy; John Travolta, as Danny, was probably in his 30's too. And I'd bet most/all of the actors who played The Pink Ladies & T-Birds were too. And I'd think Stockard Channing definitely was when she played Rizzo. Just saying...

I absolutely cannot stand Julianne Hough. People in charge must have forgotten how awful she was in the equally awful remake of Footloose. I won't be watching and The Wiz will remain king of the live broadcast.

 

I didn't think she was that bad. I did actually kind of enjoy Footloose. But I do think it'd probably be wise NOT to include "Hopelessly Devoted to You."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/foxs-grease-live-incorporate-studio-849706?utm_source=twitter

They will be using a live studio audience. I think it's a good idea. I really enjoyed The Wiz but I felt it was missing an audience.

Also they are incorporating elements from the show and the movie. Hopelessly Devoted to You will be included. Lol.

Edited by SiobhanJW
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http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/foxs-grease-live-incorporate-studio-849706?utm_source=twitter

They will be using a live studio audience. I think it's a good idea. I really enjoyed The Wiz but I felt it was missing an audience.

Also they are incorporating elements from the show and the movie. Hopelessly Devoted to You will be included. Lol.

 

Well, Julianne is fucked, then. LOL. I think she could've pulled off "Since I Don't Have You", not sure about "Hopelessly Devoted to You."

 

It does sound like they want to one-up the NBC Live Musical by adding an audience...I wonder how it will go.

Edited by methodwriter85

Well, Julianne is fucked, then. LOL. I think she could've pulled off "Since I Don't Have You", not sure about "Hopelessly Devoted to You."

It does sound like they want to one-up the NBC Live Musical by adding an audience...I wonder how it will go.

I'm not sure why you think she could've possibly pulled off "Since I Don't Have You," and not "Hopelessly Devoted To You." The former is a much harder song to sing than the latter. Here are some examples for comparison.

http://youtu.be/3oqlFqOEn1M (Since I Don't Have You)

http://youtu.be/cistP2kH3nk (Hopelessly Devoted To You)

IMO she stands a much better chance of pulling off a decent "Hopelessly Devoted To You."

Edited by brittrose

(Taking a cue from The Wiz Live!,) Fox adds more black people. I was wondering which star they'd get to sing "Beauty School Dropout".

 

That article also mentions that "singer Jessie J will open the show with a live performance of “Grease (Is the Word),”" -- I hadn't heard that before.

Edited by Trini
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That's actually brilliant. Boys II Men always had a sound that was kind of like a throwback to doo woop, AND they fulfill the whole "teen idol from 20 years ago" quotient like Frankie Avalon did. Really inspired casting there, although I'm curious to see how they'll break a solo song into a group one.

Edited by methodwriter85
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This is going to be a giant trainwreck. The cast is fucking awful and the fact that they are doing it live makes it all the worse. I cannot stand any of the people they have cast. I hope this bombs so that they never do this again! I also wish that people would stop fucking casting Julianne Hough and Vanessa Hudgens in musicals because they cannot sing for shit. 

So, is there anything from the movie that's NOT going to be in this version?

I mean, don't get me wrong, I love the movie, but I wanted to see the stage version of it. It looks like they're trying hard to keep it like the movie instead of being more like the stage version.

They've been saying there will be elements of both the stage & movie versions incorporated into the production. I don't know how evenly that's gonna shake out though.

Didi Conn & Barry Pearl, who played Pink Lady Frenchy & T-Bird Doody in the film version, have been added to the cast.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/grease-live-team-promises-pay-856349

 

Ha, NO ONE in that cast photo in the link here looks happy.  I mean, maybe they were asked a rude question or something, but I still laughed out loud.

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IDK.  All of this whiz! bang! reek of desperation to me, like they don't have confidence that their original elements can deliver a good show.  They've taken a page from the Hollywood School of Movie Entertainment, i.e. put in massive amounts of lens flares, explosions, people running around yelling, and super fast editing and hope the audience is dazzled into believing they aren't watching crap.

Everything about this show is getting me super hyped--from the director of HAMILTON guiding this one, the producer of WICKED being involved, to AARON TVEIT, to the multiple stages, to the live audience...seriously can't wait. I hope my hopes aren't too high, but can't help it.

 

OK there's one thing that's got me down a little....no "Mooning," it looks like, one of my favorite songs: http://www.ew.com/article/2016/01/22/grease-live-soundtrack-release-date

Edited by niklj

I am so excited to see this.  I am one of the great unwashed masses who has never seen the stage version, so I'm not really bothered about whether they're staying true to it or not.  The movie came out when I was in 8th grade, and I loved it so much.  And I think Julianne Hough is as cute as a goddamn button, so I'm rooting for her to do well.  I just hope there's chemistry between her and Tviet because that could make it fall flat.

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However, I'm meh on the live audience because I didn't need one to tell me how to feel during The Wiz and I don't need one now.

Live audiences do make for a communal feel. I never minded not having an audience for NBC's musicals. I'm curious about it, though. A number of people have wished there was an audience so this gives us a chance to compare. Help the experience? Or interrupt it?

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Vanessa Hudgens' father, sadly, died of Cancer last night. She plays Rizzo in tonight's production. She still plans to do the show & dedicates the performance to his memory (I'm not sure if she has a choice not to go on, as I never heard the showrunners talk about any problems like needing an understudy for 1 of the main actors on the night of... Just how they'll handle the outdoor scenes [like the End-of-School Carnival which was the movie's finale, among others] if there's El Niño-related rain during the show--& weather forecasts earlier in the week were predicting a 100% chance of rain in LA today, so...).

http://www.people.com/article/vanessa-hudgens-dad-greg-dies-grease-live

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Two minutes in and we got flat acting and lackluster singing.

 

Say what you will about the NBC live musicals, but you know what they had over this?  No "wooooooooooooo"ing peoples.  You take that "wooooo"ing to American Idol, "wooooo"ing peoples.

 

It's raining out but no squeaky shoes.  Would have been hysterical if squeaky shoes overpowered the dialog.

 

I'm really just watching this until the Galavant (series?) finale comes on.

Edited by bmoore4026
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I'm a few minutes behind on this.  I'm impressed with the scope of the production (that many sound stages?!) and they're doing their best due to the rain but I've VERY bothered by it being set in 1959 and yet the audience at the try outs is in 2016 gear.  I guess I didn't expect the live audience to be that close.  

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