S01.E02: Most of all to Dream

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

Lou is brought down to Earth when his production budget is slashed, Coach Strickland vindictively monopolizes Robbie's time, and he has a conflict with Tracey. Lilette finds herself starting to fall for Robbie.

[itsjustme]

Are we suppose to like Lou over Rosie Perez?

[wonderwoman]

i'm mostly hating lou. but, i just came across this vulture review, which suggests that the second half of the season address lou's shortcomings. problem is that i'm finding his character so insufferable, i may not last that long.  

http://www.vulture.com/2018/03/rise-review.html#comments

[memememe76]

I do like the kids, especially the one who is homeless. And love Rosie, although I think planting trees is an important endeavour. But cannot deal with Lou, the son, and I do not understand the wife. At the same time, I do not want this to be one of those shows that focus only on the kids and ignore the adults.

I have never seen Spring Awakening, and I do not like any of the music so far. I do like the random pop music used.

[tennisgurl]

In the next episode, we find out that Rosie has written a new song called Ted Mosby is a Jerk and all the kid will sing it! Seriously though, I assume the show will have Lou change his ways and become more self aware, but getting there is going to SUCK if he is as insufferable as he is now. No wonder his kid drinks. Mean, I know, but my God that guy is a dick. 

Speaking of Lou`s kid, last week i wondered if we would ever see a show where a jock kid struggles with acceptance by his artsy family, and, as it turns out, thats the plot with Lou and his asshole alcoholic kid. The kid feels bullied into being artsy by his dad, and feels like an outcast in his family. That could be interesting, but as of now, the whole family is just gratingly unlikable. 

I do like the kids still, and I feel for both the girl who is normally the musical star, and the daughter of the mom sleeping with the coach. The theater girl seems kind of mean girl, but I still felt bad for her. Her family seems like a mess. Also, I guess the coach stood up for Lou`s kid because he wanted to make a power play? Thats not how it came off to me, but I dont know. 

I wish they would explain the plot of Spring Awakening. They keep saying how controversial it is, but they haven't really explained why, or why this is so important that the kids do it instead of Grease or something non controversial. You can certainly google it or whatever, but it would be nice to have a little context if the show will be so important. 

The super Catholic parents seriously hate this play. I mean, their freaking priest told them the play was probably fine to do, and they still want to take their kid out of school. I wonder if they suspect he`s gay already, and are trying to keep him away from "gay" things, hoping it will change something? 

[Unraveled]

Well, now we know how they are going to deal with "Totally Fucked."

Lou and his family are just very boring. Tracey was great during her speech. I loved the silence when she mentioned concussions during the meeting. (Since most high school football players never make pro or even play in college, but will have to deal with the medical issues that may come up later in life.)

Presuming the whole season will be "Spring Awakening," perhaps they will slowly explain the main plot points of the musical. Since this Simon's showcase, I wish they had explained his character more in depth.

Who is playing Moritz? He's such a great character and can sometimes overshadow the male lead, Melchoir.

I actually saw the original Broadway cast for Spring Awakening in NY way back. The original actors did such a great job with it. They are also excellent singers and a big part of the reason why I enjoy the cast recording.

[Shorty186]

1 hour ago, Unraveled said:

Who is playing Moritz? He's such a great character and can sometimes overshadow the male lead, Melchoir.

Michael, the transgender boy. I thought they'd make Simon Moritz, but I guess that's too close to being the lead. 

Are they going to be switching up who sings what songs in the show? Don't Melchoir and Wendla sing "The Word of Your Body?" 

I know SA has been adapted for high schools but I think not having any adults lessens the alienation the kids are supposed to feel.

Also, kind of random but why would they need $14K? SA is pretty bare bones. All they really need are the costumes. They already have the chairs.

[itsjustme]

13 hours ago, Shorty186 said:

Michael, the transgender boy. I thought they'd make Simon Moritz, but I guess that's too close to being the lead. 

Are they going to be switching up who sings what songs in the show? Don't Melchoir and Wendla sing "The Word of Your Body?" 

I know SA has been adapted for high schools but I think not having any adults lessens the alienation the kids are supposed to feel.

Also, kind of random but why would they need $14K? SA is pretty bare bones. All they really need are the costumes. They already have the chairs.

  Word of your body was sung a few times with in the show first M/W and later the boys.

Do we know some of the kids are not the all adult roles?

$14k for rights, new costumes, advertising, probably still have to pay for use of auditorium, salaries?

The OBC Spring Awakening and the off bway show are on youtube.

Edited March 21, 2018 by itsjustme
corection

[ElectricBoogaloo]

So while Gordy was out crashing the car "in the middle of the night" (his parents' words), Lou was just pacing around the stage at school while reading the script for the millionth time. I feel like you if you split the difference between parents using the phrase "the middle of the night" and the fact that Lou was still at school when it happened, it was probably around 11pm.

I understand Robbie letting his teammate peer pressure him into some more one on one practice, but it would seriously take ONE MINUTE to text Lilette to say, "Sorry, I can't make it." Don't be rude and wait until after you've already flaked to say something came up.

I always laugh when I see tv shows about high schools where they cut the locks off of lockers with bolt cutters. My high school made us buy combination locks that had a master key to avoid that problem.

I was with Tracey about the jumbotron. It's a high school football team. They don't need to spend $100K on a giant screen. That jumbotron is not going to improve the football team's skills. I do draw the line at trees though. You need trees, lady. I'm guessing you need them even more in an old steel town. Gotta clean the decades of industrial shit out of the air!

I'm now at the age where I can relate to both the teenagers and the parents. I totally understand Lou being concerned about Gordy's drinking. I especially understand his wife's concern knowing that Lou's father was an alcoholic. But more than that I understand how worried they are that he hasn't been acting like himself and they clearly have no idea what's going on with him. And oh, seeing Lou's heart break a little when the coach put his arm around Gordy, knowing that he doesn't have that kind of relationship with his kid anymore. Lou can be a pill, but I don't doubt that he loves Gordy.

I can't wait to find out what's really going on with Gordy. Was he drinking to self-medicate? Was he going to meet someone and that's why he took the car? It's entirely possible that he was telling the truth. I remembering being that age and sometimes you just need to get the hell out of the house away from your family and the actual house and the familiarity of it all. Is all of this really because he thinks Lou wants him to be an artist? I know that makes him feel like the black sheep of the family and that he isn't what his dad wants him to be, but damn, dude. At least he isn't making you quit the football team (ahem, or transferring you to a new school just to get you way from The Evil Musical).

I know that Gwen is only a teenager but sorry, life isn't fair. That's a lesson you have to learn sooner or later. Her whole "I've been training for this my whole life" explanation as to why she should have been cast in the lead holds no water. It doesn't matter how much training you have. That doesn't mean you are ENTITLED to the lead in every musical. Try going to a real audition and telling the casting director that you should get the part just because you've been taking singing and dancing lessons for a REALLY REALLY long time.

7 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

That could be interesting, but as of now, the whole family is just gratingly unlikable. 

Aww, I thought Sadie and Caitlin were cute last week when they were singing and dancing to Hamilton!

5 hours ago, Shorty186 said:

why would they need $14K? SA is pretty bare bones. All they really need are the costumes. They already have the chairs.

The bulk of that is probably for the rights to perform the play. The cost is calculated on how many performances there will be, how big the auditorium is (aka how many tickets the school can potentially sell), and the popularity of the show. MTI also has other stuff you can add into the cost of licensing the show like licensed artwork with the show's logo or all of the orchestrations pre-recorded (helpful if the school doesn't have a full orchestra to perform the music). The licensing for a high school production is usually around $5000. For a more popular show like Spring Awakening, it would cost more.

ETA: If you click on "cost estimator" on the right, you can fiddle around to see how much MTI charges for a high school production of Spring Awakening.

Edited March 21, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Empress1]

59 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

 ...

I was with Tracey about the jumbotron. It's a high school football team. They don't need to spend $100K on a giant screen. That jumbotron is not going to improve the football team's skills. I do draw the line at trees though. You need trees, lady. I'm guessing you need them even more in an old steel town. Gotta clean the decades of industrial shit out of the air!

 ...

I know that Gwen is only a teenager but sorry, life isn't fair. That's a lesson you have to learn sooner or later. Her whole "I've been training for this my whole life" explanation as to why she should have been cast in the lead holds no water. It doesn't matter how much training you have. That doesn't mean you are ENTITLED to the lead in every musical. Try going to a real audition and telling the casting director that you should get the part just because you've been taking singing and dancing lessons for a REALLY REALLY long time.

 ...

The jumbotron was a plot in Friday Night Lights too, so I laughed. $117K for a fucking jumbotron. Unbelievable. At least on FNL the team was supposed to actually be great (a tradition of state championships, or at least getting that far) and bring revenue to the school, and even then, Principal Tami Taylor wasn't here for it.

My high school choir director would have shut Gwen down immediately. He wouldn't have had a moment for that whining. (I used to have the same thoughts when I watched Glee when Rachel would be all, "Excuse me, but that was my solo." I can hear him now. "It is not your solo. I assigned it to Amber." He'd have kicked Rachel out long, long ago.) That was about the only time I liked Lou, when he was like "No, it's not fair."

Shallow: Rosie Perez has a great body. There was a scene where she was wearing a tight sweater dress and I was like, okay! Still got curves in your 50s! And Lilette really did look nice in that top her mother picked out. There was something so sweet about her reactions to the football player - very teenage.

I smiled big right along with Michael when he was able to change in the boys' changing room.

I think part of Gordy's problem is that he doesn't fit in with his artsy family but he's not a football star either - he WANTS to be a football star but he isn't. He's been on the bench the whole time.

[BonnieD]

Awww, Jumbotron! call back to Friday Night LIghts. All i can hear is Buddy Garrity getting all jacked up at the very thought of a jumbotron. Hee! So it's a recycled plot device to demonstrate the crazy disparity between football and the arts. I still love it. Says everything about peoples' priorities.

Feeling better about the show this week. Having trouble tolerating Lou and I think much has to do with the actor. His deer in the headlights stare isn't doing it for me. A different actor could pull off the role better imo. And yes, how dare he with putting down Rosy Perez's character (whose name I'll never remember) when she's been in this department for years. She knows how to handle a distraught diva properly and give her some credit to know how to stir the pot and get some money.
I'm also feeling better about everyone running around with scripts right after he made the decision to switch shows. I remembered that Spring Awakening is a play. They could buy the book to get started but eventually will have to pay for rights to the company that provides the official scripts-- which probably come in those little yellow booklets I well remember from theater days. Or maybe they have different packaging now.

Also, for everyone who wanted to see a switch up of an athletic son dealing with an arts father rather than the other way around, we got our wish. I think the son is not just drinking. Given the current climate and the repeated reminder of opiods, I'm pretty sure he's on drugs as well. 

[Lady Calypso]

8 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Speaking of Lou`s kid, last week i wondered if we would ever see a show where a jock kid struggles with acceptance by his artsy family, and, as it turns out, thats the plot with Lou and his asshole alcoholic kid. The kid feels bullied into being artsy by his dad, and feels like an outcast in his family. That could be interesting, but as of now, the whole family is just gratingly unlikable. 

My biggest worry here is that alcoholic kid will get punished by having to be in his dad's musical, where he discovers that he, indeed, does love the arts. Bleh. I'd be happy for Gordy to continue to shut his dad down and never give in to him. 

1 hour ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I understand Robbie letting his teammate peer pressure him into some more one on one practice, but it would seriously take ONE MINUTE to text Lilette to say, "Sorry, I can't make it." Don't be rude and wait until after you've already flaked to say something came up.

I know Robbie said in that next scene, when meeting with Lillette, that he did text her and she passive aggressively shot him down, but...clearly he didn't text her until well after he blew her off, probably after she was already heading to bed. It wouldn't have been much effort to say to his senior football friend "Ok, I'll practice, but let me text someone first." Of course, these people are playing teenagers, and in his mind, he probably thought as long as he texted her at some point, then they would be all good. 

1 hour ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I always laugh when I see tv shows about high schools where they cut the locks off of lockers with bolt cutters. My high school made us buy combination locks that had a master key to avoid that problem.

I know. At the beginning of every school year, we had to give our combinations to our homeroom teacher so there was a sheet of the combinations so the staff could get into our lockers if needed be. Instead of willy nilly cutting the locks so that the kids would have to go buy new ones. 

Man, I really don't like Lou. Here's the thing about the Lou vs Tracey stuff. On the one hand, I understand why Lou doesn't want to upset the board in their first meeting with them. Spring Awakening is controversial and they need to get the board on their side, not pissing them off right off the bat. So, Lou's anger at Tracey's behaviour during the meeting is actually understandable, especially if it had backfired. Also, I can't blame the principal for taking away their budget for burning costumes which were school owned. You just can't do that without consequence. On the other hand, Tracey is absolutely right in that they need to be fighting for a bigger budget, especially if the football team is going to waste hundreds of thousands of dollars on a jumbotron (A JUMBOTRON!). I totally related to Tracey freaking out about that, especially since we've heard nothing about this football team being the best in the state, just that Robbie's the best on the team. Also, with Lou being a complete dick to her (he interrupted her no less than two times in this episode while she was talking, and he treats her like some lowly assistant), I kind of default to her side. 

That being said, Lou and Tracey need to learn to be partners, rather than adversaries trying to vie for the leadership spot. And I think that's what they'll be learning to do this season. 

I kind of like the Lillette/Robbie pairing, when he isn't being a dick teenager, but Lillette needs to chill out on her crush on the boy. She flirts with him a little, she sees him kissing another girl (presumably, a girlfriend?), and she runs off crying. Like, girl, you've known the guy for a couple of weeks, at best. 

I do feel for Gwen a little bit. She could have been portrayed as a 100% mean girl, but instead, they're portraying her more sympathetically. Her home life is a right mess, and her mom's pressuring her to be the lead. It's funny how her dad seems to be ok with Robbie being the lead in the musical and isn't bothered by Gwen being a supporting cast member. I guess we'll be seeing Gwen learn that not being the lead in everything is ok.

I will say that there is one thing I like about Lou. Comparing it to Glee again, I like that in two episodes, Lou has had serious talks with more students than Will Schuester ever did with his students. Will was obsessed with Rachel and Finn, while Lou at least seems to be trying to help all of them. Hopefully, we don't see Lou play favourites. 

I liked the little Michael subplot. A very nice touch that it was Robbie who said that they were cool with Michael changing in the same room as them. We'll see if any of the boys get uncomfortable or not, but I'm ok with a little fan service with this. The show's pretty dark as it is, so some nice, heartwarming moments are needed.

Maashous has an interesting name and I'm mildly interested in him as a character. I'm just going to have some trouble with spelling his name for a while. 

Simon's parents are totally against the play. Surprise, surprise. Also, it was kind of funny that his priest was totally cool with the play. I know that Simon won't be leaving the school, but I can't wait to see how Lou magically gets his parents to ok his role in Spring Awakening. Also, it seems like Simon is also repressing his sexuality by going out with Shannon Purser's character. Man, Shannon Purser is everywhere these days. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

17 minutes ago, Empress1 said:

I smiled big right along with Michael when he was able to change in the boys' changing room.

Two things I loved about that short scene: (1) previous to that, when Lou offered to go talk to the other guys first, Michael politely said he would tell them. I think Michael knew that the situation would be better if he talked to them as a peer rather than Lou the authority figure telling them that this was happening (2) Michael tried to sound very nonchalant about the whole thing when he entered the dressing room and asked the other guys if it as okay that he change in there but after Robbie said yes, Michael snuck over to the corner to hide his face and busted out that ecstatic grin.

When Tracey told Lou, "You're going to need me" (after he yelled at her), I was like girl, no, you are using the wrong verb tense. He already needs you now in the present. That fool would not have been able to choreograph any of those numbers on his own.

He was right about Gwen needing to tone it down in the group numbers but he went about it the wrong way. There are a million other ways he could have explained it to her. I would have said, "No, I'm not asking you to be 'less good.' I'm asking you to perform in a manner that isn't as flashy and draws attention to you in a group number. The Rockettes are amazing because they are all individually talented but they work together as a unit. If one Rockette decides to give a hair flip in the middle of the kickline, that distracts from the work that everyone else is doing together as a group.

31 minutes ago, Empress1 said:

My high school choir director would have shut Gwen down immediately. He wouldn't have had a moment for that whining. (I used to have the same thoughts when I watched Glee when Rachel would be all, "Excuse me, but that was my solo." I can hear him now. "It is not your solo. I assigned it to Amber." He'd have kicked Rachel out long, long ago.) That was about the only time I liked Lou, when he was like "No, it's not fair."

As much as I enjoyed watching Glee, Rachel's entitled attitude drove me crazy. She always just assumed that every solo was hers. My choir director would sometimes switch up who was singing the solo in certain songs, so even if you thought it was yours after the audition process, it might not be. A solo was not a lifelong contract in my choir. He didn't switch soloists to punish anyone either. It was never vindictive on his part. Even with his obvious favorites, they didn't get every single solo all the time.

[Empress1]

28 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

I kind of like the Lillette/Robbie pairing, when he isn't being a dick teenager, but Lillette needs to chill out on her crush on the boy. She flirts with him a little, she sees him kissing another girl (presumably, a girlfriend?), and she runs off crying. Like, girl, you've known the guy for a couple of weeks, at best. 

That was SO teenaged girl though. I actually thought that was really realistic. She thinks she has a connection with a guy that she maybe hadn't dared to hope she had a connection with and realizes she's wrong (or at least, that's the conclusion she drew), and she's stung and embarrassed.

6 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

As much as I enjoyed watching Glee, Rachel's entitled attitude drove me crazy. She always just assumed that every solo was hers. My choir director would sometimes switch up who was singing the solo in certain songs, so even if you thought it was yours after the audition process, it might not be. A solo was not a lifelong contract in my choir. He didn't switch soloists to punish anyone either. It was never vindictive on his part. Even with his obvious favorites, they didn't get every single solo all the time.

I hated Rachel. I stopped watching Glee after the second or third season. Gwen does need to learn that we don't always get what we want, ESPECIALLY if she's going to try to make a go of it in the arts. She's been dancing since five and singing since 8? There are thousands of kids her age who started at three.

Lou really does treat Tracey like trash, and the school treats the arts like trash ($750? Really?). She shouldn't be proving herself to him - SHE'S the known quantity.

[itsjustme]

2 hours ago, Empress1 said:

That was SO teenaged girl though. I actually thought that was really realistic. She thinks she has a connection with a guy that she maybe hadn't dared to hope she had a connection with and realizes she's wrong (or at least, that's the conclusion she drew), and she's stung and embarrassed.

I hated Rachel. I stopped watching Glee after the second or third season. Gwen does need to learn that we don't always get what we want, ESPECIALLY if she's going to try to make a go of it in the arts. She's been dancing since five and singing since 8? There are thousands of kids her age who started at three.

Lou really does treat Tracey like trash, and the school treats the arts like trash ($750? Really?). She shouldn't be proving herself to him - SHE'S the known quantity.

Haha Rachel did that twice in 3 years and Mr Shue did shut it down both times and others complained when they did not get songs too.  But on topic  as Rosie Perez  said it may take a little time.  Remember she had the lead and it was taken away to no fault of hers.   He  talked to her she sang and started the process of getting over it.

[marymon]

Here I though with This is Us off the air we would have a respite  from Daddy issue Tuesdays.

[tennisgurl]

You know, sometimes I feel like I must have been to the only high school in the world where being in different extracurriculars wasn't really that big of a deal. Maybe its because it was a smaller school, and we definitely had students who were known as "theater kids" or "athletes" or "smart kids" and were more focused on just their one thing, but the majority of students who participated in anything usually did lots of things, including sports and plays. Like, my school had a Spring musical which was considered a pretty big deal (it was a small town, people took what entertainment they could get) and most of the cast did Spring sports as well, and no one was trying to poach students or get into fights or feel torn dramatically, even students who were pretty serious about their sport or play. There was one year where they had to re arrange both sport and musical practices because so much of the cast of the show were also playing tennis/baseball/track/etc and they needed to sometimes miss practice for games, or miss sports practice for dress rehearsals. Most of the play rehearsals were with kids who were still in sports uniforms coming from a game, or wearing practice clothes. The guy who played the lead in our play in 2007 ended up even going to college on a baseball scholarship. Granted, maybe its different at schools where things are more serious, or in bigger schools (how big is this school supposed to be?) where you dont NEED to take most every kid interested, but the whole jock vs theater thing is so weird to me because its such a cliche, but something that was so not a part of my high school experience. The only thing that could really get you made fun of out of all the clubs (including the science club, or the chess club!) was the Counsel of Elrod, the Lord of the Rings club :) 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

@tennisgurl I went to a pretty big high school (900 people in my class alone) and my experience was similar to yours. It was not a big deal to participate in more than one activity and we definitely had people who played varsity sports and also participated in arts activities like the musicals and choir. Every once in a while, that meant there were some scheduling conflicts but it never required a meeting with the principal, the sports coach, and the drama director. 

[UNOSEZ]

Yeah Lou us still pretty insufferable... So is his boy... Not sure if the football coach took gordy to be nice.. To genuinely help or for some other purpose... Gwen is a complex character.. Her home life is a mess.. But  shes got some mean snob in her too... Her mom was giving off some misplaced anger... And a bit of racially tinged disrespect as well... Where else would Gwen get the idea that lilette got cast "to be different" we all know what that really means.. I think of the two even though the dad is a cheat.. Mommy may be the real problem here..  Totally understood Robbie's dilemma and to be honest woulda done the same.. Bit I woulda sent that text.. So far dude seems like a good kid... Just stretched in a few too many directions and way too many ppl hopes on his small shoulders... Loved his reaction to Michael and the dressing room scene..  A big Boo to the gay kid who took out the girl who was obviously into him just to either suppress his own or throw off the other boy.. Either way its selfish and scumbaggy 

[marymon]

So do we know who has all the parts?

Shannon Purser is Annabel but what SA part does she have?

Melchior Gabor:  Robbie

Wendla Bergmann:  Lilette

Moritz Stiefel:  Micheal

Ilse Neumann:  Gwen

Hänschen Rilow:  Simon

Martha Bessell:

Ernst Röbel:  Sean

Georg Zirschnitz:

Otto Lämmermeier:

Thea:

Anna:

Adult males:

Adult females:

[Higgs]

In the original Broadway production, "Word Of Your Body" is sung by the two boys (and the rest of the kids) as a reprise in the second act. It might have been useful on multiple levels to juxtapose rehearsal snippets of the song by the two pairs of romantic partners.

Originally and traditionally, two actors play ALL the adult roles.

Robbie is too short and slight to ever play QB in a major college program, and would have zero chance for the pros.

Gwen is too mature, tall, and attractive relative to any potential Melchior to provide  the sense of submissiveness and vulnerability necessary for Wendla. That's the rationale she should have been given, and it would have also served to educate the audience about the meaning of "Spring Awakening" and its relevance to modern life, an aspect that has been conspicuously missing from "Rise."

[Empress1]

3 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

You know, sometimes I feel like I must have been to the only high school in the world where being in different extracurriculars wasn't really that big of a deal. Maybe its because it was a smaller school, and we definitely had students who were known as "theater kids" or "athletes" or "smart kids" and were more focused on just their one thing, but the majority of students who participated in anything usually did lots of things, including sports and plays. Like, my school had a Spring musical which was considered a pretty big deal (it was a small town, people took what entertainment they could get) and most of the cast did Spring sports as well, and no one was trying to poach students or get into fights or feel torn dramatically, even students who were pretty serious about their sport or play. There was one year where they had to re arrange both sport and musical practices because so much of the cast of the show were also playing tennis/baseball/track/etc and they needed to sometimes miss practice for games, or miss sports practice for dress rehearsals. Most of the play rehearsals were with kids who were still in sports uniforms coming from a game, or wearing practice clothes. The guy who played the lead in our play in 2007 ended up even going to college on a baseball scholarship. Granted, maybe its different at schools where things are more serious, or in bigger schools (how big is this school supposed to be?) where you dont NEED to take most every kid interested, but the whole jock vs theater thing is so weird to me because its such a cliche, but something that was so not a part of my high school experience. The only thing that could really get you made fun of out of all the clubs (including the science club, or the chess club!) was the Counsel of Elrod, the Lord of the Rings club :) 

Ditto. I went to a small prep school so a) there weren't enough people for that and b) it was the kind of school that encouraged well-roundedness. The captain of the tennis team was also a science nerd (his words) and played chess. There were people who were known for the thing they were best at (the captain of the wrestling team was a very good wrestler so that was his thing - I think he's a personal trainer now, so fitness remains a big part of his life), but there was no rivalry between extra-curriculars. 

[Unraveled]

There are definitely high schools in the U.S. where football is a big deal. I think there's a stereotype where small towns with a depressed economy spend enormous amounts of money on their football team even if the team or the students on the team will never amount to anything (college/pro). With those places, the whole town actually attends the game even if they do not have a current connection to the school.

We know with FNL that the high school football team did well in competitions so some of those student actually had a chance to get college scholarships or even go pro. I'm not sure if Rise's football team are as good (though one of the football players was pressuring Robbie to practice instead because he is relying a scholarship to go to college).

[retrograde]

Second episode in: Josh Radnor's character still sucks, Rosie Perez's character still rules, I still have no idea what Spring Awakening is about.

[Phebemarie]

Small town drama teacher here.  The only coach who sometimes accommodates drama rehearsal is the cross country and track coach.   Football?  Forget about it.  Basketball?  Too bad.  In my school, it's SPORTS FIRST even when a team is having a decade of bad seasons.   I wish my school district would give us $7,500 for a musical.  My district's allotted budget for drama is $350..  We make the rest of the money to put on shows and plays through fund raisers (just got back from a bake sale) and money from ticket sales.  Lou and Tracey are lucky.

So much of this show is not realistic...but one of the things that really bugs me is how little rehearsal the kids need before they are singing in beautiful harmony.   

I really wanted to like Rise, but it just makes me cranky.

[Higgs]

55 minutes ago, retrograde said:

 I still have no idea what Spring Awakening is about.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Awakening_(play)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Awakening_(musical)

[retrograde]

4 minutes ago, Higgs said:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Awakening_(play)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Awakening_(musical)

Yeah I can Google, but this isn't Grease or Phantom of the Opera or even Hamilton -- the show shouldn't just assume the average viewer knows the plot. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

9 hours ago, Phebemarie said:

We make the rest of the money to put on shows and plays through fund raisers (just got back from a bake sale) and money from ticket sales.

My sister and I both participated in multiple activities and sports. We were in high school at the same time so that meant that between the two of us, we were constantly doing fundraisers for our various activities - bake sales, car washes, singing telegrams, and every kind of candy you could possibly carry in a box and sell.

Our school was open to less traditional fundraisers (one time my sister sold light bulbs as a fundraiser for one of her groups - the logic behind this decision was "everyone needs light bulbs!") so we did just about every kind of fundraiser you could think of (one semester we collected recycling once a week and took it to a recycling place to cash in the CRV on soda cans and plastic bottles).

Doing fundraisers was just a part of having extracurricular activities and everyone was required to participate. This put everyone on equal footing so that we didn't have a situation like everyone has to pay $50 so the more well off kids their parents hand over the cash and the less affluent kids had to sell candy. Sometimes the fundraisers were for specific things like new costumes, but every activity I participated in did at least one fundraiser per semester even if we didn't have something new we needed to buy.

I know it's early in the season, but as soon as the principal said the burned costumes were coming out of the drama budget (which is fair since they destroyed school property), I thought why aren't these kids doing any fundraisers? Plus plays have another opportunity to get money by selling ad space in the back of the programs!

[Breezy97]

I am liking the show so far especially the kids. I am a Theater Major so that adds to it. Didn't quite understand the remark from Lou to Tracey saying she needed to tone it down in the meeting and she was no more than a distraction. Way off base in my opinion. She was right on point in the meeting and it needed a firm voice to express that point of view or they weren't going to get anything. I feel so bad for Simon. He is trying to deal with all that is going through his head and do the best for this show, but his parents are not going to budge. I look forward to see how they get around him going to the new school. I absolutely love Gwen. Of course she was upset that she didn't get the role but she is amazing and her voice is outstanding. I loved the ending of this episode where she put everything into her song.

[HunterHunted]

I grew up in this neck of the woods and football is big-ish. However, anyone with eyes can see Robbie has no hope of playing college ball. He's too short and too slight. My cousin played in the NFL and he was 6 feet tall and that made him a touch too short. When he showed up to a team event with his younger sister, the coaches "ohhh'd" and "ahhh'd" over her because she would have made a much better player than her brother. She was taller, faster, stronger, more agile, and better muscled than her brother.  She played college sports, but the coaches on my cousin's pro team always looked at his sister like a what if. But Robbie as a football phenomenon is not remotely plausible, especially as a quarterback. He's a kid who ultimately ends up as a walk on special teams in college hoping he can become a running back. Quarterback. Ha! The idea is laughable. Robbie would have to be a baseball player moonlighting as a quarterback, have a secret cannon for an arm and dead on accuracy. And I literally know nothing about football.

Simon's parents really hate Spring Awakening, so much so that they are pulling him out in the middle of the year and are willing to pay tuition for a private school. Why not just rescind the permission slip that they must have signed for him to participate in the play or other after school activities? Too bad they have no idea how much questionable behavior goes on in more restrictive environments. Sending him to St. Whatever will likely not solve anything. 

Lou is still kind of awful and in what universe does he get to be so dismissive of Tracey when she actually knows what she's doing.

[sacrebleu]

Quote

Speaking of Lou`s kid, last week i wondered if we would ever see a show where a jock kid struggles with acceptance by his artsy family,

heh. 

Grouchy son: I'll tell you what's wrong with you: your head's addled with novels and poems! You come home reeking of Chateau La Tour! And look what you've done to mother! She's worn out from meeting film stars, attending premieres, and giving gala luncheons!
Dad: THERE'S NAUGHT WRONG WITH GALA LUNCHES, LAD! I've had more gala luncheons than you've had hot dinners!

~Monty Python

[ClareWalks]

I was absolutely gobsmacked that they "need $20,000, but can make it work for $14,000." Granted, I was in one play in high school and we probably had a budget of ten bucks, but holy shit. I know, rights and all that. It just seems crazy to me that they would get this far into the rehearsal process for this musical and have the balls to burn all that school property, need to replace it, and have no money left in the budget. 

Trying to get into this show but it feels like if Glee took itself way too seriously.

[Higgs]

2 hours ago, ClareWalks said:

Trying to get into this show but it feels like if Glee took itself way too seriously.

Yes, its unrelieved seriousness may seem arty, but is not realistic. The whole thing is painted in the sullen gray of the opening montage.  The kids are unrelentingly earnest, humorless and charm-challenged. It reminds me of "Spring Awakening." The show could use some glee (lowercase only), "Lady Bird" and "Freaks and Geeks."

[Breezy97]

3 hours ago, ClareWalks said:

I was absolutely gobsmacked that they "need $20,000, but can make it work for $14,000." Granted, I was in one play in high school and we probably had a budget of ten bucks, but holy shit. I know, rights and all that. It just seems crazy to me that they would get this far into the rehearsal process for this musical and have the balls to burn all that school property, need to replace it, and have no money left in the budget. 

Trying to get into this show but it feels like if Glee took itself way too seriously.

I am a Junior who is a Theater Major at a College in New York City and I can see with the productions we have put on there reaching and exceeding the $20K mark, but back in High School when I was in all 4 productions I highly doubt they even came close to that amount of money on the shows.

[tennisgurl]

I think what this show needs is a bit more fun. I know its only episode two, but this show is so freaking serious all the time, and while they have some nicer moments with the kids, I think this show could launch way into over the top pretentiousness if it doesn't lighten up a bit, or add a bit of spark. Even its clear influence, Friday Night Lights, and its lead in show, This Is Us, both extremely earnest shows, both through in some moments of comedy and fun times. Or its other spiritual cousins like Freaks and Geeks, which mined comedy and drama from the horrors of high school, and, most obviously, Glee, which was a full on camp fest that increasingly tried its hand at drama, knew that lightening things up would do wonders for a show. Its not bleak or anything, its not like watching The Wire, but it just seems to make this play at this random school seem like the Most Important Thing Ever in a way that I fear will get silly really fast. 

Edited March 23, 2018 by tennisgurl

[CelticBlackCat]

8 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

I grew up in this neck of the woods and football is big-ish. However, anyone with eyes can see Robbie has no hope of playing college ball. He's too short and too slight. My cousin played in the NFL and he was 6 feet tall and that made him a touch too short. When he showed up to a team event with his younger sister, the coaches "ohhh'd" and "ahhh'd" over her because she would have made a much better player than her brother. She was taller, faster, stronger, more agile, and better muscled than her brother.  She played college sports, but the coaches on my cousin's pro team always looked at his sister like a what if. But Robbie as a football phenomenon is not remotely plausible, especially as a quarterback. He's a kid who ultimately ends up as a walk on special teams in college hoping he can become a running back. Quarterback. Ha! The idea is laughable. Robbie would have to be a baseball player moonlighting as a quarterback, have a secret cannon for an arm and dead on accuracy. And I literally know nothing about football.

Simon's parents really hate Spring Awakening, so much so that they are pulling him out in the middle of the year and are willing to pay tuition for a private school. Why not just rescind the permission slip that they must have signed for him to participate in the play or other after school activities? Too bad they have no idea how much questionable behavior goes on in more restrictive environments. Sending him to St. Whatever will likely not solve anything. 

Lou is still kind of awful and in what universe does he get to be so dismissive of Tracey when she actually knows what she's doing.

I forgot Rise was on last Tuesday until about 9:30 and decided not to tune in half-way through because I was not in any hurry to see the insufferable Lou again.  I'll watch when it's available on my Roku though.  No matter, I agree already with everything here!  (Not from your neck of the woods though, but you're right about the football even though I'm right behind you in the football knowledge dept.  My team moved to L.A.  I live in San Diego.)

[Shorty186]

On 3/21/2018 at 1:30 AM, itsjustme said:

Do we know some of the kids are not the all adult roles?

Oh, I know there will be a guy and girl playing the adult roles. I just meant that I think it's less impactful having teens playing them. Obviously it's a high school musical, so of course the adult roles are always played by teens but for SA the whole child/adult divide is so inherent.

[LittleIggy]

On 3/21/2018 at 8:50 AM, BonnieD said:

Awww, Jumbotron! call back to Friday Night LIghts. All i can hear is Buddy Garrity getting all jacked up at the very thought of a jumbotron.
 

“I got two words for you...Jumbo Tron!” I loved Buddy!

[Higgs]

22 hours ago, Shorty186 said:

Oh, I know there will be a guy and girl playing the adult roles. I just meant that I think it's less impactful having teens playing them. Obviously it's a high school musical, so of course the adult roles are always played by teens but for SA the whole child/adult divide is so inherent.

Yes, to adequately portray a sexually repressive society, you must have adults in the roles of enforcers. In my version, Simon's parents would ultimately be persuaded to play them all, with their priest's encouragement.

[CelticBlackCat]

I watched this second episode and rather enjoyed it.  Lou's insufferablity was toned down a bit.  I really love Rosie Perez as Tracey Wolfe.  I liked it when Gwen told Robbie off when he ditched their rehearsal date, I mean, appointment.  I like Michael and am happy the guys are cool with him being in the locker room and are accepting him with no bullying or snark.

I don't understand why Simon's parents are so adamant about him not being in the play/musical.  People like them who are devout Catholics usually defer to their priest.  Why are they asking his advice and then ignoring it?  Although Spring Awakening apparently deals with adult and sexual issues (I'm not familiar with it) I don't see what is wrong for preparing high school students for what's out there in the world.  As long as it isn't gratuitous or salacious or vulgar for the sake of obscenity, I don't understand sheltering kids from the issues that they have to deal with now and in the future.

[itsjustme]

34 minutes ago, CelticBlackCat said:

I watched this second episode and rather enjoyed it.  Lou's insufferablity was toned down a bit.  I really love Rosie Perez as Tracey Wolfe.  I liked it when Gwen told Robbie off when he ditched their rehearsal date, I mean, appointment.  I like Michael and am happy the guys are cool with him being in the locker room and are accepting him with no bullying or snark.

I don't understand why Simon's parents are so adamant about him not being in the play/musical.  People like them who are devout Catholics usually defer to their priest.  Why are they asking his advice and then ignoring it?  Although Spring Awakening apparently deals with adult and sexual issues (I'm not familiar with it) I don't see what is wrong for preparing high school students for what's out there in the world.  As long as it isn't gratuitous or salacious or vulgar for the sake of obscenity, I don't understand sheltering kids from the issues that they have to deal with now and in the future.

You just hit on he whole crux of Spring Awakening.  Simon's family might be being used to parallel the adults in the musical?

Edited March 24, 2018 by itsjustme

[wayne67]

Well that was something... So far I don't care what happens to any of these characters, I'm just waiting to see if the repressed probably gay kid triggers his parents by kissing a boy and possibly doing other more explicit stuff laters.

[Haleth]

I'm not bowled over by this show like I was with FNL, but I'll continue to watch.  I fell in love with the characters in FNL immediately, I'm having a harder time here.  Maybe it's because I would rather have watched Tracey directing the play.  Maybe it's because everything seems kind of recycled from other shows (i.e. closet gay kid with religious parents, kid with drinking problem, poor girl vs entitled mean girl, arts dept neglected due to football, shy girl in love with clueless popular boy,etc).  Even (as mentioned above) the jumbotron was a device used for drama in FLN.

On 3/21/2018 at 8:54 AM, Lady Calypso said:

A very nice touch that it was Robbie who said that they were cool with Michael changing in the same room as them.

Indeed.  That was one delightful instance that surprised me.  No drama.  More of this, please.

On 3/22/2018 at 9:51 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I know it's early in the season, but as soon as the principal said the burned costumes were coming out of the drama budget (which is fair since they destroyed school property), I thought why aren't these kids doing any fundraisers?

I'm glad there were repercussions from burning the costumes.  I'm thinking we might see the kids involved in fundraisers in future episodes since Tracey specifically said that there wouldn't be enough $ to produce the show.

Josh Radnor was on Mercy Street.  Duh, that's where I know him from!  FTR I never watched Glee and I am not familiar with Spring Awakening.

[CelticBlackCat]

I'm pretty much a newbie to this genre of shows, as I never watched FNL, Glee, or any others mentioned.  I'm familiar with most of the popular plays, shows and musicals but not SA.  I figured the cliched characters were just that from the fact that just about every show nowadays has to have a gay character and with all the publicity in the news about transgender issues that would be thrown in as well.  The thing that bothers me the most about this show is Lou, who shouldn't even be directing the theater.  Not the way he got the job, anyway.  Miss Wolfe rules!

[JasmineFlower]

I'm different than many here in that I don't find Lou insufferable. I don't love him, but I enjoy the passion he has for making the drama program something great. I do like what Rosie's character brings to the show, and while I did find her speech at the school board good in terms of entertaining for the show, I found it unrealistic and unconvincing for a failing drama program under her leadership in terms of being a successful argument. She was not killing it on her own no matter what she seems to think. For me, as she demands not to be seen as a liability, which I thought was a great scene, she needs to realize he may not be one either, which is how she treated him throughout the premiere. She keeps thinking her way is the right way, but the program was not successful under her. Their relationship is an interesting one, but certainly strained. I personally prefer their relationship to continue improving and they become more of an obvious team, the way it seemed like they'd become at the end of the pilot. 

While I don't find Lou insufferable, I don't enjoy his family life aspect of the show. I think he loves his family, but I'm not seeing an especially devoted father and husband. His wife isn't bringing much to the show at all for me. I find the son a distraction that doesn't feel like it truly belongs here. I'd have been much happier if they kept the Lou character much closer to the person he is inspired by. I struggle to believe they couldn't get this greenlit with a gay lead, but if that's what inspired the change, I wish they had gone with a straight single man, or even a straight married man without kids over what we got. The family dynamic seems to take away unnecessarily from the rest of the show and it creates something that wasn't even a part of the real story.  Now, I'm not an Friday Night Lights watcher, but I know enough about the show. For me, this is Katims (creator) injecting aspects of his other shows, especially FNL, and putting those dynamics here because it's what he prefers to make the story into. FNL has enough fans that I assume that formula was a winning one, but this is a different story based off a real life man, this drama-filled family storyline is not why I wanted to check Rise out and I hope they start realizing it needs to be scaled back. 

[KaleyFirefly]

On 3/20/2018 at 11:06 PM, itsjustme said:

Are we suppose to like Lou over Rosie Perez?

Yeah, I still don't understand why Lou got the job over a more qualified and experienced woman (is it just because he is white and male? Or because the principal didn't like her?)

I don't really like all the cliches but I guess they need it for drama. It seemed like too much of a coincidence that the kid cast as the gay Spring Awakening character would also be gay. And of course he would have super religious parents. I wish they would do something different other than all these stereotypes. I'm still going to watch though, because I love musicals and shows about musicals (yes, I miss "Galavant" and even "Smash.")

Edited March 28, 2018 by KaleyFirefly