12/29/2023 0 Comments Grease lightning live cast![]() The reviewers on IMDB obviously agree since it is currently sitting with a 7.8 rating–a great improvement on the first two attempts at live musicals. The show was entertaining and energetic, and for the most part, the musical numbers were well sung and danced. Grease Live does not match my memories of the movie, but judging it solely on its own merit, I think they did a pretty good job. I think the choice of an older band, like Boyz II Men who played Teen Angel would have worked better and felt less anachronistic. Even though he was singing oldies, it was hard to get over the fact that this was Joe Jonas. I got the same feeling when former Jonas Brothers boy band member Joe Jonas took the stage with his new group DNCE to act as the band for the dance. Rather, it felt like I was watching one of Jepsen's music videos. Listening to her sing it, I was taken out of the story and no longer saw the character Frenchy. ![]() For me, that sweet missing moment from the movie was a major omissionĪ new song " All I Need Is An Angel", written for Carly Rae Jepsen's Frenchy to sing in Grease Live, sounded too much like a modern pop song and did not fit in with the overall vibe of the show at all. Maybe this was another attempt to bowdlerize in order to not show Sandy smoking? Still, the intent of the scene could have been introduced in some other way. In Grease Live, Julianne Hough's Sandy immediately goes into full vamp and never breaks stride. That momentary lapse reveals that Sandy is still the sweet innocent girl behind all that makeup and bravado and gives depth and honesty to her character. Marty tells her to toss the cigarette hanging from her mouth and stub it out with her shoe, which she does. For a split second, she reveals a look of insecurity and uncertainty of what she should do next. It is the moment during the penultimate song " You're the One that I Want" where Olivia Newton John's re-imaged Sandy struts out confidently in her skin-tight outfit and red heels while John Travolta's Danny goes crazy in reaction. One interaction from the movie, which I thought was really important for authenticity and staying true to character, is missing from Grease Live. Similarly, at the end of the Sandra Dee song, instead of the line "Fongool, I'm Sandra Dee" which invokes an Italian vulgarity, Rizzo sings "Be Cool, I'm Sandra Dee". Provocative references to "getting off my rocks", "she's a real pussy wagon" and "You know that ain't no shit, we'll be getting lots of tit" have all been replaced with more PG13 lyrics. If you compare the original lyrics of Greased Lightning to those performed on prime-time television, you can see that the latter has been bowdlerized to death! In describing the sexual magnetism of the car, the words "The chicks will cream" have been changed to "The chicks will scream". Bowdler who decided to publish an edition of Shakespeare without any sexual references or double-entendres, to bowdlerize means to edit out the offensive parts of something to the point of making it bland. The musical's version of Greased Lightning provided many examples of a new verb that I just learned - to bowdlerize. Maybe it was because he has such long arms, but the kung-fu like moves that Tveit was making while standing on the car reminded me of a chicken flapping its wings. Tveit's performance in the live musical was energetic enough but lacked the erotic, raw animal-magnetism that Travolta's exuded. In the movie version, Travolta's Danny Zuko was sexy and sensual, channeling Elvis Presley with his gyrating hips and crotch-grabbing. The one song that was a bit of a disappointment for me was the iconic "Greased Lightning" where the T-Birds fantasize about turning Kenickie's old junker car into a gleaming, "systematic, hydromatic, ultramatic" speed machine that could be used in a drag race against a rival gang. I'm not sure which was worse? IMDB reviewers weighed in on this, giving the former a 5.8/10 rating and the latter an even lower 5.1 rating. I cringed while watching stilted and wooden acting in the Sound of Music Live, and actually fell asleep while watching Peter Pan Live. A similar fate awaited the much panned (pun intended) live performance of Peter Pan starring Alison Williams from the TV show Girls as Peter, and Christopher Walken (who can't seem to sing or dance) as Captain Hook. So much for stunt-casting to take advantage of popular celebrities to attract viewing interest. While her singing was fine, Underwood's acting abilities left much to be desired. ![]() The first attempt at this format was with The Sound of Music starring former American Idol winner and country star Carrie Underwood. Since I love anything related to musicals and show tunes, it was with wary anticipation that I prepared to watch the third attempt at a new form of musical presentation–the live stage performance filmed and broadcast real-time to television audiences nation-wide.
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