![]() But the T-Birds still spend all three(!) hours of the musical glorifying the kind of machismo that can turn teen boys into nightmares - and we're still supposed to root for them. Tveit, for all his commitment to every sliding lick, could never be quite the bad boy Danny Zuko is supposed to be. Sure, there are some vague attempts to make Danny a little more sympathetic. One of the biggest problems with Grease is that the T-Birds - Rydell High's shit-talking, pelvic-thrusting greaser gang, which boasts male lead Danny Zuko as a member - are garbage. The T-Birds should not be the protagonists of anything, because they are disgusting It's just a shame this level of production splendor was used on such a wheezy musical as Grease. Kail filmed Grease Live like a particularly ambitious episode of television - which, of course, it was. Grease Live one-upped NBC's productions in another arena, working in a live audience on bleachers and surrounding the cast in various sets - though that sometimes backfired on the show when the fans screamed through numbers. Kail even built up so much goodwill for his work that it was charming to see him fake the story's big drag race with fancy camerawork surrounding the still cars. The opening Jessie J scene was a spectacular feat of staging, and Kail's smooth work at the school dance showed off everyone's bubbling energy - and Hough's dancing.įully screamed in my apartment at this particular piece of insane choreography #GreaseLive /bH0csAAV36 Every setup - from gymnasium to malt shop to that closing carnival - was meticulously tailored to the filming, a problem that NBC's live musicals have struggled with in particular. ![]() Though there was some noticeable scrambling outside, thanks to Los Angeles experiencing an uncharacteristic storm, the sets of Grease Live spared no detail. (The budget was reportedly around $16 million.) The combination of Kail's direction, the work of Grease Live's camera crew, and the grand scale of the production was astonishing. It was clear from the second Grease Live started - with a long tracking shot following pop singer Jessie J throughout the studio lot for her performance of "Grease Is the Word" - that Kail and Fox weren't messing around. It's a lame premise, kept afloat by eager performances and inoffensive songs, better suited to a jukebox than a stage.īut dammit if Kail and crew didn't do their best to convince us otherwise. Grease requires as much enthusiasm as possible to distract from how thin it actually is - and on that front, Grease Live deliveredįor all of Grease 's attempts to be a sweeping epic, a summer fling turned romance for the ages, it's really just about a creep who keeps blowing off a hopeful girl because his friends might make fun of him. When actors embrace the show's camp and commit to its cheesiness, Grease can be a whole lot of fun.īut after rewatching Grease in preparation for Grease Live, I've come to the conclusion - with sadness weighing heavy on my bruised and nostalgic heart - that Grease is just no good. It was bright, eager to please, easy to memorize, and perfectly suited to accompany the frantic flailing I thought qualified for dancing. ![]() When I was a kid, Grease was my favorite. Grease Live was slick - but it still couldn't hide the fact that Grease, as a musical, is bad. There were no embarrassing musical numbers, no catastrophic flubs. Guest stars (Ana Gasteyer, Didi Conn, Wendell Pierce) threw in their hats for the sheer fun of it. The cast - led by Julianne Hough as Sandy, Vanessa Hudgens as Rizzo, and Aaron Tveit as Danny - turned in solid performances, fueled by almost manic enthusiasm. In that moment, there was no denying the production's prowess.ĭirector Thomas Kail (of Broadway's reigning champ, Hamilton) pulled off some incredibly tricky technical feats that would've been impressive after editing, let alone a live performance. For the final shot of Grease Live, the camera swooped around the cast and outside the soundstage to reveal an enormous carnival. ![]()
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