Grease Live is on this Sunday

[L&Lfan]

Here's how I liked the recent live musicals:
1. The Sound of Music
2. Grease
3. Peter Pan
4. The Wiz

 

[AustinTink]

That's funny! I think it's a midwestern regional thing to drop the "t" in words or names. She's from Utah, and I notice a lot of people drop the "t" as well in Colorado and throughout Missouri.

Interesting. My bff is from Missouri. I'm going to have her sing Hopelessly Devoted just for grins.

 

[kimmar067]

...thank goodness I DVR'd it because I went to bed early, as I am under the weather and still not feeling well....I did hear not-so-great reviews on some of the radio stations this morning....

 

[E&Cmom]

The reviews are all over the place so I wouldn't pay any attention to them. I read " amazing" reviews to " awful".

 

[jiminyC_fan]

I think it was great. They did a great job of difficult scene and costume changes. I was worried I wouldn't like it since I would be judging off John Travolta and Olivia Newton John's exceptional acting and singing but I was pleasantly surprised. Don't get me wrong, they weren't as good but it was a job well done by all.

 

[Stitchfans]

We really enjoyed it. Thought Vanessa did an awesome performance. All did, in my opinion.

 

[lizabu]

I think it was great. They did a great job of difficult scene and costume changes. I was worried I wouldn't like it since I would be judging off John Travolta and Olivia Newton John's exceptional acting and singing but I was pleasantly surprised. Don't get me wrong, they weren't as good but it was a job well done by all.

Yeah and don't forget with movies they do take after take and they can redo vocals and fix things in post production. I think the fact that this show was live and was still nearly as good as the movie speaks to the talent of the performers and producers and cameramen and anyone else involved.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

Eve Plumb (Jan Brady - Brady Bunch) is the shop teacher. The cameo's in this production are awesome! lol

I didn't know until today that the auto shop teacher was Eve Plumb. Tsk, tsk, Jan Brady condoning underage drinking and other juvenile delinquent actions. Then again, she DID make those teen age prostitute movies after the Brady Bunch ended.

How many people do you think saw the 1973 play? To me, the movie is the original.

Hmmm, I'm guessing about 3 million people saw the Broadway play before it closed. For DIS members, probably less than 1/10th of 1%. But still, it's fairly common knowledge that the stage version preceded the 1978 film. I'd expect EVERYONE who watched the TV version last night to know this.


A few ponderings:
I don't remember from the film or previous live theatre versions. Did the rest of the T-Birds NOT know that Danny Zuko was on the track (or cross-country) team until the very end? They all spent plenty of time together during senior year.

I wonder if there were understudies in case Vanessa Hudgens (or any other character) wasn't able to perform. What if between scenes the golf cart transporting the Pink Ladies tipped over and all of them were killed?

They could have had some of the extras in the carnivals rides at the end rather than running them empty.

Can someone drop out of school, go to beauty school, drop out of there, and just go back to regular school without making up work or repeating the grade? It's never mentioned just how long Frenchie was out of Rydell High.

I read that they fixed the sound problems (poor vocals/background music mix, no sound for about 15 seconds during Hand Jive, crackly sounds for Hopelessly devoted, etc.) for the delayed West Coast broadcast.

 

[sam_gordon]

I'd expect EVERYONE who watched the TV version last night to know this.

Really? Even after reading the thread? Personally, I wasn't sure which came first (stage or screen).

 

[JenM]

How many people do you think saw the 1973 play? To me, the movie is the original.

Well, the original Broadway production ran for 3388 performances (8 years!) and was the longest-running musical in Broadway history at the time when it closed in 1980 (it’s still the 15th longest-running musical of all time)....so a lot of people saw it.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

Really? Even after reading the thread? Personally, I wasn't sure which came first (stage or screen).

Yes, really. I'm really astounded that people don't know that the stage version came first.

Well, the original Broadway production ran for 3388 performances (8 years!) and was the longest-running musical in Broadway history at the time when it closed in 1980 (it’s still the 15th longest-running musical of all time)....so a lot of people saw it.

That's what I based my estimate of 3 million people on. 3388 performances. I don't know the size of the theatre where it ran, but roughly 1000 per show. Deduct a bit to allow for people who saw it more than once.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

Hulu has failed me.... I have found it elsewhere, it is going to be a while before I can see it. Hopefully it will be ready tonight.

 

[Disneylover99]

Hmmm, I'm guessing about 3 million people saw the Broadway play before it closed. For DIS members, probably less than 1/10th of 1%. But still, it's fairly common knowledge that the stage version preceded the 1978 film. I'd expect EVERYONE who watched the TV version last night to know this.

I had no idea it was a Broadway play, before the movie, or after the movie. I thought it was just a nice, little musical movie.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Yeah and don't forget with movies they do take after take and they can redo vocals and fix things in post production. I think the fact that this show was live and was still nearly as good as the movie speaks to the talent of the performers and producers and cameramen and anyone else involved.

Totally agree!

 

[LilyWDW]

I had no idea it was a Broadway play, before the movie, or after the movie. I thought it was just a nice, little musical movie.

Same... and I even work in theatre. Then again, I wasn't born until '82 and never had a reason to know that Grease was a stage production before it was a movie. I mean, it never came up as "something you have to know" in my life.... and I am sure it's the same for many people.

Anyway, I thought the production was very well done considering the difficulties that such a show inherently has. You have both a live production AND television mixed together. There are a lot of things that could go wrong! Heck, live theatre has enough that can go wrong in any given show (had a wig get yanked off the other night at the show I was working because it snagged on another actors costume). It's not an easy thing to do.

I was also very willing to let these actors do their thing and to not judge based off of what already had been done. It was going to be different, there was no way around that.

 

[elphaba91]

Well, the original Broadway production ran for 3388 performances (8 years!) and was the longest-running musical in Broadway history at the time when it closed in 1980 (it’s still the 15th longest-running musical of all time)....so a lot of people saw it.

Not to mention there have been 2 national tours and 2 Broadway revivals, the 2007 revival being cast through a reality TV show (and revealing Laura Osnes to the world!). It's also a pretty standard high school and community theatre show.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

The reviews are all over the place so I wouldn't pay any attention to them. I read " amazing" reviews to " awful".

The truth is somewhere in the middle.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I don't think you can ever capture the magic of the original, but I really did enjoy this. I saw it a day delayed, but to pull something like this off live really took some doing. I definitely want to see it again.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I enjoyed it. With the openness about the sets and stuff, I kind of felt more like I was behind the scenes of a movie being filmed than actually at a stage production (where they're trying to hide things, and you don't have the camera angles) but I still thought they did a great job. I loved the cameos, especially the movie's "Frenchie" as the waitress! And I just like the idea that they're bringing back live productions.

 

[elphaba91]

Watching it now. I think it's pretty well done, but I'm just not a very big fan of the musical itself. I think the casting is great overall, especially Aaron, Julianne and definitely Vanessa. I feel Kenickie is totally wrong (he's just not cool enough) and Keke is a bit over the top, but I don't mind her too much.