Grease Live is on this Sunday

[moon]

I just LOVE the movie, but I though tonight's show was pretty good. I enjoyed it.

 

[justgrace]

Julianne Hough leaving out the "t" every time she sang the word devoted on Hopelessly Devoted really chapped my hide.

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 the midwest

 

[Kellykins1218]

It was awful

 

[L&Lfan]

I'll have to give it a listen, but I don't think Olivia pronounced the "t" every time she sang the word "devoted" . That may be correct from a technical standpoint, but it sounds affected to the American ear, limo.

 

[WDWJDS]

Thoroughly enjoyed it and loved seeing the backstage stuff. Vanessa rocked and Keke needs to sit her tail down. #OverTheTopAsUsual
#NoThatWasntHerCharacter

 

[aprilchem]

I don't watch television, but man was that show all over Facebook and Twitter last night and today. It took me a while to figure out what was going on!

 

[nugov2]

It was kinda annoying. I turned it off halfway through. The acting was way over the top and I couldn't stand the Sandy actress. Her singing to me wasn't up to snuff. She definitely is a much better dancer than singer. I enjoyed the Rizzo and Danny characters. I thought they did well. Patty...ugh she was just awful. It was on par with the sound of music redo. Kinda disappointing because I love musicals so it would be great if they could do a better job....maybe it's the live aspect that makes them not very good. I'm not sure. I always want to like them, but they fall flat.

 

[crazymama]

Loved it!! Was skeptical going in because I HATED Sound of Music. Well casted... Aaron and Julianne had great chemistry, Vanessa was amazing and the dancing was top notch!

 

[marybet]

I recorded it so I could fast forward through most of it. I think they tried to be more movie then stage musical. It was a very popular musical, I saw a road company in Cincinnati in 1973.

Most of the musical numbers were good but some were just unwatchable. I really didn't like the outside sets, would have preferred the stage version.

It was really hard to watch 30 year olds playing high school students. I disagree that it was better then the NBC efforts, although not perfect at least they were staged like the musicals they were based on, not the movies that came later.

 

[sam_gordon]

Does anyone know if the older gentleman who was the "stage manager" for Vince Fontaine (National Bandstand) was in the original movie? The only reason I ask is he came out for the curtain call with Didi Conn, she had a Pink Lady jacket (hers from the movie?) on and he had what looked like an old T-birds leather jacket. I tried to use IMDB to find out his name, but not sure I found the right guy.

 

[piglet too]

Yes, he played Doody in he movie.

 

[NCDisneyMom]

Just thought I'd throw in my opinions, as well. I don't know all of the actors real names, so I'll use the character names. One of the big things that bothered me was when they tried too hard to copy the movie version. Costumes, etc. Yes, I know dialogue will be the same, but I really prefer for an actor to put their own spin on things, and not be a carbon copy. There will never be a carbon copy of the movie, and this one should be its own entity:

Sandy - acting was fine, but the singing was just mediocre. She hit the notes fine, but didn't have a very strong voice.

Danny - Well, I'm partial to the actor, but I thought he did really well. As I made mention above, I felt like he made it his own. And his singing was amazing.

Rest of the t-birds - They were fine. Nothing that stood out to me.

Frenchy and Jan - Really enjoyed them both.

Marty and Patty - I really felt like both actresses were over-the-top. Had they taken it down a few notches, I may have enjoyed them more.

Rizzo - It's been well documented that her Dad died the night before. And for that, I give her HUGE props. Her voice was amazing, and she played the part very well (especially under the circumstances). My only gripe is that she was a carbon copy of Stockard Channing's Rizzo from the movie, and I was hoping for something a little different. That doesn't take away from her performance, it's just my personal preference.

Principal McGee and Blanche - LOVED them both. Especially Blanche. Hysterical!

Overall, I think the show did well, and was one of the best "Live" performances we've seen of late.

 

[loves to dive]

My DH had only seen the movie and 0 stage performances of anything so he kept comparing it to the movie. I had to keep reminding him 1 - stage actors act differently than film, they have to be a little over the top since they are on stage 2 - the movie came after the play so anything that was changed, the movie changed it. I had a few issues with it, I didn't like them switching from inside to outside, if you are doing a stage performance, do the stage performance. I didn't like that the audience was part of the performance. I noticed more than once that although some of them were dressed for the period (the principle clearly announces it's 1959/60) some had on nose rings and some had on leggings and tennis shoes. Drove me crazy. I didn't like the actress they picked for Marty, she is mostly a film actress and it showed, she was way too over the top and just didn't suit the role. Mario Lopez wasn't smarmy enough (and I never thought I'd say those words). While it certainly was better than Sound of Music, it wasn't as good as it could have been. Julianne did act better than Carrie Underwood so that casting was o.k. and I realize the guy who played Danny is huge on Broadway he just didn't suit the role. He didn't seem rough enough to me but props for the dancing and singing he did.

 

[RedAngie]

I guess it's very tough to make a live televised version of a musical. Something produced in a Broadway type theatre just wouldn't work very well on TV. Last night was a little too ambitious and I think they missed the mark in many instances. Hopefully someone will find the right formula for the right show. IMO, the best of the lot was The Wiz.

 

[anniemae]

I thought it was just okay. The lead was not a great singer, she was passable, but I was not blown away. I thought she is a dancer. She definitely had great enthusiasm though and she looked how Sandy should look.

I liked Rizzo, but I don't think that hair looked good on the actress who played her. I know it was Stockard Channings hair style, and it looked great on her in the original movie, and I get that it has to be a 50's hair style, but it just did not look right on the actress last night. I think they could have done a more flattering style on her and still kept it a 50's "do." Her voice was amazing. Loved when she sang There are Worse things I could do. I think she stole the show and conducted herself so bravely in the midst of her loss and grief.

Like the pp, I wish they could have put their own spin on the characters a bit more, but all in all, they did a great job. I liked at the end when they all ran out to the golf cart vehicles and drove out to the little carnival area. One of the carts jumped the curb though. Oooops.

 

[luvsJack]

I actually enjoyed it very much. Love, love, love the movie and didn't think I would like this production but I did. John Travolta IS Danny to me but I really like this guy. I thought Sandy did a good job being Sandy. Loved the way they did Greased Lightening. I think they were almost between a rock and a hard place on their portrayals of these characters. Grease is an iconic movie. Everyone has seen it and most love it. The actors that portrayed these characters in the movie ARE these characters to most people. I think there would have been much criticism if there hadn't been enough to remind everyone of John, Olivia and Stockard.

 

[Mizzoufan]

Wish one of the stations and would do Wicked live

 

[nanajoyx2]

I really enjoyed the show and thought everyone did a wonderful job! I do think some of the performers looked too old to be playing high-school students (Sandy and Marty)! I loved the actor playing Danny! He was very, very good and an excellent dancer! Rizzo was also spot-on.

I loved the added line by the principal- "Do you think it will rain?" or something like that. And did anyone else catch the mistake by Mario Lopez? When he was on the stage announcing the rules, he very clearly said "American Bandstand" instead of "National Bandstand". Too funny!

Yes I did catch Mario's mistake.

 

[sam_gordon]

Yes, he played Doody in he movie.

Thanks.

 

[Dancind]

Well, I was thoroughly entertained. DH bailed pretty early, but he would walk by and comment "you're still grinning". Ok will freely admit I love musicals.

Thought Julianne did great. I've read on line that there was static during her big song, but it was fixed by the time we saw it in MST. Beautiful, so was Vanessa's big song. She did so well as Rizzo.

It was very annoying not to hear the voices better during the dance numbers. Aaron Tveit has an amazing voice and even he got lost. Could barely even tell who was singing during Greased Lightning. Aaron did interviews and said his Danny would be more "cool", more in the James Dean lane than Elvis like John Travolta. John almost did a caricature of Elvis, but you did tend to miss the energy he brought to the part. This Danny was certainly sexier. YMMV

Loved Jan, Marty, Doody and Patty Simcox!