Starring Vanessa Hudgens, Julienne Hough, Aaron Tveit, and Carlos PenaVega
Directed by Thomas Kali and Alex Rudzinski
Music and Lyrics by various
Most of the live TV musicals made to this point were hit-or-miss. The Wiz went over well; Peter Pan didn't. The Sound of Music seemed to have been slightly better-received by audiences than critics. Fox took a chance on doing a remake of a beloved hit, one of the most popular musicals made in the last 40 years. How well did they pull it off? Let's start at the Warner Bros Studio in Burbank, California as singer Jesse J performs the title number and introduces us to the cast and find out...
The Story: It's September 1959, and Sandy Young (Hough) just moved from conservative Utah to sunny Burbank in time for the school year, after spending the summer falling for lifeguard Danny Zucco (Tveit). She befriends Frenchie (Carly Mae Jepson) on the first day. Frenchie introduces her to her friends, the Pink Ladies. Ultra-cool head of the group Rizzo (Hudgens) thinks she's "too pure to be pink" and too sweet to be hip.
Danny seems to as well, at first. His buddies the T-Birds, Rydell's greaser gang, aren't sure what to think of Sandy. Frenchie's worried about getting through beauty school, while pretty and tough Marty (Keke Palmer) is more interested in playing pen-pal to the entire US Marine Corps. Rizzo's fed up with her immature boyfriend Kenickie (PenaVega), who is more interested in the car he's remodeling than her.
The Song and Dance: Neither rain nor the death of Vanessa Hudgens' father the day before could daunt this production. Everyone did a fabulous job. Kudos to Hudgens for her truly touching Rizzo, Hough as a lovely and affecting Sandy, and Palmer as sassy Marty. Wendall Pierce has a few funny moments as Coach Calhoun, especially dealing with Danny during "Those Magic Changes," and Ana Gastmeyer and Haneefa Wood are hilarious as Principal McGee and her overly enthusiastic secretary Blanche. The colorful costumes are perfect for the decade, and the complicated moving high school and bedroom sets won Emmys. They even manage to integrate the live audience watching the show as extras. They even corrected some problems I had with the original movie, like giving the rest of the cast more to do and re-adding a few stage songs dropped from the film.
Favorite Number: We kick off with singer Jessie J performing "Grease (Is the Word)" in the real rain as we get a glimpse of the cast under bright red and yellow umbrellas. "Summer Nights" gives us Sandy and Danny's versions of what really happened during their summer romance on opposite sides of the gym. "Freddy My Love" is a dream sequence for Marty where she imagines herself singing for the USO in a slinky sequined dress, with the Pink Ladies in uniform providing background vocals. "Those Magic Changes" is originally a song composed by group musician Doody (Jordan Fisher), but turns into background for Danny's transformation from greaser into jock. Hughes pours her grief into an especially moving and effective "There are Worse Things I Could Do."
Three big dance routines anchor the movie. The school dance has as much energy as the famous number from the original film. Boy group DCNE (featuring Joe Jonas) put out a vibrant "Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay" and "Born to Hand Jive" as everyone shows off some great choreography. The male dancers tear into "Greased Lightning," which makes up for sanitized lyrics with vibrant choreography and imaginative lighting effects. Sandy in particular makes the most of "You're the One That I Want," slinking around the school fair and knocking around the drooling boys with aplomb.
Trivia: Didi Conn, who played Vi the Waitress, and Barry Pearl, who played National Bandstand producer Stan Weaver, were Frenchie and Doody in the original movie.
What I Don't Like: Tveit is a fine dancer and singer, but lacks John Travolta's irreplaceable charisma. The additional song "All I Need Is an Angel" was tossed in to show off pop singer Jepson's capabilities, but it and Boyz II Men's performance of "Beauty School Dropout" sound too 21st century for this very mid-20th-century story. The cast still look too old for the roles they're playing (though not to the degree of the original film), and though they try to integrate it a bit better, Sandy's about-face at the end is still a bit too sudden and, frankly, dated. (Apparently, there were audio problems on the original broadcast, but those seem to have been corrected or aren't as noticeable on the copy currently at Paramount Plus.)
The Big Finale: Grease is still the word, even 50 years later. Vibrant performances, a fabulous production, and terrific dancing makes this a must-see for fans of the cast, Grease, or live musicals.
Home Media: Easily found on all formats; as mentioned, it's currently on Paramount Plus with a subscription. (It's on Blu-Ray bundled with the other two Grease movies.)
𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑀𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑐 was fine except for Carrie Underwood. You need a voice like Julie Andrews or Mary Martin to belt Broadway songs. Carrie was too soft-spoken and -voiced.
ReplyDeleteAnd the other problem was the audience, who kept complaining that "the songs are in the wrong order" because they thought they were doing a live adaptation of the MOVIE, not the play. I loved that Max and Elsa got to do their song, and they were much stronger than in the film.
I agree. "Sound of Music" had a wonderful supporting cast, and it was nice to hear Max and Elsa's songs.
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