Review of Grease 8/7/07

[bjh2114]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 12:45am

OK, let me start by saying that I expected this show to be a huge train wreck from start to finish. I was actually quite surprised that the show had quite a few good qualities. I am going to do the general "the good, the bad, and the ugly" review.

The Good:
- The majority of the cast, including Max and Luara, were actually quite good. Standouts for me were Robyn Hurder as Marty, Daniel Everidge as Roger, Kirsten Wyatt as Frenchy, and Lindsay Mendez as Jan. Also, I just have to give a shoutout to Jamison Scott who plays Eugene and is the most adorable thing ever. He's so cute, and plays dorky really well. Max was decent, and Laura was mostly good up until the last scene when she turns into sexy Sandy. That girl is just not a sex pot, let's face it. It looked a little awkward, like she had no edge. Max was good in the last scene and during his song "Sandy", but the rest of the show for him was kinda eh.

- Jenny Powers' rendition of "There Are Worse Things I Could Do" blew the house down. What a set of pipes on her.

- The ensemble. Their energy was great and they were highly underused.

The Bad:
- OK, so Jenny Powers wasn't bad, but I didn't get all of the hype around her. I thought her "There Are Worse Things I Could Do" was outstanding, but other than that I was left somewhat cold. Her "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee" was only so so, and the rest of the show her acting didn't convince me. While I bought the rest of the cast being in high school, Jenny just came across as too old.

- Matt Saldivar as Kenickie is the same story as Jenny. Not really bad, just didn't fit the part. He was clearly too old. Whoever thought of casting both him (in his 30s or 40s I think?) and Allison Fischer (18 years old) as classmates must have been on drugs.

- Buntrock as Teen Angel totally didn't fit. His voice was off, his wig was terrible, and the whole thing just didn't work.

- The placement of "Hopelessly Devoted to You" was so strange. They should have kept it towards the beginning.

-The fact that the show is Grease. Overall, much of the production wasn't bad. The bad stuff was the source material, and there isn't much you can do about that.

And finally...THE UGLY:
-The sound design. I felt like I was listening to Grease the Concert. Everything sounded so distant and echoed. The mics were terrible and I could barely here the singers over the band (led by the insane Kim Grigsby, who puts on a great show, lol). Oy, Grease shouldn't be a rock concert though.

-Jeb Brown. I am sorry, this man has a good voice, but he is TOO OLD for the part of Vince. I didn't but it at all. Just cut the line about him being in school last year and it would be ok. But god, he was so bad.

-KATHLEEN MARSHALL'S DIRECTION AND CHOREOGRAPHY! Here ladies and gentleman lies the real problem with this show. The direction sucks and the choreography is stale. God onlt knows what Kathleen was thinking. I was hugely disappointed with this aspect of the show. Most of the choreography was borrowed from her other work, and very apparently so. For instance, the 3 ensemble couple dancing in the Burger Palace right before the last scene were doing the EXACT same choreography that Kathleen had in "Ballet at the Village Vortex" in Wonderful Town. Good god woman, come up with something original here. The hand jive number was a let down too.

-The costumes. Oy, a cross between Pajama Game and The American Trailer Park Musical. I was very underwhelmed here. Also, Allison Fischer's prom dress, though pretty, is a big poofy yellow dress that looks JUST like her dress from Lestat. Was there a memo that I missed about requiring her to dress in yellow doll dresses all the time?

- The sets looked cheap. Nothing impressive. That's all.

Overall the show wasn't as bad as I thought, with mostly Kathleen and the designers being the main culprits.


Updated On: 8/8/07 at 12:45 AM

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 1:20am

I wonder if the producers of the show told her to keep the choreography simple so that the people being plugged in didn't have to worry about it being too difficult?

Also, how did you see the 8/8/07 show? Isn't it the 8th today?

[bjh2114]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 1:45am

Sorry, typo, I meant the 7th. I'll fix it. As for the choreography RentBoy, that doesn't make sense. Danny is in several dance numbers but Sandy is only in one. And Max can dance, so it shouldn't be an issue. Plus, simple choreography isn't always bad. It's not that this is simple, it's boring.
Updated On: 8/8/07 at 01:45 AM

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 7:59am

BJH, my insta-reaction is "oh, God, how could you have enjoyed it?" But I won't hold it against you! (Please note the humorous quality in everything I just said).

Yes, you hit the nail on the head. Kathleen Marshall is really out of her element (go figure!), Laura and Max were bland (what did you think of their chemstry...or, as I say, lack thereof), Hopelessly Devoted is horribly placed, and Jenny Powers' wig is just plain awful (though her performance is fantastic, IMO).

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 9:42am

Laura was mostly good up until the last scene when she turns into sexy Sandy. That girl is just not a sex pot, let's face it. It looked a little awkward, like she had no edge.

Did you also notice, unless they've fixed it since the first preview, that Sandy's sex pot wig, all done up and funky, is clearly a LOT more hair than is normally on her head?

The mics were terrible and I could barely here the singers over the band (led by the insane Kim Grigsby, who puts on a great show, lol). Oy, Grease shouldn't be a rock concert though.

I agree that Grigsby put on a great show. Her performance was actually a hell of a lot more engaging at times than whatever was happening on stage.

-Jeb Brown. I am sorry, this man has a good voice, but he is TOO OLD for the part of Vince. I didn't but it at all. Just cut the line about him being in school last year and it would be ok. But god, he was so bad.

Vince Fontaine is actually *supposed* to be old. The line about him being "in school...LAST YEAR!" is a joke. He's trying to come onto Marty, while it's clear that he's a lot older and doesn't have a chance. He's being a skeezy cornball and makes a joke to try to lighten the awkwardness about the fact that he is clearly not her age.

- The sets looked cheap. Nothing impressive. That's all.

Agreed. I'd like to know where the $10 Million that was invested into this production went.

Updated On: 8/8/07 at 09:42 AM

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 9:46am

The UK production of Grease has its press night tonight (also reality show winners) even though its the same set it has had for years (still looks better than the broadway one though from what i have seen)

The critic for channel 5 said the 2 reality show winners are VERY good but dont have the sexual chemistry yet

I think the rest of the review went something like this

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh Awful, Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh, Tacky, Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh, Cheap etc etc etc

Looks like the critics on both sides of the pond are gonna have the knives out for poor old Grease.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 10:48am

Morning all.

Yankee, oh don't get me wrong. I wouldn't say that I enjoyed this show, I just didn't hate it as much as I expected it to. I mean I expected to be sitting in my chair rolling my eyes literally from start to finish. I thought some things were good (not great, I mostly agree with your good, gooder, goodest comments), but would I go back to see this show again? Probably not. As for Max and Laura's chemistry, it wasn't great, but it could have been A LOT worse. Like there was absolutely NO chemistry in the last scene, which was totally ridiculous (easily the worst scene in the show, along with Summer Nights in my opinion), but they were cute together in a few scenes. For instance, I thought they were ok in the drive-in scene and the scene leading up to the cheerleading practice before Patty comes in. Nothing electric, but they were cute at points. And you are SO right about Jenny's wig. Awful! Like, what? She looked at least 35. See, like I said in my original post, she wasn't bad by any means, but I didn't really feel as impressed with her as I expected to (but that's possibly because I went in with such high expectations of her. Though I did go in with high expectations for Robyn too, and thought she rocked). Jenny's "Worse Things I Could Do" however was the best song of the night, she rocked it. But her other material was just somwhat in your "goodest" category for me. And yes, Kathleen laid an egg.


Foster, thanks for clarifying about Vince. I always thought from the movie that he was supposed to be older, but every production of Grease I have seen he has been younger (because these were high school or college productions). The only professional production of Grease I have seen was the last revival, and I saw an understudy go on for Vince (most likely a younger ensemble member or a swing), so I thought maybe the movie just decided to go in another direction. But him being older makes more sense. It would help, however, if Jeb Brown delivered the line in a way that made it clear he was joking. It just came across as awkward. AND YES!!! OH MY GOD! Sandy's sex pot wig was truely, hopelessy ridiculous. SO MUCH HAIR. That whole costume for her in the last scene looked awful, but especially the wig. Oy.

I forgot to mention that I also really enjoyed Natalie Hill as Cha-Cha. What a character she is.

Updated On: 8/8/07 at 10:48 AM

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 10:56am

Yes, Natalie Hill is the campy highlight of the show.

And the wigs are the lowest lowlight I've ever seen. Especially Jenny's, which really hinders the idea that she's young. Combine that with her matronly costumes, I walked out and referred to her to a friend as Grandma Rizzo.

I actually equated Sandy's "sexy wig" to Blair Brown's normal hairstyle, only not red. Perhaps they were experimenting with different ones, but I didn't see something "done up and funky." Yeah, blatantly fake leather costume was shi**y, too.

And I still say...Robyn Hurder is a knock-out. Sexy, seductive, and a great singer. Even though it seems like she's sharing Kelli O'Hara's wig from The Pajama Game.

ETA: I guess it's obvious that nobody from the production team is looking at the message boards...considering the same problems have been detailed in every single "review."
Updated On: 8/8/07 at 10:56 AM

[bjh2114]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 11:14am

"And I still say...Robyn Hurder is a knock-out. Sexy, seductive, and a great singer. Even though it seems like she's sharing Kelli O'Hara's wig from The Pajama Game."

HAHA, that's EXACTLY what I said in the other thread about the costumes. I am so glad you agree that they are the same wig. Did you see Lestat? Did Allison's dress at all remind you of her dress there? God the costumes were bad. And as for Sandy's wig, it was pretty big. Haha that rhymed...sorry. It was definitely not Blair Brown hair last night. Think Katey Sagal's hair on the TV show Married with Children. OH YEAH! I know you just cringed, lol.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 11:18am

Hey, I love Peggy Bundy!

Yes, I did see Lestat...how odd...now that I think about it, you're right.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 11:26am

"Hey, I love Peggy Bundy!"

Haha, yes, but do you love her hair on Sandy? LOL.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 11:26am

Not by a long shot!

[Virgo]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 2:04pm

Thanks for the review. I really appreciate people who take the time to formerly review things that they've actually seen. Unlike those who go see musicals/plays, never review them and then want to put down certain aspects of the performance in threads that have nothing to do with the performance.

[jv92]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 2:22pm

On the money, except for the kudos for the cast. I thought they all were pretty terrible, mainly because they were misdirected.

[Lynnespock2]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 3:07pm

Ok, Jv92 - you say I am not a shill, but I totally disagree with you about the cast.

They are a very talented group. Saying they were pretty terrible is a wide brush stroke amongst so many great individual performances.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 3:34pm

Jv92, I will say that some of the character choices were alittle funky, but I recognized that as the poor direction. I thought that vocally most were pretty good, and they worked well together as a team. That's why I gave them those kudos. Damn, now I want a cereal candy bar. lol.

[Kalimba]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 3:48pm

Kathleen Marshall should be run out of town for the mess that she created at the Brooks Atkinson.

[Lynnespock2]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 3:52pm

Funny you say that Kalimba! Did you say that about Maurice Hines and his direction/choreography of Hot Feet?

[bjh2114]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 4:02pm

Lynnespock, this is a thread about Grease. Just because you don't agree with Kalimba about Grease doesn't mean you need to bring up Hot Feet.

[singtopher]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 4:12pm

Does anyone have any production pictures of this yet? I can't seem to find any.

[Lynnespock2]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 4:28pm

I am only asking because has she seen the production to make the comments?

I think it's a very good question myself!

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 4:29pm

https://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=20499

[bjh2114]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 4:34pm

"I am only asking because has she seen the production to make the comments?
I think it's a very good question myself!"

But that wasn't your question. Your question was "Did you say that about Maurice Hines and his direction/choreography of Hot Feet?"

In any case, I do hope they release more production photos on the show's website, because those few BWW photos don't capture the cheap looking set in all its glory.

[Kalimba]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 5:28pm

The choreography in Hot Feet was a hell of a lot better than what's currently being displayed at the Brooks Atkinson.

The show closed over a year ago, this is a thread about Grease.

[Lynnespock2]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 9:09pm

Thank you, I know exactly when Hot Feet closed. I asked if you about his direction as well. The choreography was such that the injuries just kept on coming. And to compare the two shows for choreography, is apples and oranges in any case.

Have you seen Grease?