Boycott YOU'RE THE ONE THAT I WANT — Page 3

Keeka--I wasn't saying Grease casting was a moral issue. Maybe I worded my earlier comment poorly. I was making the point that that kind of logic is faulty because, when applied to other things, you see it falls flat and almost no one would agree with it. If the logic doesn't work in other cases, it shouldn't work here. That's all.

I don't understand why people are hating on this show so much. It is allowing actors and singers to showcase their talent and possible give the the chance to live their dream as the lead in a broadway show. It you may hate American Idol but you can't deny Kelly Clarkson has talent. Let this be an outlet to create stars.

my qualm with the show is this: it's taking up valuable theatrical real estate. how many new shows are waiting for an open theatre? and they're gonna fill one with this crap?

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Well all I know is,
never watched it, never will.

Power to us.

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I'm gonna join the "hopefully this brings more attention to the theatre world" group. With any luck, theatre will be more appreciated and some real talent will actually come out of this show.

*promplty jumps on boycott bandwagon*

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^ will it really? When I watched, I almost thought the opposite...they weren't even showing that many bloopers, and the "talent" they were showcasing was...well...let's just say those that are going to "Grease Academy" had better work VERY hard.

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I can gaurantee you that winners are already chosen. No producer or director in their right mind would take a risk going into this venture. After the Equity auditions took place, they selected several to go into Grease Academy, knowing full on they had several pros in the mix that could handle leading the show. There is no question that they will rig the results to their liking. Kathy Marshall may not be the most innovative Broadway director, but she is one saavy business woman.

"Equity actors that are not a name were not allowed to do the show"

That's not correct.

Unless they actually rig the vote, they can't rig the winners. They can only do what AI does--choose who they want America to vote for.

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I watched the last 20 minutes of a repeat tonight. With all the people commenting this will be good to help bring attention to theatre, I couldn't help but think of all drama teachers, casting agents, etc. tearing their hair out at all the bad habits people are learning about auditioning. I have zero aspirations to be onstage, but I have enough sense to not show up to a dance audition wearing leather pants and jacket with chains.

One question: Who is the British guy? Is he actually involved in the production or is he just there because all reality show talent competitions require a snarky British judge?

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"How many rejcted (or even winning) American Idol contestants have gone from Idol to Broadway?"

American Idol is not a contest to get to Broadway, as this one is. And still, as has already been pointed out, a few HAVE made it there.

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The proof of whether it was a bad idea will come when ticket sales for the actual show are reported. Free market economy is a wonderful thing. Bad shows will close. People do vote with their pocketbooks.

The reality is that shows need money to run, and confining the audience to cultured, appreciative souls (like us?) will not pay the RENT for long. All kindsa peeps need to come see.

I'm all for exposing new people to the glories of the theatre. This is a way to do it.
We'll see what happens. And yes to whoever said it first, this is Grease, which is entertainment. Let's have fun.

(Please don't PM me about good shows closing early, I know that happens, but if it's good material that just needed a different audience or different cast or whatever, it will get legs on tour or in regional theatre and not be lost forever...)

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