Breaking: Live Audience to Participate in FOX's GREASE: LIVE!, Album & More Details Revealed!
Posted: 12/17/15 at 12:05pm
Great idea! This is what The Wiz was missing.
Posted: 12/17/15 at 12:06pm
But this show naturally lends itself to a live audience, unlike THE WIZ. This is not just a studio audience. This is an immersed studio audience, who will appear on screen (and there's rational justification for that). The same cannot be said of NBC's shows.
Posted: 12/17/15 at 12:13pm
Not sure about that. The Wiz, for all intents and purposes, was blocked and shot as a full-proscenium theatrical production. A couple pans of an applauding audience, plus applause breaks where a goddamn applause break should be would have helped the overall feel of the show, IMHO. Grease will gain even more from a live whooping-and-hollering crowd. Glad they're going this route.
Posted: 12/17/15 at 12:15pm
It sounds like they haven't completely settled on how to place the audience - and definitely how to pick the audience. Seems rather dangerous to me to have "contest winners" be placed into a scene with maybe at best one run trhough. Who knows what people might do in the scene. This is not like on-stage seating in Equus or Xanadu.
They might be better off just paying to have Equity actors be the audience.
Posted: 12/17/15 at 12:16pm
I believe that The Wiz would have benefitted from a studio audience, even if only to save from the awkward pauses after numbers where applause should be, and to have laughter after jokes.
Posted: 12/17/15 at 12:17pm
This is another musical that has had a few revivals. It is a shame that another musical could not have been chosen.
Posted: 12/17/15 at 12:25pm
I was really hoping you'd be able to purchase tickets for this, but I'd be okay with lottery I guess? Seems weird.
Posted: 12/17/15 at 12:26pm
Great Idea
Posted: 12/17/15 at 3:03pm
It seems like a stunt to get free extras?? And to not costume them makes zero sense. Nice justification Korins….
Posted: 12/17/15 at 4:23pm
CAST POSTER
Posted: 12/17/15 at 4:43pm
While Grease is hardly my favorite show, of COURSE they are going to pick one with wide appeal.
That poster is gawd-awful.
Posted: 12/17/15 at 4:46pm
dramamama611 said: "While Grease is hardly my favorite show, of COURSE they are going to pick one with wide appeal.
That poster is gawd-awful.
I'm curious as to why you think this particular poster is "gawd-awful"? Anything specific about it that you don't like?
Updated On: 12/17/15 at 04:46 PM
Posted: 12/17/15 at 4:52pm
Gross. This broadcast is going to be like a saved by the bell episode.
And the Headband is talking out of it's ass again. The Wiz lends itself to a studio audience much more than Grease does.
And the poster looks fine. Everyone looks great in their roles. It's broadway world tradition to hate every first poster that comes out of new shows. Just in case you didn't know.
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Updated On: 12/17/15 at 04:52 PM
Posted: 12/17/15 at 5:01pm
The expressions on many of the faces are awkward, and most of their arms/hands look like they are photo-shopped. The whole thing (except for Rizzo) looks "off".
I don't know that I've ever commented on a poster before....so I'm hardly contrary.
Posted: 12/17/15 at 5:02pm
Right decision. "Live" theater needs a live audience. Oh, and commercials shown only at intermission.
Posted: 12/17/15 at 5:10pm
There live audience is the audience at home. Honestly, it just sounds like Fox is trying to do everything opposite of NBC. No doubt this fox show is just a quick cash grab. At least Meron and Zadan are genuinely passionate about bring back theatre on the television. Fox was just like "Oh sh*t that sounf of music show made alot of money, let's get rights to the most brainless popular show ever written and do the exact same thing NBC is doing, except everything opposite. haha we're so smart".
But of course, imitation is the best form of flattery. At this rate, I actually might get to see a live broadcast of Beauty and the Beast being put on by ABC.
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Updated On: 12/17/15 at 05:10 PM
Posted: 12/17/15 at 5:18pm
Hamilton22 said: "There live audience is the audience at home. Honestly, it just sounds like Fox is trying to do everything opposite of NBC. No doubt this fox show is just a quick cash grab. At least Meron and Zadan are genuinely passionate about bring back theatre on the television. Fox was just like "Oh sh*t that sounf of music show made alot of money, let's get rights to the most brainless popular show ever written and do the exact same thing NBC is doing, except everything opposite. haha we're so smart".
But of course, imitation is the best form of flattery. At this rate, I actually might get to see a live broadcast of Beauty and the Beast being put on by ABC.
I'm really rather fond of "Grease" in all its incarnations. I guess when anything becomes hugely popular there tends to be some backlash.
@dramamama611: Thanks for responding to my question. I respect differences of opinion. It irks me when people state they don't like something but never bother to explain why.
Posted: 12/17/15 at 5:32pm
Lol. No dear, It has nothing to do with Grease being popular. It's just a terrible show. The movie took a rotten piece and made it enjoyable though. Imagine if the broadcast didn't put in the film songs and stuck with the script from the original broadway production. LOL everyone thinks Grease is so good cause the Movie was good but many have never read the original Broadway script. lolz
Updated On: 12/17/15 at 05:32 PM
Posted: 12/17/15 at 5:38pm
I'm really rather fond of "Grease" in all its incarnations. I guess when anything becomes hugely popular there tends to be some backlash.
This kind of reminds me of a statement Tommy Tune made about Grease in general when he was on Theater Talk back in 1997.
Posted: 12/17/15 at 6:18pm
I think GREASE the movie is terrible. The original show, contrary to the rose-colored way some choose to remember it, wasn't that great either. But at least it knew what it was and didn't water itself down too too much to be as widely appealing as the movie is.
I could hardly be less excited for this broadcast, though the news of a live audience is nice to hear.
Posted: 12/17/15 at 6:50pm
Queen Carly Rae taking her rightful place dead center of the poster.
Posted: 12/17/15 at 7:10pm
Hamilton22 said: "There live audience is the audience at home. Honestly, it just sounds like Fox is trying to do everything opposite of NBC. No doubt this fox show is just a quick cash grab. At least Meron and Zadan are genuinely passionate about bring back theatre on the television. Fox was just like "Oh sh*t that sounf of music show made alot of money, let's get rights to the most brainless popular show ever written and do the exact same thing NBC is doing, except everything opposite. haha we're so smart".
While I'm still on the fence about this, mostly due to casting (other than Aaron Tveit), I give Fox credit for at least trying by having legitimate Broadway people on board who understand live productions (Marc Platt, Tommy Kail, Tom Kitt). I'm going in expecting little, with the hope of being pleasantly surprised.
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"
Updated On: 12/17/15 at 07:10 PM
Posted: 12/17/15 at 9:54pm
Definitely the beginning of the end for these beautiful spectacular live shows. Translation an audience simply mean, texting, getting up for the bathroom, photography etc. And what a silly set design to have the audience appear on screen.
I also hate the idea of a proscenium stage.
Posted: 12/17/15 at 9:58pm
I highly suspect ushers/security are going to be a lot more vigilant at this than they would be at any Broadway show.
