Grease First Preview Tonight- Page 4

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 7/25/07 at 12:23am

Regardless of what WBAF and I think of this show, it will definitely be a huge hit. The audience loved it...granted WBAF and I are probably much more cultured than they are...but those are the type of people who will see this show and love it...just like they did this evening.

Matthew Saldivar was fine as Kenickie...nothing special. They all looked way too old for high school now that I think about it actually.

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/25/07 at 12:24am

I never thought I'd see people saying the Weissler's revival was better..
Updated On: 7/25/07 at 12:24 AM

[iluvny04]

Posted: 7/25/07 at 12:25am

(this is in repnse to BSoBW2)exactly Grease is like Mamma Mia and Xanadu just a naturally fun show. My motto is just go in with an open mind and decide for yourself whether a show is bad or not. If you go into anything with expectations the probability is half and half, some will met and some won't. This may be hard to do, but try to go with expectations at all and just see where you go from there.
Updated On: 7/25/07 at 12:25 AM

[bjh2114]

Posted: 7/25/07 at 12:26am

Ivan, to be fair, Austin wouldn't have changed this into a make or break situation. If the direction is the problem, Austin wouldn't have been able to fix the show. Plus, he sucked anyway.

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 7/25/07 at 12:28am

With all due respect, my opinion is that Mamma Mia is a piece of poo. That did NOT prove me wrong. And I sat through it twice. Even drunk, I couldn't hack it.

Now...back to topic.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 7/25/07 at 12:30am

Austin would have been worse than Max, in my opinion. Max wasn't a disgrace...he held his own...but I just think someone else would have been better.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 7/25/07 at 12:32am

Saldivar looked like he had something sour stuck in his mouth all night. He was OK.

But Sam Harris was also missed (along with Porter).

It's funny. This revival is nothing like the last one. GREASE is like the American Threepenny Opera. No two productions are alike.

[paikea]

Posted: 7/25/07 at 12:33am

Ivan, to be fair, Austin wouldn't have changed this into a make or break situation. If the direction is the problem, Austin wouldn't have been able to fix the show. Plus, he sucked anyway.

Hahaha, bjh2114. You sounded so logical in the beginning of the post I thought you were really trying to reason with him.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 7/25/07 at 12:34am

Can anyone elaborate more on the sets? Was there a show curtain? I'm curious to know if the set went the way of the marquee: bubblegum pop.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 7/25/07 at 12:35am

I try! Gotta have it both ways. Although, I did mean what I said about him not changing anything.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 7/25/07 at 12:36am

The show curtain was a backdrop of Rydell High...it looked incredibly cheap...as did the rest of the sets.

I did like the car though...and "Greased Lightnin" was the best musically staged number in the show.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 7/25/07 at 12:36am

The curtain was a very bright cartoon drawing of the front of Rydell High (very much in the style of the flash animation on the site).

The pictures of the set either on the show's official site or that were released a while ago are accurate depictions.

Nothing special. Except for the Ice Cream spaceship.

[iluvny04]

Posted: 7/25/07 at 12:37am

In response to both trace and taboo you entitled to your opinions, but those comments were rude and uncalled for. Taboo I may not like something, but I wouldn't call a piece of poo, thats just plain rude and to trace what givs you the right to say that your more cultured than anybody else. Are asying just because me and some others like Grease were not cultured like you. That is just low and even though I happen to like Grease I consider myself cultured. You may think so, but I do and you know so what. Waht you think bring cultured has to stay in one specific category, no you can be cultured and still be electic my range goes things like Grease, Phantom, Les Mis, Gypsy, Spring Awakening, The Sound of Music, Drowsy Chaperone, Sweeney Todd, and West Side Story just to name a few.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 7/25/07 at 12:39am

Marshall worked in the famous arm movements into GREASE LIGHTENING from the movie. That got a huge applause.

The hand jive (who played Vince?) was boring. The actor who lead it - Vince - was boring.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 7/25/07 at 12:39am

I had a feeling I would be called out on the "cultured" remark...

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 7/25/07 at 12:41am

FTR, I understood what you meant WAT.

He wasn't calling anyone who likes this production uncultured, but that the average audience member attending this production is likely to be a tourist who hasn't experienced a lot of theater. Those individuals are often less discriminating in what they consider a good theater experience just because they don't have a lot to compare it to.

That's what he means by less cultured.

Updated On: 7/25/07 at 12:41 AM

[ben4]

Posted: 7/25/07 at 12:43am

I don't think Trace and Taboo meant to sound elitist. It's just that we all have to admit at some point that there are two types of broadway theater goers-- the ones with high expectations and the tourists (who, lets face it, will enjoy anything that's snappy and fun).

From the looks of it, Grease looks like a show more for the tourists and at over 100 bucks a ticket who can blame them for being dissapointed and wanting to express that?

[iluvny04]

Posted: 7/25/07 at 12:43am

sorry I just read some of my posts and I just realized taht even though they are close to making sense, I need to put in crucial words in here and there. Aside from that what chnges/improvements does the show need to make in order to make it more appealing???

[Unknown User]

Posted: 7/25/07 at 12:43am

It's my opinion that any broadway show that lets the viewers pick the leads is determined to fail. It's a fun idea, but honestly, I don't think a bunch of 10 year-olds or however old most of the viewing audience was (I'm sure there were some scattered older viewers, like people on here) don't have exactly the right insight into what type of people should have been cast.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 7/25/07 at 12:44am

Thank you, Colleen. That is exactly what I meant.

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 7/25/07 at 12:45am

The casting doesn't even seem to be the issue here. It's the concept being employed by the direction. If the concept is bad it's not going to work whether your leads are reality show contestants or individuals cast the old fashioned way.

[jimnysf]

Posted: 7/25/07 at 12:46am

Here we go again with the Austin haters. Enough already. We know you don't like him. Give him a break already.

[paikea]

Posted: 7/25/07 at 12:47am

Marshall worked in the famous arm movements into GREASE LIGHTENING from the movie. That got a huge applause.

The hand jive (who played Vince?) was boring. The actor who lead it - Vince - was boring.


Jeb Brown. I was thisclose to typing "Jeb Bush." Which, admit it, would be interesting.
Updated On: 7/25/07 at 12:47 AM

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 7/25/07 at 12:47am

Why is Austin even being brought into this thread one way or another? He didn't win. He's not playing the role. He is a non-entity here.

[Kelly2]

Posted: 7/25/07 at 12:50am

Well, I guess I was at a different show. I REALLY enjoyed it. I thought it was fun, funny, and the cast was incredible. Laura seemed a bit nervous to me, but I'm sure she'll be better once she gets a bit more comfortable. Max definitely surprised me, he was pretty darn good. My favorites were definitely Kirsten Wyatt as Frenchy and Jenny Powers as Rizzo. Both of them were completely spot on and fabulous. Triple threats, both of them. Too bad Kirsten doesn't get a lot of a chance to sing, because her voice is great.

Mad props. Sure, there's still things to be worked on, but they're in previews, I have faith that by opening night, it'll be tight and even better than what I saw tonight.