Grease Live! Official Thread- Page 33

[Dave19]

Posted: 2/1/16 at 8:11pm

There are many very well executed scenes in this, that really gave me goosebumps.

 

The dance competition, Freddy my love, We go together, too many to mention, but one of my favourites is "Those Magic Changes" . It is so beautiful that it is kind of emotional, the music underscores the spoken lines perfectly, the transitions are very clever and Julianne's acting is perfect there. Also, the lyrics and feel of the song underline the emotions that are happening. Like their thoughts are being sung in a non-literal way that pushes all the right buttons. It's just magic that happens there, this is what musical theatre/film is about. The camera work is great too.

 

This scene in itself has 10 times more impact on me than the whole Les Miserables film had.

 

Updated On: 2/1/16 at 08:11 PM

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 2/1/16 at 8:58pm

Have to say, much like the raves THE WIZ got I was not as enamored with it. The added bits were sometimes great (loved Gasteyer and the secretary) but a lot was really boring and ruined the momentum. The Patty/Eugene bit was the worst for me. It made the more essential parts feel so rushed! And I think that's why the performances seems iffy, they were flying through to make room for nonsense.

 

That being said it looked great! The staging and camerawork as well as the coreo were flipping amazing and had so much more life that the dry NBC presentations. I'd really love to see HAIRSPRAY done more like this as others have said here.

 

All in all it has the same issues the film has (which makes sense because it's the film pretty much). It's a silly spoof crammed into a guise of sincerity that's totally at odds with the material left from the Broadway script. The new (awful) French song is the epitome of it, as "Hopelessly Devoted" was in the '78 film. Still enjoyable to watch but nothing amazing (technical magic notwithstanding).

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 2/1/16 at 9:58pm

I finally saw this (I was a the final performance of Signature Theatres "West Side Story" last night).

I thought it was perfect. This is how to do live musicals for TV. Craig Zadan and Neil Meron should be forced to watch this. After all they are the jerks who gave us Carrie Underwood in"Sound of Music", John Travolta in "Hairspray" and worst of all the extremely untalented Matthew Broderick in "Music Man". Or better yet, maybe they can fire Craig Zadan and Neil Meron and get good producers. "Grease" was better in every single area: directing, casting, acting, dancing, costumes, lighting, sets ......  Good for Fox, I can't wait to see what musical they do next.

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 2/1/16 at 11:35pm

This morning, my own dad was admitted to the hospital because of cancer complications.

I hardly got through Voice Class and I had to go to the bathroom several times to compose myself and get tissues. Ok, I had a nasty fall today and that's what started my breakdowns, but still. I hardly could sing and almost lost it when we did Ava Maria. I thought I wouldn't make it through the day and had to take the Uber to see him.

But, then I thought of Vanessa Hudgens. There she was on Grease Live. Her dad died of stage 4 cancer right before the show and there she was acting & singing, like as if nothing happened. 

It's amazing that I could hardly made it through the day while my dad is alive while Vanessa made through the show 100% with a deceased father.

I'm no fan of Vanessa, but her strength and grace through Grease helped me go through the day. I was thinking of her the whole singing class. So, thank you baby V for being so inspiring for me today. Your father was beaming down at you the whole night.

Updated On: 2/1/16 at 11:35 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 2/1/16 at 11:39pm

Well, honey, you're allowed to feel crappy when you are having a no-good very horrible bad day like you had.

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 2/1/16 at 11:54pm

Haha, I was all day! I had to call my parents between my other college classes and I cried a little between those times. I wear my emotions on my sleeves.

Thankfully, my dad is expected to be ok. :) 

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 2/2/16 at 12:07am

Sending thoughts, prayers, and love to you and your family's way, disneybroadwayfan22. Happy to hear your dad should do well.

[finebydesign]

Posted: 2/2/16 at 12:38am

Anyone else see lip-synching?  Loved Jan Brady's part... such a surprise. 

[TerrenceIsTheMann]

Posted: 2/2/16 at 4:17am

Also sending prayers your way disneybroadwayfan22!

Updated On: 2/2/16 at 04:17 AM

[TerrenceIsTheMann]

Posted: 2/2/16 at 4:29am

Alright. First off, I am really happy this did well. Obviously Grease is appropriate for all ages, the film is a classic. This production was quite good in many aspects. The technical direction and camerawork... whew... amazing. It really made it an awesome show. Zach Woodlee's choreo was really great as well. Aaron Tveit, no matter how old, is awesome, and was good as Danny. Vanessa Hudgens was the highlight performance wise. She really commited. Carly Rae Jepsen's acting was also on point. Barry Pearl and Didi Conn had great cameos. However, there were real mishaps here as well. The acting direction and script work was a little lazy... there were no points where any of the supporting characters had great moments (outside of their solos). So many performances in this were just caricatures and lifeless. Without the laughing needed, every joke fell flat that was without audience. Its a teen angel, not angels! At least change the line to angels. A lot of the singing was weak, personally. Hough, Jepsen, and Jessie J were all a bit off. The lip synching was rough in parts, but I think it was necessary with how intense the dancing was. Not bad for the first Fox show though. Still entertaining all the way. Looking forward to see what they do with Rocky Horror, and what NBC will do to compete.  

[JM226]

Posted: 2/2/16 at 8:11am

Anyone else see lip-synching?

 

this is the fourth or fifth time I have seen someone suggest lip-synching. it's simply not true. while the ensemble was undoubtedly padded with pre-recorded vocals, just like every broadcast on NBC is, all of the singing is live. what is probably confusing people is the effects of a slight satellite delay (from FOX -- not from your own provider). it happens all the time in live broadcasts but you probably don't notice it because they aren't singing or dancing with a camera in their face. i assure you all of the solo singing was live.

[JM226]

Posted: 2/2/16 at 8:14am

hey. always use two hands while driving. 

 

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 2/2/16 at 9:02am

Thank you, everyone.

And telling from Vanessa's live SnapChat with the opening number & behind-the-scenes of the finale, this was not lip-synched. I believe there were backup vocals, especially with the finale.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 2/2/16 at 9:29am

My well wishes to you and your family disneybroadwayfan22.

 

I re-watched this again last night and I have to say I just loved Zach Woodlee's choreography for "We Go Together" and the cast was purely having the time of their lives performing it. I honestly could not take my eyes off Julianne Hough during that particular number...I just loved the way she moved and executed every single step with such precision and ease. She made it look so, so easy....She's a winner in my book.

 

I had to re-wind that number at least 5x....i loved it so much, The sheer joy and energy and fun just came through in that number. It really soared....no flying car required!

[Vectorbabe]

Posted: 2/2/16 at 9:43am

I wasn't expecting to enjoy the show as much as I did.

It broke new ground for what kind of performance it was. Not an on-stage musical. Not a movie with scenes filmed days, weeks, months apart from each other. Not a TV representation of the musical.

It was very clever with indoor/outdoor transitions. Walls that broke to go inside rooms. Split screens with actors in different sets.

The producers/director took advantage of the best of all the genres of previous versions and mixed in new, exciting elements that could/should have only happened on TV.

I have a few reservations about all these "live" events, especially the ones shown on NBC.

What makes it special, important, exciting to have these shows air "live?"

Outside of the "will they go up on lines", or a light fall, or the music fail, there really isn't anything special about a live performance. It's more a question of how well the producers were prepared to have all those umbrellas ready although I would have chosen see-through plastic to make them slightly less obtrusive.

However, I was quite impressed, and wonder how, they switched the Greased Lightning car from battered to cherry red to battered again. it was well-done and made for a "oh wow, this is live and they changed the car" moment. It's a magic trick that I thought was done with a pre-recorded snippet. That is the sort of element that because the show was "live" made it exciting.

Random thoughts:

Danny, Sandy, and most of the other greasers looked way, way, WAY too old. But they did such a good job I quickly forgot.

Why change Sandy's name? It was cute to have it be "Young" from Salt Lake. But part of the thing in the original was having a Polish girl dating an Italian boy. And it lost the Sandra Dee joke. (Does anyone know who Sandra Dee is?)

The extras added a lot of energy to scenes that would have been very sparse. But they were a bit distracting in others, such as the burger joint.

Julia Hough is the prettiest Sandy I have ever seen.

Aaron Tveit is the prettiest Danny I have ever seen.

Dialog scenes in the Principals office lagged. They needed quicker pacing.

Bravos for the "diversity" casting. It wasn't that way back in 1959, and the original stage production didn't do it, but I DON'T CARE!!! BRAVO!!!

I am a die-hard purest for the original stage production, which holds a very special place in my memories. (Shout out to Adrienne Barbeau.) This wasn't the same. But it was great!

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 2/2/16 at 9:50am

I would have given anything to have been old enough in 1972 to have seen that original cast at the Eden Theater in New York City, I was around though - - - and pretty close by - - - we lived on Rivington Street in 1972 - - - but I was only 3 years old! Lol!

[JM226]

Posted: 2/2/16 at 10:07am

for those who still fail to appreciate and grasp the technical achievements of Sunday night, I present you with this video of the often overlooked people who actually make the magic happen. without them you couldn't have watched the performances you're all now discussing and obsessing over.

 

https://www.facebook.com/carrie.havel/videos/10153418696832898/

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 2/2/16 at 10:16am

JM226 said: "for those who still fail to appreciate and grasp the technical achievements of Sunday night, I present you with this video of the often overlooked people who actually make the magic happen. without them you couldn't have watched the performances you're all now discussing and obsessing over.

 

https://www.facebook.com/carrie.havel/videos/10153418696832898/

 

Why the defensive tone in your post, how do you know if any one of us haven't acknowledged these people somewhere else other than this board or in our minds?

 

That chip on your shoulder must weigh a ton hun and it's gonna crush you.

 

"

 

[Petralicious]

Posted: 2/2/16 at 10:31am

Thanks to your parents Mr Alberto for not bringing a 3 year old you to the theater! :)

[Vectorbabe]

Posted: 2/2/16 at 10:34am

Carlos,

Not only am I old enough to have seen the show in 1972. I'm old enough to remember 1959 and greasers.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 2/2/16 at 10:37am

Vectorbabe said: "Carlos, Not only am I old enough to have seen the show in 1972. I'm old enough to remember 1959 and greasers.

 

That's not a bad thing...you're a well seasoned individual!

 

 

 

[Petralicious]

Posted: 2/2/16 at 10:38am

Vectorbabe said: "Carlos,

 

Not only am I old enough to have seen the show in 1972. I'm old enough to remember 1959 and greasers.

 

"Vector,  in1959. did you go for Sandy, Rizzo, Marty, Frenchie, Jan or Patty?

 

Updated On: 2/2/16 at 10:38 AM

[Vectorbabe]

Posted: 2/2/16 at 10:43am

"Vector,  at the time did you go for Sandy, Rizzo, Marty, Frenchie, Jan or Patty?"

I was totally Patty, but too overweight to be a cheerleader or a "kilty" (the second team of chearleaders).

I was into theatre, audio club, radio club, and the student council. OMG, do schools still have "radio" clubs?

[JM226]

Posted: 2/2/16 at 10:43am

hi, carlos. i worked on the technical side of many similar projects for several years so I admit a general sense of defensiveness. my post was not directed at you, though. you have shown a genuine appreciation and love for all aspects of this broadcast from the beginning and I thank you for that. my post was directed at many others who are disregarding the success of this broadcast merely based on the performances. there is much more to this broadcast than just the performances. that is all. thanks 

[Petralicious]

Posted: 2/2/16 at 10:58am

Vectorbabe said: ""Vector,  at the time did you go for Sandy, Rizzo, Marty, Frenchie, Jan or Patty?"

 

I was totally Patty, but too overweight to be a cheerleader or a "kilty" (the second team of chearleaders).

 

I was into theatre, audio club, radio club, and the student council. OMG, do schools still have "radio" clubs?

 

" COOL!!!!  Patti was soooo cute here, if a little bit Traci Flicky!