Grease with actual teenagers?- Page 2

[justagirl2]

Posted: 1/30/07 at 2:47pm

^Yeah. I think everyone calls Rizzo "loose" because she kisses too many boys.

When I was in Grease, we dirtied it up as much as possible. We threw in an abominable amount of language, revealing clothing, inappropriate displays of affection, etc. We had walkouts (a girl scout troop came...needless to say, they were gone after Act I), but the audience ended up LOVING it. When another group did the same show a couple months later, the way it's written, ours was reviewed much more favorably.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 1/30/07 at 3:18pm

Justagirl2 - sorry to say it, but shame on your production if you added things that aren't in the script. It's one thing to go back to the original "raunchy" script from the 70s, which you probably can still license - but quite another to rewrite the show. Even if it is "just" GREASE.

[lildogs]

Posted: 1/30/07 at 3:24pm

MB, we were lucky enough to have an original cast member direct our ersion, so we got the 70s raunchy version...even had Jim Jacobs come out and tell us about the real life people it's based on--as close to dramaturgy as GREASE will ever get.

We usually got mixed reviews, but once in a while, we'd really get blasted about the "racy" nature of the show--esp Sonny and Rizzo.

[justagirl2]

Posted: 1/30/07 at 4:02pm

We basically took every curse word and made it one step more vulgar. We didn't add lines or anything of that sort...it was more the physicality, what was shown, that we played around with.

[Jon]

Posted: 1/30/07 at 4:03pm

How about a production of WEST SIDE STORY with actual teenagers? I mean, the Jets and Sharks are JUVENILE delinquents. Realistically, Tony, Riff, Bernardo, and Anita should be no older than 18. Maria should be 16. Baby John should be 12 years old.

Why the hell do you think they hang out at Doc's? They aren't old enough to go to a bar.

[blaxx]

Posted: 1/30/07 at 4:11pm

Oh, I'd love to see WSS like that! It would be more fresh and tragic...

[Danielm]

Posted: 1/30/07 at 4:32pm

I know there are talented teen-agers out there so maybe a professional production could do it but I've seen very few teen-age boys who could handle the rolls in WSS.

[lildogs]

Posted: 1/30/07 at 4:44pm

Daniel's right--very few young guys could dance those roles--you'd have a hard time getting them all together.

I always think about the trouble Fosse had in assembling a crappy band for the film of CABARET--he finally realized that it was best to hire good musicians and have them play badly. I think it's the same of casting kids: find someone who can do it who can pass for 18, rather than an 18 year old who can pass.

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/30/07 at 5:33pm

I saw "Grease" in Kansas City with a (then) 17-year-old Andrea McArdle as Sandy.

She was great!

She was also the only teenager (and a true high school senior) in the show.

Eddie Mekka was Danny, and looked WAY too disturbingly old opposite her, even though he was good.

[Danielm]

Posted: 1/30/07 at 6:27pm

I know several teen-age girls who could handle rolls in Grease and WSS--boys, however, mature differently and usually don't start performing till later. Teen-age boys and teen-age girls are often at completely different levels. And I say this as a former teen-age boy.