Posted: 12/8/16 at 11:17am
Fox wasn't sloppy, though. Grease was phenomenal. I just wrote this on another thread, but I'll say it again: I wish NBC would just stop. They've had four chances, and they've all either been either subpar or pleasantly okay. Grease showed that this live musical broadcast beat belongs to Fox and Fox alone.
Posted: 12/8/16 at 11:20am
I was not a fan of Grease. The show is about class warfare and teen sex. Fox was terrified of the source material. The cast was bland and the rewrites made the story unrecognizable.
Posted: 12/8/16 at 11:24am
Do you have any ideas how you would have staged it? I would love to read them.
"
I would've given the three girls a bit more room to move around. They felt so confined to their vanities. That's what I mean when I say it felt stagnant. If it was up to me, this whole thing would've been filmed onstage at the Neil Simon Theatre with the original staging, sets, and costumes, hahaha! ??
Posted: 12/8/16 at 11:27am
From what I've seen so far Alex Rudzinski hit a major home run with his execution of "Grease Live", not so with "Hairspray Live". Some of the sets (The jail cell, Motormouth Records) looked a bit too small and everyone looked jam packed in the record store set and it gave the impression that there was barely enough room for the actors, the cameraman and the actual camera itself.
There were some really odd angle shots in the "I Know Where I've Been" sequence and if I recall the camera veered off the actors for a bit there before regaining focus, as if someone had accidentally bumped into it.
The camera work definitely was not as seamless as it was for "Grease Live". During the "Hand Jive" sequence you could really feel immersed in the action on the dance floor. I didn't get that feeling at all during "You Can't Stop The Beat", there were a lot of weird cuts and juxtapositions in that number that did not make sense to me as a viewer and made the number lose some of its punch.
Updated On: 12/8/16 at 11:27 AM
Posted: 12/8/16 at 11:29am
I loved it! While I agree with everyone on the tech glitches and some disappointing performances, for me, Jennifer Hudson redeemed all of the annoyances and I just enjoyed it for what it was. I'm still confused on the Darren Criss gig; I believe he was in the running to be in the cast (Link?) and couldn't make it work with the conflict of Hedwig and this was the consolation prize? That's the only reasoning that makes sense to me because it really was not needed and was, in fact, annoying. Hopefully that will all be cut from future viewings. I'd love to see them bring this back to Broadway with JHud :)
Posted: 12/8/16 at 11:29am
MrsSallyAdams said: "I was not a fan of Grease. The show is about class warfare and teen sex. Fox was terrified of the source material. The cast was bland and the rewrites made the story unrecognizable.
That's odd you should say that because they used the screenplay adaptation by Allan Carr and Bronte Woodard and no one had a problem understanding or for that matter recognizing the plot of the original 1978 film.
Posted: 12/8/16 at 11:31am
MrsSallyAdams said: "I was not a fan of Grease. The show is about class warfare and teen sex. Fox was terrified of the source material. The cast was bland and the rewrites made the story unrecognizable.
"
except no one here is comparing the material of the musicals. we're comparing the TECHNICAL ASPECTS of the live shows.
Fox beat NBC at their own game - they PWNED them.
Posted: 12/8/16 at 11:41am
"That's odd you should say that because they used the screenplay adaptation by Allan Carr and Bronte Woodard and no one had a problem understanding or for that matter recognizing the plot of the original 1978 film."
Were you alive in 1978? Many theatre people at the time felt that Carr had totally raped every bit of meaning out of Grease and turned it into a Saturday cartoon for idiot children.
Posted: 12/8/16 at 11:45am
Overall, I had a fun time - it was so exciting to see the original Dynamites - it must have been so special for them. I recognized Shayna Steele's voice in the recording and hoped she'd be in the telecast.
I kept thinking- Derek Hough who choreographs, teaches an amateur, and performs 1-2 dances a week, LIVE, must think this is a piece of cake. I wish they would have brought some of the camera folks from Dancing with the Stars - at least for the production numbers.
Posted: 12/8/16 at 11:45am
so the real question is: how did Alex Rudzinski mess up what he did so terrifically for FOX?
Posted: 12/8/16 at 11:47am
"so the real question is: how did Alex Rudzinski mess up what he did so terrifically for FOX?"
Maybe he wasn't solely responsible for earlier success?
Posted: 12/8/16 at 11:49am
Theater_Nerd said: "From what I've seen so far Alex Rudzinski hit a major home run with his execution of "Grease Live", not so with "Hairspray Live". Some of the sets (The jail cell, Motormouth Records) looked a bit too small and everyone looked jam packed in the record store set and it gave the impression that there was barely enough room for the actors, the cameraman and the actual camera itself.
Not for anything, but Grease was set in a high school, which a few big sets. Hairspray built an entire city, basically, with a good chunk of the show outside, but the interiors were a lot of small rooms in that city. A record store on the "bad side of town" is not going to be the enormous Virgin Megastore in Times Square (RIP). I think in many instances, the reality of the time period defined how they built the sets and filmed them.
Posted: 12/8/16 at 11:51am
newintown said: ""That's odd you should say that because they used the screenplay adaptation by Allan Carr and Bronte Woodard and no one had a problem understanding or for that matter recognizing the plot of the original 1978 film."
Were you alive in 1978? Many theatre people at the time felt that Carr had totally raped every bit of meaning out of Grease and turned it into a Saturday cartoon for idiot children.
I was alive in 1978 and my comment wasn't about the changes made stage versus film. I was referring to the 'unrecognizable' part of MrsSallyAdams' post. Yes the film version may have been 'unrecognizable' back in 1978 to theater fans of the original show, but the film has now eclipsed that version, so I doubt that "Grease Live" would have been unrecognizable to anyone familiar with the original 1978 film.
The original stage version of "Grease" wasn't a documentary on '50s greasers either, it may have been grittier and more foul mouthed than it's film adaptation was but it was very much a satire, a spoof and yes, a cartoon.
As a matter of fact the film rights were originally held by Steve Krantz and Ralph Bakshi and the original intent was to make it as an animated film [in very nuch the same vein as Bakshi's "Fritz The Cat"]
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Updated On: 12/8/16 at 11:51 AM
Posted: 12/8/16 at 11:52am
everythingtaboo said: "Theater_Nerd said: "From what I've seen so far Alex Rudzinski hit a major home run with his execution of "Grease Live", not so with "Hairspray Live". Some of the sets (The jail cell, Motormouth Records) looked a bit too small and everyone looked jam packed in the record store set and it gave the impression that there was barely enough room for the actors, the cameraman and the actual camera itself.
Not for anything, but Grease was set in a high school, which a few big sets. Hairspray built an entire city, basically, with a good chunk of the show outside, but the interiors were a lot of small rooms in that city. A record store on the "bad side of town" is not going to be the enormous Virgin Megastore in Times Square (RIP). I think in many instances, the reality of the time period defined how they built the sets and filmed them.
It didn't have to be the size of a Virgin megastore. The space could have been bigger to allow for camera movement, etc.
Posted: 12/8/16 at 11:52am
Re: Bakshi--Now THAT would have been interesting!
Updated On: 12/8/16 at 11:52 AM
Posted: 12/8/16 at 12:01pm
"The original stage version of "Grease" wasn't a documentary on '50s greasers either, it may have been grittier and more foul mouthed than it's film adaptation was but it was very much a satire, a spoof and yes, a cartoon."
Oh, that's a rather subjective take, and one which will find much disagreement - even from the writers (were they alive), who called it an "homage," rather than "satire," "spoof," or "cartoon."
As to whether that idiotic movie has "eclipsed" the original stage version - well, that's a subjective statement, too; for much of mainstream America, it's certainly true. But then, mainstream America isn't particularly well known for intelligence or discernment.
Updated On: 12/8/16 at 12:01 PM
Posted: 12/8/16 at 12:03pm
newintown said: ""so the real question is: how did Alex Rudzinski mess up what he did so terrifically for FOX?"
Maybe he wasn't solely responsible for earlier success?"
Seriously. The success of Grease was the combination of Tommy Kail and Alex Rudzinski. When you remove Tommy Kail...you get what we saw last night.
Posted: 12/8/16 at 12:17pm
Apparently, the reason why they didn't show Kristin's bow was because the strap came off and exposed her boobs. Anyone heard of this?
Posted: 12/8/16 at 12:31pm
Fox beat NBC at their own game - they PWNED them.
Fox approach was different than NBC. Their style was like a variety show, when NBC goes for a more cinematic feel to make it more like a movie.
The problem with Hairspray was that they used Grease`s recipe, and that is what failed last night. Outdoor filming should be eliminated for these broadcasts.
Posted: 12/8/16 at 12:34pm
In what way was Fox's Grease a "variety show"?
Posted: 12/8/16 at 12:45pm
The way the show began with Jessie J running through the sets, cast members taking selfies with cell phones, audience members cheering, musical numbers being shot amongst audience members, that is what made Grease resemble a variety show rather than a movie for television. Personally I prefer NBC's style.
Posted: 12/8/16 at 12:59pm
This was enjoyable but just awkward. Obviously it wasn't as flawless as Grease was but I don't think it was even as well done as The Wiz Live. The direction was poor and a lot of the actors seemed to be moving slow and totally lacking energy. It made me want to watch the movie again. Maddie is obviously talented but I don't think she is a good Tracy. She's not bubbly or energetic at all. Marissa just sitting in that salon chair at commercial effused Tracy's energy so much more than Maddie did in the entire show.
Posted: 12/8/16 at 1:15pm
Does anyone else feel like they were lip syncing during the exterior numbers?
Updated On: 12/8/16 at 01:15 PM
Posted: 12/8/16 at 1:16pm
I really enjoyed it. Love the score. Great to see Harvey again after recently seeing Mr.Travolta again on a plane back from Holland! As has been said, great seeing the 3 original Dynamites. They were ready to start a long run again. Adored Andrea Martin. I missed original cast member Jackie Hoffman but Ms. Martin nailed the few lines she had. I think Ms.Hoffman once said that she played 3 or 4 roles in Hairspray and has a total of 11 minutes stage time.
My problem with the broadcast, and that's what this is-a broadcast- is that people call or believe this is "live theatre". It isn't. I know it's not advertised as "live theatre" just "live", but that's what they're going for. A zillion commercials, cuts to different cities to say "hello", seeing the actors drink drinks and clown around out of character and Darren Criss is adorable but he seemed to be some sort of safety net for ratings, isn't theatre. Everything outside the show had the feel of the audiences today who attend the theatre. I wanted to tell them to stop talking!
Updated On: 12/8/16 at 01:16 PM
Posted: 12/8/16 at 1:24pm
Kenny Leon really had no business directing Hairspray. He did a wonderful job with the wiz , but this required a director of much bigger caliber and innovation. Plus the performance by baleo were inconsistent she was not Tracy. Also, I would've much preferred if they had William Ivy long recreate his original costume design for this production. A lot of Maddy's costumes were distasteful.
