#1
Posted: 2/4/07 at 9:07pm
So, knowing one of the people on the show personally, I've taken a lot of offense to how that NBC displays their "cast of new talents". Many people will say "Oh yeah, well I know ____ on the show", and really what they mean is that they've seen them perform. Derek Keeling (aka wholsome danny) used to be friends with my brother, spent the night at my house on occasion and attended my high school. Derek, as many of you may know, played Danny the Grease tour from 04-05. I wont go into his entire life story.
None the less- he's one of my "friends" on myspace, so I checked out his page and from that see several of the GREASE: You're the One that I Want contenders. Looking at THEIR pages you can see where most ALL of them have done performances with professional companies before and many with touring productions under their belt.
What really grinds my gears is that NBC makes most all (except for Austin and some dark haired girl) look like AMERICAN IDOL contestants where they've just come in off the street with nothing but "shower singing" on their resumes. I really felt like I was alone on this issue, UNTIL-I found an article written by my local entertainment columnist.
I'd post the link but most of you wouldn't take 2 seconds to click on it, so I'll copy and paste. The article goes as follows
_______________________________________________________________
Amy Robinson
The Idiot Box: Feb. 1, 2007
NBC hiding ‘Grease’ reality
Really, there was no way that NBC’s “Grease: You’re the One That I Want” could win with me.
Normally if there’s a reality show that I think looks particularly appalling, I just ignore it. But since there’s a West Virginia guy on “Grease,” and I work in the entertainment department of a newspaper ... Well, there was no avoiding this one.
When I first started seeing promos for it (which felt like eons ago), I thought the show was crap and refused to have anything to do with it. I didn’t promote it in the column, and I didn’t select any of the myriad Associated Press stories about it to run in the gazz.
Why such hatred, you ask? Well, judging from the promos, “Grease” would be a Broadway “American Idol” — anybody could be the next Danny or Sandy. That angered me because I thought the set-up was unfairly taking jobs away from card-carrying Broadway Equity members.
It turns out that it still kind of is, but not quite in the way the ads imply. See, the promotions for the show are so full of deceiving half-truths that the people responsible for creating them should be working for the Bush administration.
It’s true that the two leads will be actors who have no Broadway experience, but they won’t be as green as NBC would like you to believe. In fact, with the exception of Sunday’s re-added Danny (Matt Nolan), all the finalists have acted before and most have or are trying to make a career out of it.
Several have college degrees in theater or musical theater. Some have participated in national Broadway tours. Four — Jason Celaya, Chad Dorek, Austin Miller and Juliana Hansen — even have pretty extensive careers already.
So that’s cool. All the finalists are working to make a living as actors. It’s not like random people who did a show once in high school are up there. That relieves my initial rage.
The thing that’s so appalling now is the lengths that NBC is going to hide this fact.
They apparently think that the entire viewing public is stupid, and that anyone who watches their show won’t notice all the things they’re hiding and/or leaving out.
They think that theater fans tuning in won’t recognize “teacher” Celaya from the off-Broadway show “Altar Boyz” (he was in it for seven months last year). Or that people aren’t capable of going to IMDB to research all of “soccer coach” Dorek’s credits.
Sure, we believe that Hansen is just an “office temp” — even though she says on her MySpace page that she’s a union actress who’s “been doing this since I’ve been 7 years old.” And Allie Schulz, who attended the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy, is just some starry-eyed Nashville chick who wandered in off the streets.
I don’t get the need for all this deception. People watching know that the winners get a role on Broadway.
NBC should be promoting its finalists’ capabilities instead of trying to cling to the image that the winners will be fresh-faced newbies.
Oh, and if you think I’m being too harsh on the show, you should check out sites like BroadwayWorld.com and see what real theater fans are saying about it. Sorry, NBC, but to borrow your completely ridiculous send-off phrase, you’re not the one that I want.
________________________________________________________________
None the less- he's one of my "friends" on myspace, so I checked out his page and from that see several of the GREASE: You're the One that I Want contenders. Looking at THEIR pages you can see where most ALL of them have done performances with professional companies before and many with touring productions under their belt.
What really grinds my gears is that NBC makes most all (except for Austin and some dark haired girl) look like AMERICAN IDOL contestants where they've just come in off the street with nothing but "shower singing" on their resumes. I really felt like I was alone on this issue, UNTIL-I found an article written by my local entertainment columnist.
I'd post the link but most of you wouldn't take 2 seconds to click on it, so I'll copy and paste. The article goes as follows
_______________________________________________________________
Amy Robinson
The Idiot Box: Feb. 1, 2007
NBC hiding ‘Grease’ reality
Really, there was no way that NBC’s “Grease: You’re the One That I Want” could win with me.
Normally if there’s a reality show that I think looks particularly appalling, I just ignore it. But since there’s a West Virginia guy on “Grease,” and I work in the entertainment department of a newspaper ... Well, there was no avoiding this one.
When I first started seeing promos for it (which felt like eons ago), I thought the show was crap and refused to have anything to do with it. I didn’t promote it in the column, and I didn’t select any of the myriad Associated Press stories about it to run in the gazz.
Why such hatred, you ask? Well, judging from the promos, “Grease” would be a Broadway “American Idol” — anybody could be the next Danny or Sandy. That angered me because I thought the set-up was unfairly taking jobs away from card-carrying Broadway Equity members.
It turns out that it still kind of is, but not quite in the way the ads imply. See, the promotions for the show are so full of deceiving half-truths that the people responsible for creating them should be working for the Bush administration.
It’s true that the two leads will be actors who have no Broadway experience, but they won’t be as green as NBC would like you to believe. In fact, with the exception of Sunday’s re-added Danny (Matt Nolan), all the finalists have acted before and most have or are trying to make a career out of it.
Several have college degrees in theater or musical theater. Some have participated in national Broadway tours. Four — Jason Celaya, Chad Dorek, Austin Miller and Juliana Hansen — even have pretty extensive careers already.
So that’s cool. All the finalists are working to make a living as actors. It’s not like random people who did a show once in high school are up there. That relieves my initial rage.
The thing that’s so appalling now is the lengths that NBC is going to hide this fact.
They apparently think that the entire viewing public is stupid, and that anyone who watches their show won’t notice all the things they’re hiding and/or leaving out.
They think that theater fans tuning in won’t recognize “teacher” Celaya from the off-Broadway show “Altar Boyz” (he was in it for seven months last year). Or that people aren’t capable of going to IMDB to research all of “soccer coach” Dorek’s credits.
Sure, we believe that Hansen is just an “office temp” — even though she says on her MySpace page that she’s a union actress who’s “been doing this since I’ve been 7 years old.” And Allie Schulz, who attended the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy, is just some starry-eyed Nashville chick who wandered in off the streets.
I don’t get the need for all this deception. People watching know that the winners get a role on Broadway.
NBC should be promoting its finalists’ capabilities instead of trying to cling to the image that the winners will be fresh-faced newbies.
Oh, and if you think I’m being too harsh on the show, you should check out sites like BroadwayWorld.com and see what real theater fans are saying about it. Sorry, NBC, but to borrow your completely ridiculous send-off phrase, you’re not the one that I want.
________________________________________________________________
I adore the black band holding on the Phantom's mask. ~ Jenna2
Updated On: 2/4/07 at 09:07 PM
