WBAF's Official GREASE Review Thread
WBAF's Official GREASE Review Thread
Mamamia Sammy2
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/15/04
#1WBAF's Official GREASE Review Thread
Posted: 8/19/07 at 9:34am
Yes, ladies and gentlemen. The day has arrived. The day that Wannabe A Foster has been waiting for nearly a year.
This is the official place to post GREASE reviews!
"I knew this was probably going to happen." - Rathnait62
colleen_lee
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/16/05
#2re: WBAF's Official GREASE Review Thread
Posted: 8/19/07 at 9:51amWell, Grease has some internet buzz as it is the number two most searched topic on Yahoo! (the number 1 being the film Superbad).
"You just can't win. Ever. Look at the bright side, at least you are not stuck in First Wives Club: The Musical. That would really suck. "
--Sueleen Gay
Lynnespock2
Broadway Star Joined: 5/14/04
#2re: WBAF's Official GREASE Review Thread
Posted: 8/19/07 at 2:14pm
He hates it! He probably hates me because I liked it and I am going to opening night tonight.
Live long and prosper.
Marriage equity now!
Broadway Star Joined: 12/31/69
Kringas
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/27/05
#4re: WBAF's Official GREASE Review Thread
Posted: 8/19/07 at 7:25pmIt's still in progress, no???
"How do you like THAT 'misanthropic panache,' Mr. Goldstone?" - PalJoey
#5re: WBAF's Official GREASE Review Thread
Posted: 8/19/07 at 7:27pm
Man, this is gonna get slammed.
I can just sense it.
It's blowing in the wind.
It's shame, I like alot of the people in it.
"Anybody that goes to the theater, I think we’re all misfits, so we ended up on stage or in the audience.” --- Patti LuPone.
Updated On: 8/19/07 at 07:27 PM
Yankeefan007
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
#6re: WBAF's Official GREASE Review Thread
Posted: 8/19/07 at 7:28pm
Show starts at 7:30. Brantley's won't be up until about 10-ish.
I figured the AP would be slinking around the wires by now.
Smaxie
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/26/05
#7re: WBAF's Official GREASE Review Thread
Posted: 8/19/07 at 7:30pm
Linda Winer, Newsday, is up. Not so hot.
Newsday Grease review
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
MungoGypsy8232
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/8/07
#8re: WBAF's Official GREASE Review Thread
Posted: 8/19/07 at 7:32pmI kinda feel bad for Kathleen Marshall because she put her reputation on the line. I'm think mild-bad reviews with possibly a few standouts.
#9re: WBAF's Official GREASE Review Thread
Posted: 8/19/07 at 7:32pmClose it tomorrow! Let 'crap' be the word!
A young actress with Noel coward after a dreadful opening night performance said to him 'Well, i knew my lines backwards this morning!''
Noels fast reply was ''Yes dear, and thats exactly how you said them tonight'!'
Smaxie
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/26/05
#10re: WBAF's Official GREASE Review Thread
Posted: 8/19/07 at 7:32pm
Talkin' Broadway... about what you might expect he'd say.
Talkin' Broadway - Grease
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
Updated On: 8/19/07 at 07:32 PM
Yankeefan007
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
#11re: WBAF's Official GREASE Review Thread
Posted: 8/19/07 at 7:35pm
Wow, those were fun!
Keep 'em comin'. Join the chat room!
FranzRelax
Leading Actor Joined: 8/4/07
#12re: WBAF's Official GREASE Review Thread
Posted: 8/19/07 at 7:38pm
Oy. lol. I really can't wait for Brantley now!
Laura and Max are getting okay notices so far. The blame definitely won't be placed on them. But definitely on Marshall and the producers who are making the show realistic opposed to the parody it was intended to be.
We serve their food,
We carve their meat,
We tend to their house,
We polish their
Silverware.
Updated On: 8/19/07 at 07:38 PM
gottadance2
Understudy Joined: 1/29/07
#13re: WBAF's Official GREASE Review Thread
Posted: 8/19/07 at 7:40pmAfter these reviews, I'm really excited to see Jenny Powers!
MungoGypsy8232
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/8/07
#14re: WBAF's Official GREASE Review Thread
Posted: 8/19/07 at 7:52pm
"Judging from the TV show and what’s landed onstage, Marshall, Jacobs, and Ian weren’t interested in doing the Grease that is, but rather the one everyone expects. The two shows aren't identical, and while those three may have gotten the one that they want, their efforts are bound to leave everyone else all choked up - for all the wrong reasons."
couldn't have said it better myself.
Yankeefan007
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
#15re: WBAF's Official GREASE Review Thread
Posted: 8/19/07 at 8:21pm
"It's hardly a minority opinion to say one of the lessons learned from the rocky Bush administration is that America doesn't always make the most farsighted choices. That forlorn conclusion is amplified loud and clear in the dispiritingly bland Broadway revival of "Grease." While the results of misguided casting decisions can't be compared to the impact of longterm political appointments, letting the people choose their own Danny and Sandy in this case does little to validate the democratic election process.
Not that there's anything especially wrong with Max Crumm and Laura Osnes, the pair chosen to play cool-dude Danny Zuko and his innocent summer love Sandy Dumbrowski, respectively, in Kathleen Marshall's low-wattage New York production. They sing confidently, dance capably and both have their own low-key, unaffected charms. But they're unprepossessingly innocuous, which is not a great quality in musical theater leads. What's more, they have less-than-zero sexual connection.
In a regional theater production -- which is what this one resembles -- Crumm and Osnes might be the toast of the town; the latter's vocals, especially, are lovely and she handles the high notes with admirable ease. Basically, they're two talented kids who would be fine on the support team but have no business carrying a Broadway show. They also have the kind of tiny bodies and small, telegenic features that don't communicate beyond row C of the orchestra."
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117934453.html?categoryid=33&cs=1
#16re: WBAF's Official GREASE Review Thread
Posted: 8/19/07 at 8:22pm
Variety really nails it. Kathleen Marshall sucks and the cast is decent with some standouts. Max and Laura aren't awful but have no chemistry. I also really love the reference to Sandy's wig in the last scene.
EDIT: Yankee beat me by one second.
Updated On: 8/19/07 at 08:22 PM
#17re: WBAF's Official GREASE Review Thread
Posted: 8/19/07 at 8:25pm
"The real performance happens above the sanitized stage, where a tough and terrific conductor named Kimberly Grigsby leads the band from a synthesizer while tossing her pony tail and dancing as if she means it."
Anyone know what this means??? Is the orchestra for this show really visible on a platform above the stage action??? All I can think of is a "Movin' Out" -style band. That worked well for the Billy Joel show, but - EEK! - I can;t imagine that for GREASE!
"To love another person is to see the face of God!"
Yankeefan007
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
#18re: WBAF's Official GREASE Review Thread
Posted: 8/19/07 at 8:26pmThe band is above the stage, like in Movin' Out. The Atkinson has no pit.
#19re: WBAF's Official GREASE Review Thread
Posted: 8/19/07 at 8:28pm
"Powers's impassioned rendition of "There Are Worse Things I Could Do," which sends Sandy hurtling away from her trademarked primrose path, is the only time the show is ever dramatically or musically involving."
Yay for Jenny Powers! She was certainly the standout of the production for me and I'm glad she is getting positive notices.
ohjustjake
Leading Actor Joined: 4/18/06
#20re: WBAF's Official GREASE Review Thread
Posted: 8/19/07 at 8:37pmyeah, the band is above the stage - most the time you can see them, and some scenes there are drops or scenery blocking them. The band is more fun to watch the the actors themselves sometimes.
#21re: WBAF's Official GREASE Review Thread
Posted: 8/19/07 at 8:56pm
David Finkle from TheatreMania seems to agree with the other reviews.
Theatremania.com Review - Grease
#22re: WBAF's Official GREASE Review Thread
Posted: 8/19/07 at 9:06pm
Variety- "they have less-than-zero sexual connection"
I can understand having zero sexual connection, or some sexual tension. But is it even possible to have "less-than-zero sexual tension"? What does that even mean? Where do these journalists get their degrees?
Art has a double face, of expression and illusion.
FranzRelax
Leading Actor Joined: 8/4/07
#23re: WBAF's Official GREASE Review Thread
Posted: 8/19/07 at 9:07pmLaura and Max aren't really receiving the terrible reviews some expected.
We serve their food,
We carve their meat,
We tend to their house,
We polish their
Silverware.
#24re: WBAF's Official GREASE Review Thread
Posted: 8/19/07 at 9:11pmI don't really think anyone expected them to get terrible reviews after seeing them. Everyone has said the exact same thing as the reviewers. They are decent, but have not sexual connection or energy. Oh, and artscallion, it's called hyperbole. I am sure that journalists are aware that you can't have less than zero of anything.
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