I could have sworn I read something that gave an approximate date, or something that gave me the impression it is currently in production. Maybe it’s wishful thinking on my part.
Now that you mention it, not much really happens in MP. It’s got some fun songs and they could do a really lively number for the park / fantasy scene but there’s not much plot, is there. I could be happy with another iteration of Chicago.
It comes out this year, so I’m sure it is in production. I don’t follow Cox on facebook/twitter and don’t know anyone else that’s in it, but if you hunted down her facebook page or checked to see if there was a page for the show you might find some more details about it.
Okay, looking around, Laverne has nothing on her page, Victoria Justice and Tim Curry have a few (cast, not in costume) pictures but that’s about it. There’s just not a lot of chatter about it. But it’s not coming out until fall, I’d imagine it’ll start getting promoted in summer.
Chicago would be good.
I streamed it yesterday from Fox.com. I’m glad that they gave us the opportunity to tune in after the live airing.
I’ve seen both the stage version and movie. My first comment is that I was surprised at how closely this production followed the movie, beginning with the opening beach segment and ending with the carnival scene. The costumes, the settings, the dance numbers, even the hair color and hairstyles of the characters were all reminiscent of the 1978 movie. I noticed just a few minor changes, such as moving the song, “Hopelessly Devoted to You” from Act I to Act II, and the casting of a black actress in the role of Marty. (While that is historically, um, optimistic, it’s a minor change because it’s a fluffy musical and not a documentary.)
The movie had a lot of winks to Hough. From the “Who’d want to watch a bunch of amateurs dance?” line, to making Sandy be from Utah (Hough is a Mormon from Utah), to making her character a cheerleading tigress were all changes clearly made to accommodate Hough. While I appreciate the fact that they didn’t want to waste Hough’s talents, changing Sandy from a rather shy and backward ingenue to a beautiful, blonde, confident cheerleader doesn’t really help out the “I don’t fit in” premise of the show.
Having her show off her dancing skills also led to the Bandstand predicament. Blaming her parents’ objection to dances for the reason she didn’t finish the competition was a wink to Hough’s prior role in “Footloose,” but a rather odd excuse given that she’d already shown herself to be an accomplished dancer/cheerleader. How’d she do that given her family’s objection? And, of course, given that it was HER decision to exclude herself from the competition, why’d she get all hostile on Danny for finishing the dance without her?
Anyway, I really enjoyed the overall show. I liked how they handled the scene changes and the road race. I like the live audience and multiple camera angles, which was a huge improvement over “Sound of Music.” I even liked the opening scene with Jessie J, whoever the hell she is. And I really appreciated that they were able to incorporate songs written specifically for the movie and that you won’t hear in most amateur productions (because they aren’t included in the release/license): “Grease,” “You’re the One that I Want,” and “Hopelessly Devoted to You.”
I think that the most disappointing thing was the total lack of chemistry between the two leads. It’s hard to capture chemistry on screen OR on the stage, but they could have done something more to make us understand why these two people would go to great lengths to reconnect.
She killed it. I’d like to see her do more stuff. Branch out, Ms. Brady!
I pretty much echo the others that liked it. The guy that played Danny has some talent, as well as Ms. Hudgens. And bless her heart for busting her ass despite her father dying. That takes some huge chops. I also appreciated the T-bird who sang “Magic Changes.” It was cute. Oh, and the principle almost nailed a complete copy.
The sets were really good and the ending made me wish I was there. And the dancing was phenomenal. I only feel like they missed the mark a couple of times…
• I wasn’t very impressed with Carly Rae. She had her moments, but overall, I didn’t think she was quirky (or quasi-wordly) enough.
• Agree on Kenicki. He didn’t quite suck, but he didn’t do anything for me, either.
• If you’re going for iconic, why leave out obvious nods to the film? It was more distracting NOT having the wiener jump in the bun at the drive-in than whatever was playing. And although I read the switch at the end was due to rain, so the carnival couldn’t be used for everything, how could they forego the Shake Shack?
• The dialog was too rushed. That might’ve been a function of how much time they were allotted, but it afforded them no opportunity to convey much feeling or connect the context from one scene as it relates to the next. I think we could’ve seen so much more of their abilities if FOX hadn’t crammed 800 commercials into the airing.
I liked the diversity. I’m glad they didn’t cut out all the raunch or innuendo. All the homages were awesome. So overall, I was happy with it and made me realize just why it’s still my all time favorite movie. They looked like they were having such fun, it was infectious.
Aaron Tveit is gorgeous and talented but already has a following, so I thought the breakout star was Jordan Fisher (Doody), whose “Magic Moments” was some of the best singing of the show. My only problem is he actually looks like a high school student which makes him stand out in GREASE.
I thought the acting and singing was generally well done all around but I hated that they tried to ape the movie. I’m almost surprised they didn’t make Sandy Australian. I really wish they’d gone more in their own direction.
Watched it last night. Sandy and Rizzo were great. Kenicki was not. Boyz II Men sucked. The staging and choreography were very ambitious and they pulled it off really well–especially the big numbers like the dance contest in the gym, and the carnival celebration at the end.
Yes, and I also read that the guy who played the ‘National Bandstand’ producer was one of the original T-Birds from the movie.
It’s become a running gag on stage that if you have a star playing Sandy, Sandy is from that star’s home. I don’t know if unknown Sandys get the same treatment.
Yep - he was Doody - the one who brandished a squirt gun when they thought they were going to rumble with the Scorpions