I had a theory, back when the contest was going on, that they’d very carefully phrased the winning result: “the winners will star in the opening of the new revival of GREASE! on Broadway.” I can’t help but wonder if there are a couple of solid gypsies waiting offstage, ready to step into Max & Laura’s shoes as the show continues to tank…

Thanks to beckyloooo for the heads up on this. If you’ve not read “TV in the Woods”, you should. Her commentary on the state of the glass teat is a delight, always, though I’m not quite able to share her devotion to football…

Post from: Fame or Famine

Post from: Fame or Famine

Some really disappointing things–no minority Danny or Sandy, for example. And the showcase was unbearable–Cyndi Lauper songs and Avril Lavigne songs for a Broadway show? WTF? And not only was there one horrendous "Danny and Sandy massacre" when they cut the group in half based on a group singalong, but they had the producer doing the cutting! Since when is a Producer the one who decides these things?

Honestly, none of us were really impressed. there were people we liked. Austin, for one–he doesn’t look like a Danny, but he’s so damn nice. And again, the whole manufactured drama (these two are friends, but only one can go on!") just gets tiring. It’s not a new reality show, it’s recycling the same type of drama that just gets artificial very, very quickly.

But, don’t worry, I’ll stick it out with you to the end–because that’s my job…and these people have been waiting since November. And as FOAnatic said, with any luck, the winners "…have spent the time training…"

One can only hope.

Post from: Fame or Famine

Instead, apparently $1 million in ticket sales was just not enough to actually make it all worthwhile. According to this New York Post online article, Michael Riedel echoes the feelings of my Chicago actor friend Jeffrey Stringer:

"Working actors think it demeans their profession, while the industry’s movers and shakers say it makes the theater business look tacky and cheap.
A group of theater people who winced through the latest installment called it "appalling," "sloppy" and "unwatchable," among other things."

Sour grapes, maybe? I missed the last episode (the TiVo didn’t get it after all) so I may never know. But still…I hope that Danny and Sandy prevail in the end.

Tags: grease, you’re the one, nbc, reality show

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On the main website there’s a really neat video of a beautiful singer…but she’s treated really foully by the writer judge. In fact, it’s almost revolting how he treats her. "Buy a couple of mirrors…" This is after she does such a beautiful job singing…if they can let Dominic go through, they should have let Rizzo go on.

I also talked with a Chicago actor (and full-time performer at Branson) Jeff Stringer . He was appalled by the way the show portrayed Chicago talent. He, and many of his friends, could have shown a much better array of talent than was showcased, and the man who did make it through? Just sad. So obviously there simply for comedic value.

Anyone else catch it?

Tags: grease you’re the one, chicago, NBC, broadway

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"The upcoming Broadway revival of Grease – in which the leads are being cast via NBC’s "You’re The One That I Want" – has already sold $1.3 million in ticket sales in just two days."–Playbill

There must be some VERY pleased producers out there. And I’m excited, too–mainly because this kind of takes us a step closer to my dream, Showtime’s original production of "Rocky Horror Picture Show Ultimate Reality Casting Show!"

Tags: grease, broadway, tv

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Let’s get one thing out of the way first: I liked the show. I’m going to watch it all the way through, not the least simply because I really like the music. I also have immense respect for the choreographer/director, and I find it fascinating that the judges are actually the writer, the producer, and the director. I’m interested in what they have to say.

That being said…I’m sort of looking at this from a meta-perspective, looking at how they tell the tale as much as the tale itself. Moreso, even, since the tale is pretty boring: two people will dance and sing until they go on to open on Broadway (did you notice, though, they didn’t say they would continue to perform after the opening? Hmmmm…).

And it started fast: the first contestant, Ashley, had great confidence, did a credible job. The judges were nice to her. It’s the set-up; let’s get people comfortable.

Then WHAM! A caricature of a performer comes on, someone who viewers knew from the start wouldn’t make it. She had no stage presence, no makeup…and honestly, if she was not a plant, not an improv actor put in there just to make people laugh, I will eat Danny Zuko’s sneakers. It was painful on many levels, but the sadists out there who love watching people bomb onstage were rubbing their hands with glee.

This made it evident that this was not going to be Bravo’s “The Fire Within”, where you got to see the hard work, great talent, and true heartbreak of a Cirque du Soleil show being born. No, this was the Coliseum, these were the gladiators, and they were spilling their dignity on the floorboards for our entertainment.

You had mini-climaxes, like when Billy Bush got Fawn a second chance at an audition (incidentally establishing his “I’m on your side, I’m a good guy” bona fides). You had the “long shots”–the cocktail waitress who had skipped work for this one chance, the pharma rep who stayed over from a conference just to audition, and so didn’t have the right clothes…

And that’s just the females. The men, you had some who looked the part but couldn’t act it, some that could act it and couldn’t sing, some that could sing but couldn’t dance. You had lots of age play–the 40 year old John Travolta lookalike and the 17 year old incarnation of Sandy (please, God, don’t let the two of them do ANY scenes together!). In short, they tried to give everybody somebody to root for. Me, I’m supposed to root for both the 40 and the 17 year old, since one is me and one is my daughter, right?

But that’s the subtle stuff. The thing that I know I’m going to hate, I’m going to despise, the thing that’s going to require me to be physically restrained by the end of this show lest I hurl my television out the window with a growling shriek of “You’re NOT the one!” is the Pregnant Pause.

It’s the stupidest thing–maybe would have been funny once, but over and over: “You’re…not Danny.” “You’re…the one we want to go to Grease Academy”. “You’re………………………….not Sandy.” It’s not that I don’t appreciate the need for suspense. I do. It’s just such an unbearably clumsy way to manufacture it! Let the story speak for itself!

Anyway, next week we’re on to Grease Academy, where apparently 17 year old steals a kiss (“Are they pimping out the 17 year old?” my friend DeadCat asked, aghast). There’s a hot tub in the future, apparently, and more relationship drama (my friend Deadcat also suggested that two of them would fall in love. I suggested that probably quite a few of them already had, in one sense or another, while they were waiting for their audition…).

I also have agree with both my wife and Olivia Newton-John: it would be very, very cool if Danny were a minority. Or Sandy. Or both. It is beyond time for that. The musical is ageless and eternal; the attitudes, on the other hand, should not be.

Post from: Fame or Famine