Grease is the word....

I finally got around to watching all of Grease: Live this weekend. After hearing about how bad some previous live (for TV) musicals had been, I was hesitant to see this at first. Then I heard some mixed reviews, but also put in perspective my own love for Grease in general. So I gave it a chance.

For the most part, I enjoyed it. It carried a lot of the playful spirit that Grease is supposed to possess. Some parts felt a bit rushed because they were squeezing in other parts that weren't so necessary. I didn't think they needed to make a big production number out of "Freddy, My Love." It's in the stage musical, but isn't so pivotal to the story. They could have sang it in the bedroom and kept it short and sweet. I also felt that Frenchie's new song didn't need to be in there at all. It wasn't in the style of Grease and just felt boring after a while. It wasn't even memorable and just seemed like a way to give Carly Rae Jepsen a solo. What worked well, however, was "Those Magic Changes." It was fit in during a montage of sorts and the guy singing it was great. I know it's also in the stage musical and in the background of the original movie (I think during the big dance). "Hopelessly Devoted..." was put in at a weird spot. I like it better after the slumber party scene than after the dance. It was fun to hear all the classics and hard not to sing along. I really liked Jessie J's cover of "Grease (is the Word)".



I liked most of the casting. I don't really know most of the guys playing the T-Birds, but they seemed like they were having fun. Vanessa Hudgens was great as Rizzo. She looked gorgeous too. She added this extra dose snarkiness to the role and also showed her vulnerability well. Such a great voice too. Carly Rae was cute as Frenchie and didn't need the aforementioned song to prove it. I also enjoyed watching the actresses who played Marty and Jan. As for Aaron Tveit...I think he's cute and a great singer, but he didn't give off a "Danny" feel. Matthew Morrison might has well have played that role, for what it was worth. Or he and the actor playing Keniecke could have switched roles. I just didn't buy him as Danny. I'll admit I was wary of Julianne Hough playing Sandy, but she did a nice job in the role. I can't say that she has as strong of a singing voice as some of the others in the show, but she does have good dance moves.

The secondary characters, aside from the T-Birds and Pink Ladies, were also interesting to watch. I like that they gave Patty and Eugene a side story and tried putting them together a bit more. Ana Gasteyer was great as the principal, but the assistant principal seemed a bit too giggly for me. I also didn't really buy Mario Lopez as Vince Fontaine. Maybe since he still looks like he just walked off the set of Saved by the Bell. It was fun to see Didi Conn as Vi since she was the original Frenchie and Eve Plumb (Jan Brady) as the shop teacher. Boyz II Men had a good sound on "Beauty School Dropout."

It was cool to see that Zach Woodlee did the choreography, since he also did it for Glee. I just think he could have left certain rather vulgar dance moves out of this version of the movie.

I saw a post featuring a bunch of questions people came up with while watching Grease: Live. Mine is: If it was filmed in front of a live audience, how was "Greased Lightning" even done with the costume and car changes?

I liked the scenery. I was impressed that they set up this whole carnival at the end. The diner looked really cute too. Made me miss going to Ed Debevic's even more.

Overall, it was entertaining and FOX should be the go-to network for future live musicals. (I just hope they're not the ones doing "Rocky Horror" because nothing could make me watch that.)