The high ratings for Grease: Live the other night were a much-needed boost for “live event” musicals on TV – they have rescued the format after a shaky start the last few years…
It’s not just the ratings either, but a new sense of good will that didn’t exist before.
Earlier presentations The Sound Of Music and Peter Pan got decent enough ratings, but were mauled by critics and the butt of a million jokes. People “hate-watched”. The Twitter snark meter nearly broke. The former fought a losing battle of living up to the Julie Andrews classic and had a very weak lead in Carrie Underwood. The latter was crippled, most of all, by the fact that the play itself is just not very good, the score boring. Both pieces were much too staid and wholesome to create excitement. The Wiz was a huge improvement, finally woke up the home audience with catchy toe-tapping numbers and energetic performances.
But Grease, probably the most re-watched sung-along-to film of all time, made the perfect fit. It seemed like a surefire winner from the start. And it was.
Not to say the production itself was perfect. Not at all. Julianne Hough is as bland an actress as Underwood, but without the benefit of the country star’s strong voice. (She shined in the dance numbers though, as expected) The male lead, whose name I can’t even be bothered to Google, was only a bit better on both counts. Keke Palmer as Marty was just out-and-out bad. A lot of the comedy fell flat, especially with no audible reaction from the studio audience. You found yourself cringing sometimes, impatient for the next song. The little rewrites smoothing out the characters’ edges felt clumsy, and Carly Rae Jepson’s shoehorned pop solo was jarringly anachronistic.
The censored lyrics I understand – no “You know it ain’t no shit/I’ll be gettin’ lots of tit” in “Greased Lightning”. Parents were spared having to explain to their little ones what a “pussywagon” is. Makes sense. But predictably, there were still complaints the line “Did she put up a fight?” was left in the song “Summer Nights”…because, well, people are literal-minded humorless idiots.
Also, the PC diversity of the cast was taken to an almost absurd extreme. I realize it’s all fantasy, but who knew that interracial couples were all the rage in the 1950’s? Kids watching must have been confused – why did Tracy need to desegregate the 1960’s dance floor in Hairspray, when Rydell High was already a Utopian rainbow-colored Benetton ad.
(No sooner had my friend decried the offensive lack of an Asian female than one showed up in the final dance member, making us fall off our chairs laughing)
I know, the movie ended with a flying car! This was a fake 70’s interpretation of the 50’s from the start. But at what point do you so lose any sense of verisimilitude that the very premise of the story – greasers vs. jocks, the birth of teenage rebellion – gets completely lost?
I can’t wait for the new version of West Side Story about the warring New York gangs that have absolutely nothing to do with ethnicity.
But overall, the joyful energy and sheer momentum of the production – very kinetic and ambitious – pasted over the flaws and really carried the day. The big gymnasium dance was pretty amazing. (Talk about anachronistic – how about that one “blow-job” dance move that even Dirty Dancing would have nixed?) By the time the big extended finale came, with careening golf carts and cast bows and outdoor crowds, it was impossible not to have a big smile on your face.
And of course, the MVP award goes to Vanessa Hudgens, who absolutely crushed her role as Rizzo only hours after losing her father to cancer. Her emotional rendition of “There Are Worse Things I Could Do” was chill-inducing and deservedly replayed all over the internet the next day. It was one of those moments when an already-known but unappreciated performer becomes a respected, much-loved star overnight. It will be interesting to see how her career explodes from here.
Are these musical “events” a good thing?
I think so. I grew up in Theatre and I like it when it reclaims it’s place in pop culture. I’m actually working on a column about my very strong conviction that more modern Broadway productions – plays as well as musicals – need to be preserved for posterity on video. So I think the more the better. Besides, in an age when TV has fractured into 900 niche channels and almost no program is watched in real time or even on an actual television, isn’t it nice to have live shows we can all watch together? It’s why the Oscars and the Superbowl will always be special viewing experiences. We need that communal campfire now more than ever.
Grease provides some new rules on the way forward. A live studio audience makes an enormous difference – performers really do need that instant feedback, that applause. Otherwise it feels sterile and claustrophobic. Also, get the best performers for the job, not just hip celebrity names you can “sell”. They need to have the experience to pull it off. Hudgens’ recent run on Broadway no doubt gave her that show-must-go-on resilience. Choose musicals that are friendly and fun, but preferably, not just for kids or so kitschy adults feel stupid watching them. It doesn’t hurt for them to be known quantities that invoke a certain warm nostalgia. Guys And Dolls, How To Succeed In Business, Hello Dolly, even Chicago, would be good candidates. But it would also be cool if more recent Broadway hits were adapted for TV as soon as their national tours wrapped.
Obviously, sometimes things will gel, sometimes not. That’s show biz.
But at least now it’s clear the American TV audience has warmed to the concept and can enjoy it beyond just cynical “hate-watching”. So tell us more, tell us more…
And hire Vanessa Hudgens whenever possible.
