Review: GREASE: LIVE Reinvents What a Live TV Musical Can/Should Be!

Leave it to the network that reinvented television with AMERICAN IDOL and created SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, one of the most artistically significant shows in recent memory, to figure out the proper balance in merging musical theatre and live television. FOX's GREASE: LIVE learned from three years of live, middling musicals on NBC (the satisfying WIZ LIVE! notwithstanding) and produced the best, most thrilling live TV musical in half a century.

With the expertise of theatre and film producer Marc Platt (INTO THE WOODS film, WICKED) and Broadway's hottest director, Thomas Kail (HAMILTON), GREASE: LIVE boasted a talented cast of stage, screen, and music stars, but the most important casting the team made was in integrating a live audience into nearly every scene. It took what is often a two-dimensional presentation and turned it into an immersive, lived-in-world of leather jackets and poodle skirts.

This live TV GREASE stuck close to the 1978 film adaptation, but incorporated a number of elements from the numerous stage incarnations, but at its heart was still about teenagers in the late 1950s learning how to live, love, and find their true selves. As the 1958-59 school year kicks off, lovable greaser Danny Zuko, played by Broadway heartthrob Aaron Tveit (NEXT TO NORMAL), is still stuck on his summer fling, Sandy Dumbrowki Sandy Olsson Sandy Young, played by dancing icon/movie star/recording artist Julianne Hough (DANCING WITH THE STARS, FOOTLOOSE). When the two end up together at Rydell High School, who they want to be, and who they are quickly clash.

(Check out BroadwayWorld TV's live blog of GREASE: LIVE)

From the beginning of the broadcast, there was a palpable energy as Grammy nominee Jessie J sang "Grease (Is the Word)" while walking backstage and through dressing rooms, until she ended up outside, in front of Rydell. The presentation was so strikingly different from what fans are used to seeing from NBC's buttoned-up productions that the cheering crowd and the behind-the-scenes peeks gave the rest of the show a fresh, forward momentum that continued all the way through to the quasi-curtain call.

It was clear early on that the adrenaline from such a monumental production got to some of the performers as early dialogue was delivered at breakneck speeds, but once the ensemble settled into the show, performances became much more steady and natural.

I admit that I had my doubts about Hough's casting as Sandy. While I understood her broad, popular appeal, her country music career and handful of movie roles, including the adaptation of Broadway musical ROCK OF AGES, left me with the sense that she was an extremely talented, beautiful individual that didn't have the charisma to translate all of that into next-level stardom. While not nearly as strong of a singer as Carole Demas, Olivia Newton-John, or Laura Osnes, Hough more than equated herself well in the role. Obviously her dancing was fantastic, but I was routinely impressed by the depth she brought to the role, and her vocals were surprisingly strong.

Broadway fans have long known that Hough's co-star was a phenomenal leading man, but with GREASE, Tveit brought a much more grounded, believable approach to a role that we are so used to seeing as a broad caricature. Not as goofy as John Travolta, Tveit's Danny was nuanced and let glimpses of a softer side occasionally slip through the rough exterior. And, while it goes without saying that he has one of the musical theatre's best male voices, I'm going to say it anyway; Aaron Tveit has one of the best male voices of this, or any, generation. Coming off a three-year run on USA's GRACELAND before leading CBS's BRAINDEAD this summer, his star is obviously on the rise, but here's hoping that he makes it back to Broadway sooner rather than later.

One of the most persistent complaints about GREASE over the years is that Sandy has to compromise her beliefs and become a "skank" to gain acceptance, while all Danny has to do is run track. However, in this teleplay, Robert Cary and Jonathan Tolins invested a bit of time in showing Danny's evolution by how kindly he treats Eugene (Noah Robbins), eventually welcoming him into the T-Birds. More focus is also paid to Sandy's transformation, starting with a reprise of "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee" much earlier in the show than we are used to seeing.

Those are just a handful of the touches that the writers, Platt, and Kail added into Robert Stigwood and Allan Carr's '79 screenplay. In addition to a few self-referential jokes about live TV, rainy conditions, and Sandy decrying televised dancing shows, the crew included two numbers from the stage production that had been previously eliminated from the film. "Freddy My Love," sung by Keke Palmer's Marty starts, as it does on stage, at a slumber party, but for GREASE: LIVE transforms into a USO Show, honoring all of the soldiers that Marty "corresponds" with. Palmer, who has musical experience on stage and screen (JOYFUL NOISE and RODGERS + HAMMERSTEIN'S CINDERELLA) again proved why she has all the makings of a star.

As fun and glitzy as that moment was, complete with actual armed service members in the audience, the most effective reincorporation was with "Those Magic Changes." While it is far less integrated in the stage version, in the live broadcast it was wonderfully sung by Jordan Fisher's Doody and provides new subtext to Danny's quest to change in order to earn Sandy's love and respect.

In addition to reinterpolating songs from the stage version, GREASE: LIVE included a brand new song as well. While I understand the award implications of including an original song in broadcasts like this, Tom Kitt (who also served as the Music Director) and Brian Yorkey's new number, "All I Need Is an Angel," was a bit of a disappointment. A sizeable portion of the melody was a little low for Carly Rae Jepsen's pop range, but fortunately, when it got into a more comfortable part of her voice, she handled it well. Personally, I have no problem with finally giving Frenchy (and in turn Jepsen) a song, but I would have preferred the time was saved to include the Jan and Sandy duet of "It's Raining on Prom Night."

Over all, Jepsen, who like Palmer made her Broadway debut in CINDERELLA, was delightful, and one of the night's brightest spots, as the Beauty School Dropout. It was surprisingly touching to see her and Didi Conn, the film's Frenchy now playing diner waitress Vi, share a quiet scene together. The film's Sonny, Barry Pearl, also appeared as Vince Fontaine (Mario Lopez)'s producer.

(Miss what Broadway's best tweeted about the show, check out our social media recap)

While theatre critics weren't exactly smitten with Vanessa Hudgens' Broadway debut in GIGI last season, for me, she was the revelation of this production. With the broadcast coming just hours after she informed fans that her father had lost his battle with cancer the night before, the HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL star turned in an impressive performance as Rydell's resident bad girl, Betty Rizzo. Despite rising to fame as the HSM franchise's good girl, Gabriella, her sultry vocals and layered portrayal proved that she has far more to work with than I, and many others, had previously given her credit for. After GREASE: LIVE, I hope that a rocky GIGI experience hasn't soured her to Broadway forever.

The rest of the T-Birds and Pink Ladies provided the perfect amount of humor and sass; Kether Donohue (PITCH PERFECT) was adorable as Jan, David Del Rio (IN THE HEIGHTS) was charming as Putzie, and Andrew Call (AMERICAN IDIOT) stole many a scene as Sonny, pining away after Marty.

In addition to the fantastic cast, Kail, Scenic Designer David Korins, Costume Designer William Ivey Long, and Lighting Designer Alex Gurdon deserve tons of credit. The creativity and stage craft with which they created the GREASE: LIVE canvas rivaled that of any film or Broadway musical. The designs were uniformly inventive and inspired; especially the numerous multi-layer tear-away costumes, the expanding 360° sets, and the use of projection at Thunder Road. Alex Rudzinski, who directed the television broadcast, also did a fantastic job weaving the cameras in and out of the action, rather than simply giving us a fixed perspective; while creating a textured look, unlike the flat visuals we've often seen from NBC's live musicals.

There were a handful of sound issues, either from the music being slightly too loud for the vocals, or the handful of technical glitches during the dance scene, but overall, the broadcast as a success on nearly every level, and because of that, the numerous commercial breaks (which are a necessity to pay for a production this large) didn't feel nearly as obtrusive as they did with THE WIZ LIVE! in December.

Anyone who has seen Boyz II Men on the TV show THE SING-OFF knows that they don't always give outstanding performances on live TV, but the iconic '90s R&B group did give a fairly strong performance collectively as The Teen Angel, even if the first verse or so of "Beauty School Dropout" was a bit bumpy.

Ana Gasteyer (SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, WICKED), who undoubtedly had the most live TV experience amongst the cast, was fun as Principal McGee, THE BRADY BUNCH's Eve Plumb was hilarious as shop-teacher Mrs. Murdock, and perpetual cheerleader Elle McLemore (BRING IT ON: THE MUSICAL, HEATHERS THE MUSICAL) was delightful as peppy Tasmanian Devil Patty Simcox. Wendell Pierce (THE WIRE) also had a few great comic moments.

While there are still some pacing issues, and difficulties with humor translating in this format, still left to figure out, the entire cast and crew of GREASE: LIVE deserve a huge thank you from theatre fans who want to see more high-profile projects like this. These productions are massive undertakings, and are easy to deride when they don't live up to sky-high expectations, but Fox's approach with multiple sound-stages, a live audience, underscoring, and a cavalcade of young stars, prove that they can be as creatively satisfying as they are popular.

GREASE: LIVE took a concept that has been a bit of a novelty for the past three years and proved that it can be so much more. They proved that it can be as slick as a film, as urgent as a TV Show, and as creative as a Broadway musical. GREASE: LIVE is what all live TV musicals must now aspire to be.

For all of BroadwayWorld's week-long coverage of GREASE: LIVE check out our reporting home!

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Banner Image: Aaron Tveit and Julianne Hough. Photo Credit: Kevin Estrada | FOX