"Grease is the word!"
Hello everyone!
You're the one that I want! Those Magic Changes! Hopelessly Devoted to You! Summer Nights! And a bunch of other songs that if I name them I'll be singing along to in my sleep, and I'm pretty sure my family kind of wants to have a quiet night tonight haha!
You guessed it, it's Grease time!
Ever since FOX announced it was going to be making a live rendition of the musical, I've been super excited. Grease is probably one of my favourite, all-time movies, even though I don't watch it as often as I probably could. And once news started trickling out as to who was cast in the respective roles, my anticipation shot off through the roof!
Because, I mean, this is one of the most iconic things on TV you're ever going to see, and you know they have to get it at least semi-right, considering people will be super judgy about it.
To my delight, despite the sound problems, it seems to be a success!
Now alright.
I'll admit, last year, when FOX released it's rendition of Sound of Music, I was disappointed; I mean, I love Carrie Underwood and all, but she just didn't fit, in my opinion, and the actor they got for Von Trapp? Forget it. The whole thing sort of went downhill from there, so I was hesitant once the news came out that there was going to be a Grease remake.
Excited, but hesitant.
Because if they screwed THIS up, too, I'd give up on the whole institution.
But then the casting started, and they announced Julianne Hough as Sandy, first and foremost. I've loved the girl since I first saw her on Dancing with the Stars, and I know from experience (listening to her music) that she can totlly sing, and has a sweetness to her voice that really brings Sandy to life. So that was okay.
Better than okay, actually, as it turns out haha! Then the other castings started rolling, and I was impressed when a friend of mine shared Aaron Tveit singing something from Wizard of Oz. I didn't even know he could sing! So Danny was all covered, and Vanessa Hudgens got Rizzo, and then there was Kennicky who went to the talented Carlos Penavega, and by this point, I was thoroughly hooked, thank you very much.
And I mean, then the promo pictures came out.
How can you NOT want to look at Aaron Tveit in tight shirts for two hours? I don't have that kind of willpower to resist.
Ahem.
The story in itself is the same as we all know and love, only with the added note that it combines elements from both the theatre version AND the movie version, which is obvious with the placement of some of the songs, but it just makes everything come together super nicely.
To recap (if anyone actually doesn't know): Sandy (in this version, a girl from Salt Lake, Utah) and Danny fall in love during the summer, but when both find themselves at Rydell High, Danny messes up and breaks her heart, and then it's all about the bad boy winning the good girl over (or the good girl wins the bad girl over? Who knows!). In the meantime, we're also introduced to the two clichés from the school, and the couples that eventually spring from them. Mario Lopez makes a guest appearance as the host for the dance-off TV show, which takes place instead of the prom, and the story ends after Sandy undergoes a transformation from light to dark.
These actors had me when they belted out Summer Nights; from there, it all went rapidly up, up, up! And maybe I'm gushing over this so much becase the actors were amazing or because the show itself was just that good, but in any event people will go into it wanting to hate it because it's not the original.
You're right, it's not, but saying it's not good just based on that is also a silly thing to do. Give it a try! It's certainly much better than some other remakes I've seen, and I know I'll be rewatching this a number of times before I'm done with it, if I ever will be!
xx
*images and video not mine
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