Techtite's TV Reviews!

"We love the idea of a brunette 'Sandy' and a boyish 'Danny' [winning the show]. We just didn't love the series as much as we do the play."

---from the review

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Grease:

You're the One That I Want!

Sometimes I wonder if any Broadway show could break "The High School Musical Curse." Once a play is seen endlessly at high school stages nationwide, it takes an extremely seasoned, talented batch of professionals to keep a Broadway revival from a "high school musical" comparison. Even if the Broadway play was Romeo & Juliet, how do you get the passersby to not say, "Oh; I saw that last week at my kid's high school"...? To be fair; Grease was on Broadway long before it was a high school play, though by now, it's been done at least once by every high school nationwide. What could be done, aside from an expensive cast of celebrities, to return Grease to its Broadway roots?

Enter Grease: You're The One That I Want, one of the more amusing reality television concepts in modern years. Part So You Think You Can Dance, and part Rock Star INXS, the idea is to see who is the best "fit" for Sandy and Danny; the lead roles of the newest Broadway revival of Grease. Sure, Grease returned to Broadway in the 1990's, and yet the most successful shows at the time were the ones starring big name celebrities. This show wished to return Grease to Broadway, albeit with no celebrities. What they wanted were two people who were the best "fit" for the parts. They even asked America to help them choose who won. Helping America make the right choice (knock wood) were judges who would choose who left each week, based on the two lowest vote recipients. These judges included producer David Ian, director Kathleen Marshall, and Jim Jacobs, who helped pen the original play.

Much like Rock Star: INXS, the series' best selling point (as a series) was the music. If you were a fan of Grease, you were a fan this series. Just about every song sung was a hit from either the original play, or the timeless 1970's movie adaptation starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John (who was a guest judge in one episode). Even when contestants were occasionally asked to sing different songs to show their acting/musical range, the songs chosen were from stage plays quite similar to Grease. As we often say: so far, so very good.

Let's just jump to the four finalists: Austin, Max, Laura, and Ashley. Not to editorialize, but just looking at the thumbnail photos above, makes it rather obvious who was chosen as the final "Danny" and "Sandy"...or is it? Sure, Austin was the more seasoned professional, having already performed on daytime soaps. In fact; judge/producer David Ian called the comparison of Austin and Max to "Tom Cruise against Ben Stiller." As for Ashley and Laura: isn't Sandy always played by a blonde...or, perhaps, is it time for a change?

Jumping even further ahead: the winners were, indeed, Laura Osnes and Max Crumm. Surprised? Only to a point. Let's start with the arguably less surprising choice, of Laura as Sandy. Even Jim Jacobs had to confess in the finale, that while Ashley looks like a dead ringer for Olivia Newton-John at the end of the movie, Laura was a lot like the "Sandy" seen through the rest of the play. Not that this should insult Ashley in the least; she just tried a little too hard to sell herself with the sort of beauty that is more "Hollywood" and less "girl next door." So sorry, Ashley!

Then we have Max Crumm as Danny. Shocked? The play's producer sure was...and not just melodramatically, I would imagine. This is, after all, the same guy who made the Tom Cruse/Ben Stiller metaphor (though even then, he had to admit that Crumm, like Stiller, put loads of "heart" into his performances). Check out the photo earlier on this same page, where Ian offers the "no, really; I'm happy for your win" smile. While this may seem petty, keep in mind it is Ian as prodicer, who is the person who will lose big if Max doesn't deliver on Broadway. All this TV critic can say is: if you wish to really prove Ian wrong, and show him you madethe choice you wanted:  here's the link for tickets to the play. That's all I'm going to say.

That said...how did Crumm win? In this critic's humble opinion, it was how Austin just didn't look like Danny, and not just on a "I can dye my hair if you want dark hair" level. I'd say the same thing to Brad Pitt had he been on the show. Had this been an audition for who could be the next "Han Solo," the finale would've been totally different. On a sad note, however: Austin was heard saying this would be his last attempt at the acting world, if he lost. Let's hope not. That's like Jennifer Aniston applying for Basic Instinct 3, no-nudity clause in hand, and insisting she'd quit acting if she didn't get the part. If the part was never "right" for you, how can you say that?

The real question is: did "America" make the right vote? Let's just say this: they made as good of a vote as possible, given the choices. I'm reminded of something David Ian said in the series premiere, asking viewers to "imagine" if America chose the wrong Danny and Sandy. Conversely; imagine, if you will, if Ian, Marshall, and Jacobs chose the wrong finalists. Many a good "Danny" and "Sandy" were booted from the series to make way for the judges "favorites," who may have been professional and/or talented, yet just weren't right for the role. Not that we're saying that who was chosen didn't deserve to win, given the finalists available. To hear the show's boasts: over 29 million votes were tallied to reach this final decision. That's a pretty clear sign that who won...won. You know what I mean?

As a parting word, it's important to remind readers that this is a review of the TV series, not the play. So forgive us for giving the series a happy- medium grade of two and a half stars, for no other reason than it just lacked the "wow" factor you'd expect from a casting call for a Broadway play. For one thing: the contestants should've been asked to perform a moment from the play, not just the songs. This isn't American Idol where all you'll have to do is sing; you'll also have to act, and make the audience sympathize with the character. I'll always remember the poignant moment when Sandy and Danny meet for the first time at school, and Danny, at risk of seeming less "cool," acts like a total cad and breaks Sandy's heart. That's the sort of emotional moment that made Grease a classic play. Reduce the play simply to the music, and Grease isn't the "word" anymore. After all: few "words" were even said...!

                                                                    ---Techtite

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