We Go Together Like Ramma Lamma Lamma...Ahh, Screw It
Just when you thought reality television had no new, undiscovered faces left to discover, along comes new seasons of shows like American Idol and a new cesspool talent pool full hopefuls courtesy of NBC's Grease: You're The One That I Want.
Although their goals are ultimately different, it doesn't take the Pink Lady codebook to figure out this Grease casting session was inspired by the success of shows like AI. In fact, I actually think it's now a reality casting call rule that you have a stuffy British judge on the panel. They call it the Simon "Just Being Honest" Cowell component. Only with Grease they're all, tell me about it, stud.
"But...now...there's nowhere to hide" as contestants from far and wide come out in droves, ready to butcher Grease songs, the only saving grace being their giving a rest to Stevie Wonder's Isn't She Lovely for awhile. The guys want to be the next Danny Zuko while the girls meanwhile are literally screaming, LOOK AT ME, I'M SANDRA DEE!
The winners of this contest, unlike the winners of AI, get cast in a new Broadway production of Grease, slated to open this summer. Old-fashioned casting calls are a thing of the past. Forget Grease. Overexposure is now, apparently, the word.
The tricky part of auditions thus far are the variety of types that have come walking through the doors. To some of them you want to say, Have you SEEN Grease before? (A Chandleresque inflection should be applied here, by the way) There are young and old, short and tall and yes, even black and white.
In theory, someone like me should be thrilled with a show like this. After all, Grease was one of the very first movies I grew to love. I can still recall purchasing the soundtrack and buying my very own "Pink Ladies" jacket back in the eighties. I even relished in the rumor, the impossible dream, that swirled around for years...one day they might finally make a Grease 3. Remakes and sequels are all the rages these days. If you ask me, there are worse things they could do.
But here's where I get nit picky. Correct me if I'm wrong. I mean I know it's supposed to be a "new" Grease. But I subscribe to the "if it ain't broke, no need to fix it" school of thought. Therefore, recasting Grease is far different from reinventing Grease. Miami Vice, no matter how big of a bomb, went for a certain type when it cast Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx in the roles of Crockett and Tubbs, respectively. Take the Sandy and Danny prototypes out of the Grease and suddenly it is no more Grease than say, Grease 2.
My guess is the reason they let different types through to the finals is to show that they are open to any sort of Sandy or Danny. Deep inside however, I think they know that a 1950's African American Sandy paired with a 42 year old Danny are a far cry from "going together".
But perhaps my favorite part of Grease: You're The One That I Want is the way they choose the finalists. The chosen ones are selected to participate in a schooling of sorts, attending Grease Academy, a T-Bird boot camp, if you will. If you are one of the lucky ones to make it to the Academy they tell you so in one of the corniest one-liners since, Will You Accept This Rose?
They say...You're the one (insert dramatic pause here)...that we want to go to Grease Academy.
Of course, only time will tell which contestants are cool enough to rule the school. In the meantime, oh those summer Sunday nights.
Although their goals are ultimately different, it doesn't take the Pink Lady codebook to figure out this Grease casting session was inspired by the success of shows like AI. In fact, I actually think it's now a reality casting call rule that you have a stuffy British judge on the panel. They call it the Simon "Just Being Honest" Cowell component. Only with Grease they're all, tell me about it, stud.
"But...now...there's nowhere to hide" as contestants from far and wide come out in droves, ready to butcher Grease songs, the only saving grace being their giving a rest to Stevie Wonder's Isn't She Lovely for awhile. The guys want to be the next Danny Zuko while the girls meanwhile are literally screaming, LOOK AT ME, I'M SANDRA DEE!
The winners of this contest, unlike the winners of AI, get cast in a new Broadway production of Grease, slated to open this summer. Old-fashioned casting calls are a thing of the past. Forget Grease. Overexposure is now, apparently, the word.
The tricky part of auditions thus far are the variety of types that have come walking through the doors. To some of them you want to say, Have you SEEN Grease before? (A Chandleresque inflection should be applied here, by the way) There are young and old, short and tall and yes, even black and white.
In theory, someone like me should be thrilled with a show like this. After all, Grease was one of the very first movies I grew to love. I can still recall purchasing the soundtrack and buying my very own "Pink Ladies" jacket back in the eighties. I even relished in the rumor, the impossible dream, that swirled around for years...one day they might finally make a Grease 3. Remakes and sequels are all the rages these days. If you ask me, there are worse things they could do.
But here's where I get nit picky. Correct me if I'm wrong. I mean I know it's supposed to be a "new" Grease. But I subscribe to the "if it ain't broke, no need to fix it" school of thought. Therefore, recasting Grease is far different from reinventing Grease. Miami Vice, no matter how big of a bomb, went for a certain type when it cast Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx in the roles of Crockett and Tubbs, respectively. Take the Sandy and Danny prototypes out of the Grease and suddenly it is no more Grease than say, Grease 2.
My guess is the reason they let different types through to the finals is to show that they are open to any sort of Sandy or Danny. Deep inside however, I think they know that a 1950's African American Sandy paired with a 42 year old Danny are a far cry from "going together".
But perhaps my favorite part of Grease: You're The One That I Want is the way they choose the finalists. The chosen ones are selected to participate in a schooling of sorts, attending Grease Academy, a T-Bird boot camp, if you will. If you are one of the lucky ones to make it to the Academy they tell you so in one of the corniest one-liners since, Will You Accept This Rose?
They say...You're the one (insert dramatic pause here)...that we want to go to Grease Academy.
Of course, only time will tell which contestants are cool enough to rule the school. In the meantime, oh those
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