A wap bam boom!
Before dissecting TV’s latest live musical presentation, let’s get something out of the way: “Grease Live,” which aired Sunday night on FOX, was the first network musical telecast of the century with any real ambition. It made bold choices, failed and succeeded.
FOX threw everything at the wall — moving cars, complicated group dance numbers, starry guest appearances by Joe Jonas, Boyz II Men and Jessie J — and much of it stuck. NBC, whose offerings so far have all been competent slogs, must be uneasy tonight.
Of course, there was no mistaking what network “Grease Live” aired on. The “Glee” and “American Idol” mashup was distinctly FOX — with backstage detours, overeager cinematography and a warehouse’s worth of moving lights. The proceedings reeked of reality TV, as though Ryan Seacrest might pop out at any moment and subdue us with his grin.
However, more than “The Sound of Music,” “Peter Pan” and “The Wiz,” “Grease” made it abundantly clear that it was actually, well, live! There was a living, breathing studio audience, cheering along. At times the skinny-jeaned crowd needed to control its enthusiasm, but for the most part, its presence was charming and refreshing.
And in the spirit of live TV, “Grease” delivered what we’ve been waiting for since these telecasts began — a magic moment, something more exhilarating than a simple reinterpretation of a beloved show. That finally came on Sunday night during the cheery last number, “We Go Together,” at a carnival that was actually filmed outdoors, in a Los Angeles drizzle.
The cast let loose; there was honest-to-goodness joy, and that soap opera gauze that’s so far defined the genre fell away. Even the snarkiest viewers (my party, for example) couldn’t help but smile as the cast bowed. The director, Thomas Kail, who also helmed “Hamilton” on Broadway, certainly has a way with energetic, young ensembles.
For the first 90 minutes, though, much of the broadcast was strangely sedate and occasionally confounding.
Most egregiously, the pop star Carly Rae Jepsen’s Frenchy — otherwise adorable — was forced to croon a truly excruciating new song by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, the team behind Broadway’s “Next To Normal,” called “All I Need Is An Angel.”
With a paint-by-numbers, contemporary faux-pop sound, you’d think nobody told the songwriters that “Grease” was a ’50s pastiche. The song might very well have been a reject from their newest show, “If/Then.” It added nothing to the broadcast but needless minutes and will hopefully fail to weasel its way into the licensed stage version of Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey’s already excellent musical comedy.
And the dialogue scenes, which play wonderfully in the 1978 film, came to a screeching halt during the live broadcast. Many should’ve been cut altogether, and the actors were, by and large, not compelling enough to carry them.
Sandy is the thankless role of thankless roles. She’s dull by definition. But Olivia Newton John had charisma and energy beneath her vanilla exterior. Julianne Hough of “Dancing With The Stars” was invisible, a phantom presence with a faint, wavering singing voice to match. She was given extra dance numbers to drive home her biggest strength — but they felt crammed in for her benefit. Worst of all, her chemistry with hunky actor Aaron Tveit playing Danny Zuko was middling. And isn’t that what we’ve tuned in for?
Tveit, a seasoned Broadway actor, was attractive and likable, and unexpectedly endearing during his restrained rendition of “Sandy.” He made a very good Danny, but he’d be great alongside a better partner.
Vanessa Hudgens had the most difficult assignment of the night playing Rizzo, the “Pink Ladies” bad girl made famous by a young Stockard Channing. Even given that tall order, Hudgens rose to the occasion, delivering a nuanced, edgy, unpredictable performance. Hudgens recently appeared on Broadway, playing the title role in “Gigi,” and that newfound experience shows.
Regardless of its flaws, “Grease” is a reason to look forward to the next round of live musicals on TV. When it finally found its stride during “Born to Hand Jive,” which was among the finest staged sequences of any live musical telecast so far, the hate-watching subsided and suddenly we were all back in high school again.