Tuesday, February 09, 2016
Lean Forward! Grease Live Brings The Theater On Film Debate To A Close
VirtualArtsTV: First off, lets be clear. I’m no lover of Grease, but, as my entire professional life has been dedicated to live performance, especially live-streamed performance, last Sunday night I dragged myself to Fox to watch Grease Live. The NBC live musicals have been so flat and patronizing, my plan was 20 minutes of Grease Live due diligence, then catch up on American Crime – but from the moment I turned on the show at 7:20- !!!! I couldn’t tear myself away, (nor could my musical hating husband) I clapped…I cried (come on, Freddy My Love!) I laughed, I grinned, right thru to the dynamic, golf cart laden, ferris wheel spinning finale.
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6 comments:
I saw Grease Live and I did enjoy it even though I am not a huge fan of Grease as a show. I did not see any of the other live tv musicals but I have heard many negative things about them. Grease Live was a very good production as a whole and you could tell that every department was very dedicated and worked well together, which is exactly what theatre should be. The camera work was one of the most impressive things about the production. It was very smooth and there were a lot of different camera shots that were used in a very effective way. The camera work looked like a movie or tv show that was edited together very well. The best part is that most of the camera work was done live. The video of the associate director calling the camera shots for Grease Lightning was crazy because it was so fast and on point.
I don’t think I’ve ever had as much of a mixed reaction to an article on this blog as I had to this one. On one hand I like and agree with many of the points that the author makes later in the article. Mainly that live streaming is an important part of the future of theater and that much of its success relies upon dynamic viewing experiences and non generic camera setups. That being said part of her introduction bothered me enough that I almost dropped the article right there. First I disagree with her that the NBC live musicals were flat and patronizing. I didn’t see their version of the sound of music but I did see Peter Pan live and flat and patronizing are not how I would describe it. But that could all be done to our subjective opinions. The part that I really had an issue with was when she talked about giving it her “20 minutes of due diligence.” It reminded me of an article I read a few years ago about a New York theater reviewer who got in trouble for bragging about leaving shows in during intermission. If your going to be reviewing a piece of theater, then you should have the decency to watch the whole thing.
Grease Live was the first of the live musicals I ever watched, and I really wasn’t sure whether or not I would like it. I had heard not so great things about the other live musicals and Grease isn’t my favorite show ever, but I thought I’d give it a try. It wasn’t the best thing I’ve ever seen, but I thought it was really successful in what it set out to do, which was just to be a really great time! It was fun and engaging, and I think that comes from the fact that it realized it couldn’t be exactly live theater and so it didn’t try to be. The production was more like a fast-pasted version of a television show with a live audience that happened to have singing and dancing. If television-theater hybrids like this become more and more successful and get a wider audience interested in the world of live theater, I am all for it!
As the huge musical theater buff that I am I can say with full honestly and sureness that I hate Grease. The songs are catchy, and it did a lot of great things for theater when it first came out but it's literally about two people who give up what they believe in for the greater good a bunch of high schoolers, who don't seem to care about the rest of their lives anyway, All that aside I did watch Grease Live, and I was more impressed with it than I have been with any other TV musicals in the past few years, although beating Carrie Underwood's Maria is hardly the feat of the century. I thought Grease Live was fine. The performances were fine, and I was entertained enough throughout the whole thing, even though most of that was because I was absolutely mesmerized by the technical aspect of the production. There is a video of an associate director calling the show, and I've probably watched it 10 times, its so amazing, everyone should see it. All that aside I think the larger debate here is whether we can call these TV musicals actual theater. I really want to be able to, but Grease Live was not a musical, it was SNL with dance numbers and a thousand more people. There is nothing wrong with that, and it does;'t make the product any less good but it also doesn't make it live theater. Live theater is so mesmerizing because you are watching one space transform before your eyes, and there is no camera angle to ease the clunkyness of a quick change. I thought Grease Live was good, and it is bringing theater to a new audience which I am thrilled about, but as people in the live theater business we get to define what these shows become, and if they stay on the more theatrical side, or if they become TV with music and dance. We also get to choose if that matters or not, I've had a lot of talks in the past month about Grease and whether we should be calling it theater, and even though I have an option about that, I have a bigger one that says who cares. Because my dad watched Grease Live, my soccer Coach watched grease live and most people I know did, and even though there were 12 sets not one, and the audience wasn't always there I think thats a pretty huge victory for our community,
Grease is a dated musical that tells a not so pro-women story, however, I love the music. One cannot help but to snap and clap while watching the musical. Grease Live! was such a success and I totally loved it!
The staging was incredible and incorporated the positive qualities that film has to offer. I loved that it incorporated a live audience and you could see some of the camera men.
The costumes and scenery were beautiful, and well made. The detail work was simple and precise. William Ivey Long did a great job, per usual.
There has been much controversy as to whether or not we should consider this live theatre, or a film production. I personally do not think that it does not matter what we call it. The fact that theatre became available to millions of people without the cost of a Broadway ticket is incredible. SO many people watched the event, and enjoyed it. FOX did a great job on all levels. The ending was such an exciting surprise. I loved the golf carts that brought the entire cast to the outdoor carnival. It was a nice and clever adaptation that highlighted the cinematic elements of the production.
I haven’t heard the term lean forward before, but it makes sense. Many times when audience members are engaged, whatever the medium is – television, theater, even sports, they lean forward in their seats. When not engaged, they lean back. Grease Live raked in about 12.2 million viewers, which is great for the theater and musical industries. It isn’t much, however, compared to how many watched Super Bowl 50 – about ten times more. I was impressed with the show, but I have to admit I’m a fan of Grease to begin with. It was compelling and had a lot of great visuals. One of the parts I didn’t like about it – the golf carts. While the golf carts may have been the only way to get from one set to another in the time allotted, it completely took the viewers out of the world of the show. I think it will be interesting to see what show gets transformed into a live musical TV/theater event next.
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