Article from
The New York Times 21 Jan, 2016.
‘Grease: Live’ Prepares for the Small Screen
BURBANK, Calif. — Thomas Kail, the celebrated director of “Hamilton” on Broadway, strode across the Warner Bros. back lot here earlier this month and broke into a verbal tap dance. “Well, hmm, let’s see,” he started to say in response to an impolite query from the person walking next to him (me). “I think that there is always a learning curve. Going first, second, third isn’t easy.”
The question: As he directs a live TV musical – Fox will broadcast his lavish production of “Grease” on Jan. 31 – could he please explain why some of the stage adaptations recently tried by other networks have been so, well, worthy of hate-watching?
Mr. Kail, who goes by Tommy, did not need to answer. The decisions made by the “Grease: Live” creative team, an A-list bunch that includes the “Wicked” producer Marc Platt and the “Hamilton” scenic designer David Korins, speak volumes on their own.
To make the vivaciousness of live theater come blasting through television sets, “Grease: Live” will incorporate an audience, a first for the recent batch of small-screen musicals; in some cases, the hundreds of people on set will appear on camera, whether watching the dance-off or cheering along at the give-em-hell-Rydell pep rally. To add visual scale and texture — and risk — the action will take place both inside on soundstages (Frenchy’s purplicious bedroom) and outside (a full-scale carnival), another first.
Thomas Kail, left, and Aaron Tveit.
“It’s also about the material that you’re dramatizing,” said Mr. Platt, whose film credits include producing the hit adaptation of “Into the Woods.” “There are certain shows that require more classic staging, and there are others, like ‘Grease,’ that allow you to play with the genre and stretch it.” He added: “There’s something about ‘Grease’ that’s timeless. It has exuberance and color and energy and esprit de corps.”
All of those things were readily visible as Mr. Kail, 38, prepared to rehearse one of the musical’s best-loved scenes — “Born to hand jive, baby!” — on a soundstage here, where, incidentally, both “A Star Is Born” (1954) and “My Fair Lady” (1964) were filmed. There, on a full-scale Rydell High gym set, lined with amber wooden bleachers and draped with rainbow streamers (courtesy of Patty Simcox and committee), the cast listened to Mr. Kail give a speech that he later called “his full Lombardi.”
“Remember, we’re going back to that time when you did your first everything,” he said in his mile-a-minute way. “Your heart has never been broken. You don’t know that it will turn out O.K.” He hopped down from his perch on the bleachers. “Here we go. Let’s take another run at the hand jive.”
Sandy, played by Julianne Hough of “Dancing With the Stars” fame, jumped to her feet and fluffed her rehearsal skirt. Standing next to her, Danny (Aaron Tveit, a fast-rising Broadway and television actor) grabbed his ankles in a prolonged stretch. One of the T-Birds executed a perfect pirouette, while Rizzo (Vanessa Hudgens) smacked her gum nearby — she’d been ready.
Someone cued the music, and the cast broke into an energetic dance number. There came Cha-Cha DiGregorio (Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer), rubbing her skirt suggestively on her thighs, just like in the 1978 movie, as a Rydell student dragged his date across the floor by one leg, just like in the 1978 movie.
Still, Mr. Kail and his choreographer, Zach Woodlee (“Glee”
, are most definitely not just putting forward a carbon copy of what “Grease” fans have seen before. Their goal is to combine elements from the movie and the stage version that preceded it while adding two new songs (written by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, known for Broadway’s “Next to Normal”
and updating others.
“We have affection for the movie and the stage play just as much as everybody else,” Mr. Kail said. “But it’s not about trying to redo those. It’s trying to capture the spirit.”
Mr. Kail pointed to casting as an area that overtly bears his stamp. Instead of sticking to the blueprint of Frenchy created by Didi Conn in the movie — cartoon voice, wide eyes — he veered toward introspective and arty, hiring the Canadian singer-songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen to play the Beauty School Dropout. (Ms. Conn will pop up as Vi, the world-weary Frosty Palace waitress.) Diversity was important; Keke Palmer plays Marty, Carlos PenaVega was entrusted with Kenickie, and Boyz II Men will perform in the Teen Angel role that Frankie Avalon made famous.
Ms. Hudgens, who starred as “Gigi” on Broadway last season but is still best known as the super-sweet Gabriella from the “High School Musical” series, was cast as the caustic Rizzo. “When my agent called I was, like, ‘Huh?’” Ms. Hudgens said, making a face. “I never really thought of myself as Rizzo. But then I thought about it, and I realized it would be a really cool challenge.”
How has Ms. Hudgens made the character her own? “Body language is big,” she said. “It wasn’t all that hard in the end.”
Mr. Tveit, who is a bit more James Dean than John Travolta, said that he had a difficult time breaking free of the movie. “I had to say my lines out loud over and over for, like, two weeks before I got Travolta’s voice out of my head,” he said. “Tommy really helped,” Mr. Tveit continued. “He has this way of telling you what he wants without making you feel like your original choice was wrong. For actors, that’s everything.”
Mr. Kail has no plans to abandon Broadway for Hollywood. He remains very close to “Hamilton,” for one thing, and its star-composer-lyricist, Lin-Manuel Miranda.
“I talked to Lin this morning, and we had seven texts afterward,” Mr. Kail said. “He has been incredibly supportive of me doing this, and the same goes for me when he gets a new bag of stories to work on, like his work with Disney.” Mr. Miranda contributed songs to Disney’s next animated musical, “Moana,” which is due in November.
But Mr. Kail does not want to confine himself to the stage, either, and “Grease: Live” seemed like a fun middle step toward possible cinematic endeavors. “I also loved the idea of being part of this new movement of musicals on television,” he said. “I deeply believe that theater should be for everyone. I want people to do new plays on television.”
As networks try to come up with must-watch television, musical specials have become one of Hollywood’s hottest formats. NBC will next tackle “Hairspray.” ABC is working to adapt “Dirty Dancing” with Andy Blankenbuehler, another “Hamilton” alum, doing choreography. Tyler Perry is working on a live musical about Jesus called “The Passion” for Fox, which will also bring viewers “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” starring Laverne Cox and Adam Lambert.
The high point in terms of ratings is “The Sound of Music Live!” That 2013 adaptation, though critically reviled, attracted 18.6 million viewers. More recently, “The Wiz Live!,” which received better reviews, attracted about 11.5 million people.
“Grease: Live,” with a budget of roughly $16 million and made by Paramount Television, will also get a soundtrack release on iTunes and come with an Internet-based behind-the-scenes experience designed to be watched simultaneously with the broadcast.
But here is another indelicate question: What happens if it rains?
“A great, big wet T-shirt contest,” Mr. Korins said dryly.
He was joking — sort of. While any mishap is possible, “Grease: Live” has gone to great lengths to protect the outdoor portion of its set. A towering metal truss, rigged with lighting equipment, will be stretched with plastic sheeting in two layers, one to catch any rain and a second to act as a sound barrier, Mr. Korins said. “We were almost going to shoot in New York, but we made the decision to go with California — for the weather — and literally later that day the Godzilla El Niño was announced,” he said.
“But the show, as they say,” he added, “will go on.”
Source:
The New York Times
