Welcome to Gaia! ::

NBC's "You're the One that I Want"

If you have not yet heard about, what is it? It’s an abomination in my eyes, but I digress. It’s a new reality series where they are going to be casting the stars of the next Broadway revival of Grease on Broadway. America gets to pick the winners. Thoughts?

Here’s my to cents. I think this is a load of crap! It’s a total joke. I think some people got together and said “What else can we ruin by making it into a reality series? Hey! Let’s ruin theatre!” Not only that, but Grease? COME ON! It’s a crappy overdone show that hasn’t even been gone long enough for it to be revived! I mean, heck I saw the last revival of it and let me say… it sucked. It only closed in 1998. That’s LESS then 10 years! That’s total bullshit! There are plenty of other shows out there that are better and actually deserved to be revived besides Grease.

Also, they are making this big deal about “THIS SUMMERS NEW MUSICAL!” But umm, has anyone actually stopped to think ‘Hey, will there be an open theatre this summer?’ There is only I think 2 dark houses now and I’m sorry, but there are workshops that deserve that space MUCH more. Workshops that have been in the works for years and have been waiting for the chance at a house. But now one of them is gonna get screwed over again cus of this Grease thing.

I will be watching the show, only for the fact that I am going to vote for people that really do DESERVE it, not the person that America thinks does. Cus the majority of Americans are just frickin’ stupid.


EDIT:
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/104346.html

*twitches* Okay, one time was fine (Sound of Music), two times was annoying (Grease)... and now a third one (Dreamcoat?!) Come on! Thank you Andrew Lloyd Weber for opening the flood gates.

Yeah, not sure why you're upset. Grease is an American classic which appeals to almost everyone, which is why they picked it.

Actually, they're ripping off ALW since he just did the same thing with The Sound of Music in London.

I actually really want to watch it, mostly because my school just did Grease so I know the whole show backwards and forwards. I'm interested to see how things play out and in the end, the producers usually have the say so someone with talent will probably get the roles.

I think it's actually a good idea, and I really wish I could watch the show, since it's on Sundays and I'm at church then =(

Only thing is, the song You're The One That I Want isn't even in the Broadway musical and I don't think they have the copyright ability to put it in the show... so I'm interested to see how that works out.

I'm really up on the air about this show. I don't really plan to ever see the revival of this show (I've only ever seen the movie anyways), but I think that this will really broaden the appeal of Broadway to a much wider audience, since a vast majority of the population of America (from what I've gathered, but I'm still just speculating here) seem to like American Idol and the movie version of Grease. I might watch an episode or two, but it's up there in my list of enjoyable reality shows (like Project Runway).
Now about the American Idol thing. Did anyone ever watch in the 4th season (I think) the episode where they had to pick showtunes to sing? It killed me to hear some of my favorite songs (The Impossible Dream and People) butchered. I don't think that they should repeat that (though Carrie Underwood did a really good job on hers, making me glad that she won).

I was upset about this, at first, but now I'm a little more accepting of it. They are looking for talented people, and it may give some truly deserving actors a chance to shine that they might otherwise not have had.

One of the backup singers did Maria when they were supposed to sing at the same time, but it was still awful.

I am seeing the recognition that theatre is gonna get from this to be a negative one.

The majority of people watching this show are not going to come out of it with a good appreciation of GOOD theatre. They are going to like the teenyboppers of theatre. They will not go see shows with real deep meanings or darker shows. No, they will be the ones supporting bubble gum pop shows with the catchy tunes and the non-complex storyline like Grease and High School Musical.

Don't get me wrong, I like the campy, peppy musicals as much as the next person (Wedding Singer is one of my favorite shows) but the difference is I still love real deep shows as well and I can go to a darker show like Sweeny Todd and come out of it with an appreciation for that. Most of the people that develop a "love of theatre" from this I HIGHLY doubt will.

They're selling tickets before they even have a cast? O.o

I'm kind going off topic here, but I really have to second your last point there, PensivePine. I've been reading a book on the social relevance of musicals through American history for a class, and I really think that, no matter what your personal preference is in musicals, people have to stop looking at light, comedic musicals as somehow automatically infererior to darker, more tragic, or overtly deep musicals. It's not the case. I mean, the American musical's roots are in comedic entertainment, with the second branch of musical plays not taking hold for quite sometime. It's not as if these lighter shows are some new and lesser being coming in to steal the intellect of Broadway away.

Also, I haven't ever seen Grease, but I think there is definately a difference that needs to be established between "fluff" and "popcorn" shows, spectacle shows (like Cats), and shows that may not be dark, but still have an interesting message or interesting concept to get across.

Esentially, no, dark does not equal deep, and neither does it garauntee good, for everyone.