August 20, 2007

No surprise: Critics shred new 'Grease' on Broadway

The revival of "Grease" cast by way of voters who watched the painfully dull, rules-changing TV reality show "You're The One That I Want," opened on Broadway last night. The critics are not amused, and as the Hollywood Reporter harshly spells it out, the revival "only will be appreciated by young TV viewers who don't know any better."

The critics agreed across the board that the two leads -- Laura Osnes and Max Crumm -- aren't terrible as Sandy and Danny. They just don't have the chemistry or the Broadway-level talent to justify the $100 (let alone the $251.50 premium) ticket prices. Despite that, the power of the TV show is filling the theater to capacity nearly every night.

"Grease" plays the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, located at 256 W. 47th St., map. Tickets are priced from $71.50 to $111.50 for Tuesday through Thursday performances, with orchestra and box seats rising to $121.50 on Fridays, Saturdays and Sunday. (Starting January 2, prices for all regular orchestra seats and mezzanine rows A-D rise to $121.50.) Premium seats are $251.50.

The reviews:
New York Times - "Those who come to “Grease” without such sentimental attachments are sure to be baffled by the lack of wit, charisma or original presence on the stage."

Variety - "Not that there's anything especially wrong with Max Crumm and Laura Osnes, the pair chosen to play cool-dude Danny Zuko and his innocent summer love Sandy Dumbrowski, respectively, in Kathleen Marshall's low-wattage New York production. They sing confidently, dance capably and both have their own low-key, unaffected charms. But they're unprepossessingly innocuous, which is not a great quality in musical theater leads. What's more, they have less-than-zero sexual connection."

New York magazine - "During the curtain call, the cast races through quick reprises of all the show’s good songs (including “Greased Lightning,” Broadway’s answer to a stadium-rock anthem), and gives the Max-and-Laura constituency plenty of chances to see the stars in action. Here, you think, is what the people came to see: the super-concentrated Grease experience, all highlights and TV stars, with none of the dull bits to get in the way. It’s just a shame that, after casting their votes and paying a hundred bucks for tickets, they still have to wait two listless hours to get it."

Post - "The main trouble with the elected stars, Osnes and Crumm - she being a great deal better, especially in spandex, than he - seems that the kind of chemistry between them could well discourage hydrogen from getting together with oxygen to make water. The rest of the cast is more effective, particularly Jenny Powers as Rizzo, Matthew Saldivar as Kenickie, Stephen R. Buntrock as Teen Angel (the one who gets to sing "Beauty School Dropout") and Jeb Brown as the lecherous aging deejay, Vince Fontaine. "

Hollywood Reporter - "Tackily produced and utterly lacking the sort of fun comic spark that the original production and certainly the movie possessed (though not the most recent Broadway revival in 1994), this is a "Grease" that only will be appreciated by young TV viewers who don't know any better."

Daily News - "Crumm and Osnes' chemistry is more sibling than sizzling. He holds his own singing and dancing, but is short on the sexiness and swoony swagger that's part of Danny's DNA. Osnes might be the prettiest Sandy ever, and she can belt. But she's a limited actress, even playing a cardboard character. During her ballad "Hopelessly Devoted to You" (one of the film tunes grafted onto the show), she wrings her hands and paces the stage like an expectant father in a maternity ward, rather than letting the lyrics show her ache. Without magnetic performances, interest wanes in whether Danny and Sandy will couple up. Chills don't start multiplying, antsiness does."

Newsday - "Kathleen Marshall's production, which opened Sunday night at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, has been shined-up and de-sexed for the rich new 'tween market. How anything can be so perky and yet so bland is yet another mystery for the ages."

Sun - " Lindsay Mendez gives a loose, infectious performance as the zaftig Jan, while Robyn Hurder's voluptuous Marty incarnates a living, wriggling Vargas pinup. ( Ms. Hurder is the most obvious beneficiary of Martin Pakledinaz's clever costumes, which steer refreshingly clear of the standard-issue poodle skirts and Converse low-tops.) Matthew Saldivar, playing Kenickie as a dim bulb on the verge of sputtering out for good, finds several unexpected laughs. And the vocally impeccable Jenny Powers, previously a go-to good girl Â-- she appeared in several ingenue roles at City Center's Encores!, where Ms. Marshall spent four seasons as artistic director Â-- struts away with each of her scenes as Rizzo, the reigning bad girl of the Pink Ladies."

Hartford Courant - "'Grease,' America's favorite junk musical, is back on Broadway, luring in the suckers and sentimentalists with a new gimmick. That would be the 'American Idol'-styled TV show, 'Grease: You're the One That I Want.'"

Associated Press - "As Danny, Max Crumm gives a cautious performance, vocally OK but short on swagger and sex appeal. Laura Osnes nicely gets Sandy's transformation, morphing with enthusiasm from good girl to bad babe. Check out her skintight outfit in the last scene, courtesy of designer Martin Pakledinaz. Osnes also sings well and throws herself into Marshall's spirited choreography."

Earlier: 'Grease' previews at $121.50; standing room scheduled
'Slacker Danny,' 'Small-town Sandy' cast in 'Grease'

August 20, 2007 06:27 AM in Broadway, Kids

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