Grease (Well, Max and Laura) You're the Ones That I Want!

It's Slacker Danny and Small-town Sandy!

I caught the latest Grease revival Thursday, directed and choreographed by two-time Tony winner Kathleen Marshall. And yup, this was the one starring Laura Osnes and Max Crumm from that NBC reality show, Grease: You’re the One That I Want, as Sandy Drumbowski and Danny Zukko.

My roommates loved the show that cast Max and Laura when it was on (I could never get that into it), and even though ratings were low, the show created enough buzz that ticket sales for the Broadway show topped nine million. Reviews, on the other hand, are a little mixed, although most seem to like Laura and Max.

What did I think of the show? After the jump!

Max, you are Mr. Wonderful - not Mr. Cool, though.

I’ve seen Grease, but not that many times, so by no means did I have any attachment to a certain production or performance going in - but, going in, I did have a suspicion that anyone reality TV chose to star in a Broadway production could never compare with the stage’s regulars. I have to say, though, Max and Laura were hands-down the best part of that show for me; not only did they totally hold their own in singing and dancing ability, they really had fun with their parts. I thought Sandy was perfect, but as likable and talented as Max is, I can tell he was never “the cool kid,” and he doesn’t pull off “the cool kid” on-stage.

I also liked the 20 and 21-year olds in their parts for another reason: Casting 30-somethings to play high-schoolers just bothers me. Why do we have child actors, then we have to just jump to 25? In movies too! I mean, in Mean Girls, Lindsay was the only one who was even close to the correct age. Rachel McAdams – a high-school senior? Not even close.

Anyway, I felt the same way watching this Grease revival. The two winners of the reality show were close to the correct age, but the rest of the cast, seriously, looked middle-aged. Rizzo isn’t supposed to seem like a MILF, but she did.

Overall, though, I have to agree with Variety’s review that “no one seems to be trying;” there was something kind of half-assed about the whole thing - the musical numbers, the other actors’ performances...Maybe no one wanted to work with the Reality Show Winners. Well, whatevs – they’ve done their job.