Featuring a diverse cast full of pure talent, Grease: Live transformed the way live musicals will be performed on TV. This show captured the audience’s attention from the very start and held it until the end of the program.

  The show was aired on Fox on Sunday, January 31. Here are the positives and negatives of this rendition of the classic Grease:   

Positives:

Vanessa Hudgens:

Not only did Vanessa Hudgens, who played Rizzo, give a stellar performance, but she also did it one day after her father passed away. She played the part flawlessly and sang one of the best musical numbers of the night: “There Are Worse Things I Could Do.” Director Thomas Kail knew what he was doing when he cast her for the part.

Doody:

  Doody, played by Jordan Fisher, stole the world’s hearts when he performed “Those Magic Changes.” The song also provided a perfect transition from the scene in Frosty Palace to Danny’s (Aaron Tveit) adventures finding a sport to play to impress Sandy (Julianne Hough). Not only that, but Doody’s change of clothes and guitars after every sport Danny tried was certainly impressive.

“Freddy My Love”:

   No one expected Marty (Keke Palmer) to steal the show with her musical number “Freddy My Love.” Featuring jaw-dropping vocals and a creative costume and set change, the audience was left amazed at what had just happened.

Negatives:

“All I Need Is An Angel”:

  Frenchy (Carly Rae Jepsen) performed “All I Need Is An Angel”  right before Boys II Men took the stage for “Beauty School Dropout.” Although she certainly sounded like an angel, the song didn’t feel like it belonged in the show, partially because it wasn’t in the original, but was created just for this rendition.

“Hopelessly Devoted To You”:

There’s no denying that Julianne Hough has amazing vocals, but the location of “Hopelessly Devoted To You” had me hopelessly confused. The song is originally played at the sleepover of the Pink Ladies, after Danny had turned out to not be the same guy she knew from the summer. However, in Grease: Live, it was sung after the dance at the school, where Sandy ran away because she was camera-shy. The meaning of the song just did not match with what had just happened in the musical.

The Live Audience:

  Sure, it would’ve been interesting to see the musical play out right in front of you, but for those watching it from their TV, it wasn’t all that great. During the dance at Rydell High, all of the actors were wearing 50’s style clothing, but the audience was dressed in modern 2016 attire. This clothing difference made it hard for you to imagine it was the 1950’s again, and you were watching the dance from the sidelines. The audience made it harder to focus on the actors and their performances.

  Overall, Grease: Live was a captivating musical that proved you can do anything you put your mind to. Director Thomas Kail took the original movie and transformed it into something no one was expecting.