Matt's the One That I Want
Can you imagine if Matt had to audition for all of America to be considered for the lead in All the Pretty Horses? Ridiculous, right? Well, that’s pretty much how I feel about Grease You’re the One That I Want, the new NBC show that will allow viewers to choose the next Danny Zuko and Sandy Dumbrowski for a Broadway revival of this ever-popular musical (Grease).
It’s interesting to me that they chose to name this show after a song that isn’t actually in the original score. As a matter of fact, You’re the One That I Want wasn’t even added to the 1994 revival. It was, however, a part of the 1978 film version. The music and lyrics for this song about chills multiplying and boys losing control are by John Farrar, who, interestingly, wasn’t the one smugly taking credit for the creation of the show on NBC’s auditionpalooza last night. That man was Jim Jacobs, and he did, in fact, create the show, but he did it with Warren Casey, a fact which seems to have slipped the minds of the judges, the press representatives and the hosts of the reality-fest.
Is this the wave of the future? Do we want to see all future Broadway talent chosen by America’s citizens? Perhaps a more important question to the producers is "Will America’s citizens promise to come to Broadway and plunk down their dollars to see what they’ve wrought?" I think it’s only fair, don’t you? It will be interesting to see how well this show continues to fare in the ratings (the first show came in fourth after ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, CBS’s Cold Case rerun and Fox’s The Simpsons and American Dad offerings). I understand the ratings were considered “solid” at 6.9. I don’t really know how ratings work, but I do know that coming in fourth out of four network channels isn’t the best possible outcome.
In the UK recently, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber thought it would be a good idea to allow the British populace to choose who they’d like their new Maria von Trapp to be in his Really Useful Company revival of The Sound of Music. The public chose Connie Fisher, who sounds like a cross between Connie Frances and Carrie Fisher, but looks like Sandy Duncan. The production opened November 15, 2006 and according to Michael Billington in The Guardian, Connie’s a hit!
So who am I to carp? It worked once, who’s to say it can’t work again? However, I caution all of you to remember, Americans aren’t Englishmen. England is a much smaller country, and maybe it's easier for them all to agree on entertainers, since they all suffer from the same lack of sunshine. But on this side of the pond, what we think is entertaining in, say, Iowa, might not fly in NYC. So let’s keep our eyes open to see who America chooses for the leads in this new production, and see if Iowa, New York and all of the Bible Belt agree on what makes a 1950's couple hot! And while we're at it, let's also keep our ears open to find out whether or not John Farrar allows his song, You’re the One That I Want, to be included in this version of the show.
It’s interesting to me that they chose to name this show after a song that isn’t actually in the original score. As a matter of fact, You’re the One That I Want wasn’t even added to the 1994 revival. It was, however, a part of the 1978 film version. The music and lyrics for this song about chills multiplying and boys losing control are by John Farrar, who, interestingly, wasn’t the one smugly taking credit for the creation of the show on NBC’s auditionpalooza last night. That man was Jim Jacobs, and he did, in fact, create the show, but he did it with Warren Casey, a fact which seems to have slipped the minds of the judges, the press representatives and the hosts of the reality-fest.
Is this the wave of the future? Do we want to see all future Broadway talent chosen by America’s citizens? Perhaps a more important question to the producers is "Will America’s citizens promise to come to Broadway and plunk down their dollars to see what they’ve wrought?" I think it’s only fair, don’t you? It will be interesting to see how well this show continues to fare in the ratings (the first show came in fourth after ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, CBS’s Cold Case rerun and Fox’s The Simpsons and American Dad offerings). I understand the ratings were considered “solid” at 6.9. I don’t really know how ratings work, but I do know that coming in fourth out of four network channels isn’t the best possible outcome.
In the UK recently, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber thought it would be a good idea to allow the British populace to choose who they’d like their new Maria von Trapp to be in his Really Useful Company revival of The Sound of Music. The public chose Connie Fisher, who sounds like a cross between Connie Frances and Carrie Fisher, but looks like Sandy Duncan. The production opened November 15, 2006 and according to Michael Billington in The Guardian, Connie’s a hit!
So who am I to carp? It worked once, who’s to say it can’t work again? However, I caution all of you to remember, Americans aren’t Englishmen. England is a much smaller country, and maybe it's easier for them all to agree on entertainers, since they all suffer from the same lack of sunshine. But on this side of the pond, what we think is entertaining in, say, Iowa, might not fly in NYC. So let’s keep our eyes open to see who America chooses for the leads in this new production, and see if Iowa, New York and all of the Bible Belt agree on what makes a 1950's couple hot! And while we're at it, let's also keep our ears open to find out whether or not John Farrar allows his song, You’re the One That I Want, to be included in this version of the show.
posted by Sam at 3:56 PM
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