Out With the Old, In With the New

Jacquelyn Flores, A&E EditorFebruary 12, 2016Leave a Comment

I grew up watching musicals like The Sound of Music, Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Grease.

Luckily for me, and other fans of these musicals, two of them are being re-imagined this year. The first one to premiere was Grease Live!.

On Sunday, January 31st, the cast of this new version of Grease gathered together at Paramount Studios in California to perform the new rendition of the film to a live audience. It was rainy and cold but nothing stopped the cast from performing their best.

For the past three months, the cast members continuously expressed how hard they had been working on perfecting the new version of the film, working almost 16 hour days to get all the choreography and lines correct for the big night.

Amongst the new cast was Julianne Hough, most commonly known as one of the judges from Dancing with the Stars, who was cast for the role of Sandy. This wasn’t Hough’s first time in a re-imagined film from back in the day. In 2011, Hough was cast as Ariel in the new version of Footloose.

A photo posted by Julianne Hough (@juleshough) on Despite having announced her father’s death less than 24 hours before Grease Live! aired, Vanessa Hudgens outdid her role as Rizzo. I could not have pictured anyone else as that character. She sang her heart out during her character’s solo song, “There Are Worse Things I Could Do,” and since then has received the best reviews out of all the actors who were cast for the rendition of the film.

Keke Palmer, who has been out of the limelight for sometime, returned to the small screen as the iconic role of Marty Maraschino. If you’ve ever seen the original film, Marty was the character who was found clinging to Vince Fontaine during the prom. Now I like that the new cast was very diverse. Palmer fit the role perfectly!

A photo posted by Laurennnn Palmer (@kekepalmer) on

Another artist I was surprised to see in the new cast was Carly Rae Jepsen. We all know her from her first radio single, “Call Me Maybe,” but this Sunday she most definitely outdid herself as Frenchy. Yes, Jepsen pulled off the perfect pink-haired Pink Lady. She was quirky and beautiful, although she lacked Frenchy’s high-pitched voice.

Transformation station here @gogrease Hello Frenchy! @davidkorins A photo posted by Carly Rae Jepsen (@carlyraejepsen) on

 

Speaking of Frenchy, the original actress, Didi Conn, made an appearance in the show as Vi, the older lady who gives Frenchy advice right before her solo at the diner.

Other iconic celebrities that made appearances in the show were Mario Lopez as Vince Fontaine, Carlos Pena-Vega (from Big Time Rush) as Kenickie, Jessie J who sang the opening credits song, “Grease is the Word,” and DNCE as Johnny Casino and the Gamblers.

The storyline for the new show was as accurate as could be, but did have a few modern twists. If you missed the TV airing, don’t worry! The Grease Live! DVD is already on pre-sale. Check out http://www.paramount.com/GreaseLivePhysicalPreorder to pre-order your copy today!

Did you watch and love Grease Live!?

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