I went and watched the play, “Grease,” a few years back in Columbus. It depicted the 1971 musical, and later 1978 hit film, based on the students of a 1950’s high school. The broadway stars Max Crumm and Laura Osnes, as Danny and Sandy. Their journey to the lead roles were documented on the NBC show entitled, “Grease: The One That I Want. ” The stars seemed to work well together, but lacked a certain chemistry that is needed to play lovers. Crumm and Osnes are both very talented dancers, but something about them together just didn’t seem right to me.
I feel that two people should really sell that they are passionate about each other, if that is what they are suppose to do for their role. Osnes has a beautiful singing voice, and she played her part as Sandy very well. While Crumm seemed to have a hard time being a leader in his group. For anyone in a lead role, being a leader on stage is very important, and leading did not come naturally to him. The main concern I had about the actors, were that they seemed somewhat stiff while performing.
It seemed as though they stuck to doing exactly what they were told, instead of owning their parts, and making them their own. The performers are young, and still have a lot to learn. Being a good performer does not happen overnight, so they have plenty of time to master the art of performing. You can just tell the actors had every single bit of the play drilled into their head, and it seemed as though they were afraid to stray off a bit, to make it their own. The show lacked the spark of, “Grease,” that many know and love. I couldn’t connect with the characters as well as I could when watching the movie.
On a more positive note, the actors knew exactly what they needed to do, and they performed their parts as best they could. The youthfulness of the cast had a lot to do with the lack of skill on the stage. There were a lot of young, and talented performers on that stage. However, I do not feel they were ready to perform something as popular, and well loved as, “Grease. ” There are very high expectations for and audience who comes to watch it. I was expecting to fall in love all over again with it, but it was very hard to connect with the characters.
People want to feel like they are living out the lives of the characters, while watching them perform. I usually feel most connected to Danny when I watch, “Grease. ” Crumm did not depict the Danny that many people already think they know, from watching the movie, or other performances. Overall, the play was not bad. There were a few things that need to be fixed, in order to make it the best play around. With more experienced actors, the play could become much better. I would like to see the actors now, to see if they have improved their skills.
