Episode 1 – There Are Worse Things They Could Do

Grease: You're the One that I Want!, Episode 1 – There Are Worse Things They Could Do by Teeuwynn Woodruff -- 01/08/2007 The hit musical Grease is coming back to Broadway, and the writer, director, and producer are searching for the new Danny and Sandy on NBC. In the 90-minute premiere, we find out how the show will work and see the first two audition cities. As you would expect, some are pretty bad, but for some, well, there are worse things they could do. Hello and welcome to the first episode of Grease: You're the One that I Want! This show aims to find two new Broadway stars to play the coveted roles of Sandy Dumbrowski and Danny Zuko in the next production of Grease. Just as in American Idol, the voting audience at home will have the ultimate decision on who our next Sandy and Danny will be, but first we have to get through the initial audition rounds. So, let's get to it. The show gets off to a fantastic start with an hysterical opening sequence with a wannabe Danny and Sandy singing “You're the One that I Want” to each other. Soon the first Danny is pushed aside by another wannabe. The Sandy is likewise shoved away. This sequence of overlapping Dannys and Sandys grows gradually more aggressive until the Dannys are kneeing each other in the groin and the Sandys are in an all-out catfight. Brilliant! Our hosts, Billy Bush and Denise Van Outen, walk out of Rydell High and welcome us to the show. Billy somewhat pompously declares the prize on this show the “biggest in television,” roles as Danny (played in the film by John Travolta) and Sandy (Olivia Newton John) on Broadway. Now, if you're an actor, these are some prime roles, but I don't think I'd call it the biggest prize on TV. The hosts are pretty hammy, but so's Grease! Anyway... Billy gives us a little recap of the history of the show Grease. He points out it has been a smash in many countries on stage as well as in the hit movie. We then get to see the three folks who have laid their own cash out for the show: Jim Jacobs, the original scriptwriter for Grease; producer – and mandatory British man – David Ian who is fronting the ten million for the show; and Kathleen Marshall, who will direct and stage the show eight times a week. The show will start up on Broadway this summer. Kathleen says the whole thing is a “little nerve wracking.” Whoever America votes for is who she'll be directing in the show. Billy winds up by saying that they're looking for a “triple threat” singer-actor-dancer for each role. We then get a montage of terrible auditions to show us just how much trouble the producers are in. Billy gives us an overview of how this audition will work. First, wannabes will have to sing. If they get past that, they'll have a dancing audition. The fifty best from the three audition cities will get to attend “Grease Academy.” This is apparently a “boot camp regimen” of singing, acting, and dancing. Only twelve hopefuls will “graduate” from Grease Academy. Three weeks from now we begin the live shows, where America chooses. Billy finishes by cheerfully informing us that the fate of this beloved Broadway show and the three top professionals is in our hands. Tell me about it, stud. The first audition is in Los Angeles. Gosh, what an unusual audition spot! Billy emphasizes once more that the careers of our three-person production team are at stake here! So let's get to the auditions and see if their careers might survive. First up is a 21-year-old cocktail waitress named Ashley Spencer. She's certainly cute and blonde enough for Sandy. She sings “Hopelessly Devoted to You.” She belts it out... but it's a bit too screamy for me. David asks her to sing it softer and warmer. It does sound nicer that way! Jim, who looks a bit like a teddy bear, says yes to the next round. So does Kathleen, and Ashley's off to the dancing round. Robin Rosensweig(?) is next up. She is obviously completely wrong for the role. She's a large woman who looks to be in her fifties. She rattles on in a weird voice about her experience in the business before declaring she'll also sing “Hopelessly Devoted to You.” She does sing it... hopelessly, but only after declaring she's hard of hearing and can't hear the producers. When she finishes, they stare open-mouthed in horror and then thank her with, “it's been an experience.” We now see a montage of Danny wannabes, both good and bad. Jim Jacobs talks about creating Danny. He says Danny is one in a million. Every girl wants to date him and every guy wants him as a friend. Kathleen notes he's comedic, a little boy, but also sexy. Jim says Sandy comes in acting like Gidget, but she has the heart of a lion. Now, it's time for 22-year-old Katelyn Doubleday to take her shot. She sings Rizzo's “There Are Worse Things I Could Do.” She's only so-so, although she does emote through the song. They send her on, but I don't think she'll be a finalist. Next we have 18-year-old Fawn Medesma. She's driven 16 hours from Oregon for this. Unfortunately, her first song is unforgivably boring. The judges tell her to sing anything but that. She sings some faster-tempo song, but she screeches and isn't great. The panel quickly passes and Fawn is in tears off-stage. After Fawn comes 39-year-old massage therapist Ricky Reedling... and he's not a young 39 either. He just doesn't want the judges to say he's awful. He sings a lukewarm “You're the One that I Want,” crumpling vocally on the word “electrifying.” The judges cringe, tell Ricky he IS awful, and Ricky is out of there. Now we get to energetic 21-year-old fitness receptionist, Max Crumb. He bounces in to the audition and sings decently. David seems more enthused than me, and all the judges pass him on. They tell him he needs to change his image before tomorrow and look more like Danny. He agrees. We now learn some more about David Ian. He apparently took out a second mortgage on his home to stage the 1993 British production of Grease. It made millions, but otherwise he would still be paying that off today. David's worried about reading in Variety what a terrible idea it was to cast Danny and Sandy through a reality show. It just seems like a big advertisement for the Broadway show to me. Seems hard to see how they'll go wrong. After this interlude, our host Billy comes back to the judges to beg for another chance for young Fawn from Oregon. Apparently he thought she was great and deserves another shot. Kathleen says okay and Fawn promises to belt it out. She sings “There Are Worse Things I Could Do.” She does sound better than her other performances until she really tries to belt it and her voice turns into a chicken screaming in a wind tunnel. Billy collapses backstage and the judges quickly tell her no. Fawn admits she made a fool of herself. We have an interview with Olivia Newton John. She says it would be great if Sandy was Latina or African-American or something different. Patricia Canale from the Bronx has a big personality. She certainly doesn't look like a typical Sandy. She's a big, beautiful broad. She nicely sings “Hopelessly Devoted to You.” Kathleen notes that on her application Patricia says she's a “tap dancing cupcake.” Apparently, she tap dances as a cupcake for supermarket openings to make money. Kathleen says it's a stretch to think of her as Sandy but she wants to see her do her stuff. David says okay, if Kathleen says so. Cue Kathleen's info piece. Kathleen is a Tony Award winning director and choreographer. She's worked on The Pajama Game and Little Shop of Horrors, among other shows. She certainly has her Broadway chops! Now we have a montage of the panel turning down many, many people who are too old for the roles, even though there is traditionally a lot of stretch in the ages for these roles. After all, the movie cast were in their twenties and thirties. But some of these folks are definitely past their Rydell High prime. Billy says, “at the other end of the spectrum” we have Vince DeMosci. He's 17 and a high school student. And he's cute as a bug, but not masculine enough for Danny. He has a very pretty voice and he's right on pitch singing “Crazy Little Thing Called Love.” David says that, unfortunately, he's too young for the part. Vince claims he's played the role in many community theaters, but the panel says no for Danny. Vince is crushed after his audition and trying not to cry. He says that the role of Danny and John Travolta really inspired him... but they say he doesn't look tough enough. He looks more like an adorable puppy, I'm afraid to say. But he's cute and has a great voice, so I think he's got a real shot at a career in theater ahead of him. We get to see some quick shots of a variety of potential Sandys strutting their stuff on the stage. They are making the judges happy! But how will 21-year-old cocktail waitress Kara Hilly do? She's bubbly and excited and here to “make Daddy proud.” She sings “Hopelessly Devoted to You.” Kara really belts it out and does a nice job with it. The panel loves her and want to see her back! I liked her too. The next person up is an 18-year-old named Sunshine Smith. She's a big girl, with big frizzy hair and a personality to match. Sunshine claims her talent is even bigger than her hair! She comes on stage with a big grin and sings “There Are Worse Things I Could Do” extremely well. Kathleen says she doesn't exactly see her as a Sandy, but she applauds her efforts. David says they like her singing, but don't think she looks like Sandy, but... we'll see her tomorrow. Everyone in the green room applaud when they find out she's through. Now we'll check out a substitute teacher named Phil Lander. As Billy notes, he has a good look for Danny in the traditional, dark-haired hunk way. He says he wants to show the producers he is Danny. But I'm afraid his audition is a complete mess. He postures bizarrely all over the stage and can't sing worth a lick. Even he admits after a while that he's terrible and says that he did it for his students. He doesn't seem upset that he's not going on. It's now time for Deja Jones a 21-year-old student, to give it a try. She's a pretty black girl with her hair in long cornrows. She does a nice “You're the One That I Want.” The panel like her, although Kathleen says she might see her as one of the other pink ladies since she has a “natural sauciness to her.” Deja looks skeptically at the panel. David says that they'll pass her through, but she better get a lot better or else she's not going any farther. We're just about done with the L.A. singing auditions. It's 29-year-old waiter Jason Rice's turn. He is here for his brother. One of his dreams was to be Danny, but his brother was too sick and couldn't audition one time, so Jason is here now. Jason says that his brother has passed away and he wants to do him proud. Jason speeds through “Greased Lightning” in a fifties greaser kind of way. It's a bit fast, but otherwise alright. The panel passes him along. After Jason comes 23-year-old Rebecca Cuss. Rebecca's a pharmaceutical rep, and she shows up looking like one. The panel comments on Rebecca's appearance. She's in a business blouse, skirt, and heels. She tells the panel it's because she was here for a pharmaceutical sales event and she found out about the auditions here at the last second – this was all she had in her suitcase. She sings Sandy's reprise of “Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee,” and does a wonderful job with it. You can tell that Jim loves her and Rebecca's quickly through to the dancing round. The panel doesn't feel like they have any great Danny hopefuls yet. But we've got a soccer coach named Chad Dorrit who is “beyond ready” to be the next Danny Zuko. He sings “Hunka Hunka Burnin' Love.” He wriggles his hips and shows some vocal range. David really likes Chad's looks, song, and delivery and he is moving on too! We finally get to see our other host Denise Van Outen. She informs us that the next step is the dancing audition. That's really all she gets to say before Billy takes over again. Everyone's back from the first day. Sunshine is super-nervous because she doesn't think she's a great dancer. Max Crumb is worried because the panel didn't like his surfer look. He's greasing his hair back into a ducktail and wearing a tee shirt and jeans today, but will it help him? The wannabes have an hour to learn a dance routine. Our “dancing cupcake,” Patricia Canale, is very confident in her style. Rebecca Cuss is worried because the dancing is fast and she's afraid the judges will think she has two left feet. But it's the Dannys who are having the most trouble with the dancing. Kathleen tells them she can see them panicking. We now meet former navy officer Grant Whitmere. He says he's danced a bit but never auditioned before. He's nervous because he can't remember the choreography. Billy enthusiastically tells us we're moments away from the dance auditions now. The contestants anxiously cluster backstage. Rebecca Cuss points to herself and whispers, “worst dancer ever.” Uh oh, that doesn't sound good. Kathleen gives them the cue, and the first group of Sandys moves out on stage. They're dancing to “You're the One that I Want.” This group includes Deja Jones and Kara Hilly. The panel still likes Kara and her energy, but Kathleen declares Deja a “no.” Cocktail waitress Ashley Spencer looks sexy and the dance highlights her long legs. Now our first Dannys are up. The judges mutter to themselves while the dancers perform a pretty short routine. Patricia, the dancing cupcake, comes out and performs admirably. I still can't believe the panel will pick a zaftig Sandy, though. Patricia's happy with her performance, though, declaring it “awesome!” When poor former officer Grant Whitmere stumbles about on stage, the judges mutter that they liked him... yesterday. Our frizzy-haired, big-personalitied gal Sunshine is in the next group. She's not doing terribly, but she's obviously nervous and tentative. When Rebecca Cuss comes out, she's not a great dancer, but she's not as bad as she said she'd be. David comments that “she was a talented one, wasn't she?” Oh, and she's found some leggings and a tee shirt to dance in too. When Max Crumb comes out, he throws himself into the dance. He's not fantastic, but he's noticeable. Kathleen says he can just get through. After the dancing, David tells the auditioners that they're now going to decide who from L.A. is going on to that paragon of theatrical institutions, Grease Academy. Our hostess Denise tells us that the panel are deciding... Right. Now. The panel are looking at pictures of the auditioners. David says he wants two people who are really commercial that America will really like. Meanwhile, the auditioners are waiting. Kathleen says they have to remember they're casting a couple, two people everyone wants to see together. Once the panel decides, they bring the first row of people forwards. They start by telling Grant Whitmere, our officer with a twinkle in his voice but not in his toes, that he is done. Deja says she's pretty confident, and David agrees, telling her she's going on. Now it's time for Ashley Spencer to find out if she's going on. She spent an entire week's wages to get here and she says this would be a dream come true. She's thrilled when the producers say she's in. Rebecca Cuss learns her fate. She says her parents want her to follow her dreams, but unfortunately her dancing wasn't good enough and she's out. After booting and accepting a few more people, David sends a whole line to Grease Academy, including Kara Hilly. It's time for the dancing cupcake, Patricia Canale to learn her fate. David tells her she's “not Sandy.” It's clear Patricia's disappointed, but she vows to continue auditioning. Katelyn Doubleday says that she skipped work to go to the audition and may lose her job for it, but it was all worth it because she's through to Grease Academy! Our slacker Max Crumb now learns if he's through. He transformed himself physically and did his best and it worked! He's made it! Max is thrilled and relieved at the same time. But will our big-haired, big-boned, big-personalty gal Sunshine make it? No. She's sad, but holding it together. Jason Rice, auditioning for his dead brother, now awaits his fate. He says it would mean a lot to his parents if he got this. Alas, it is not meant to be and Jason goes home. He says he's “completely devastated,” and rushes out the door. It's sad. But the folks who have made it to Grease Academy from L.A. are celebrating! We only have a few moments to see it, though, and then we're off to our next audition locale – Chicago! Denise revs up the crowd and we see a lot of hand jiving going on in line. Chicago is the city where Jim created Grease. He shows us around some of the spots in the city that inspired him and the location where the theater once stood where Grease was first performed. Jim also takes us to his high school, Taft High. This is where he imagined Grease happening. Jim's such a cute teddy bear and so excited about all of this. Unfortunately, many of the auditioners in Chicago disappoint. Will Jacqueline Pesco do the same? She's taken a year off school to concentrate on trying to become a theater star. Jacqueline has a cold but she sounds good singing “You Can't Hurry Love.” David likes her a lot and Jim agrees. We then go through a bunch more of bad auditions for Sandys. Now Denise cheers on the Dannys. Our first up is 42-year-old Dominic Fortuna. He looks like Danny as an adult and he has a good voice as he belts out “Greased Lightning” while grinding his hips. Apparently, Dominic is a bit short and older, but the panel wants to seem him again. Following him, we meet 17-year-old Kelly Lavelle. She's cute and young. Kathleen notes that Sandy is 17. Kelly sings “Good Morning Baltimore,” belting it out, but I don't love her pitch. Jim notes that she has the perfect look for Sandy though, and she's through. Now we have a quick montage of Sandys who get through to the next round. Denise is thrilled for them. Unfortunately, the panel has a dearth of good Dannys thus far. Costume maker Alex MacIntire tries a Judy Garland impression on Denise outside, but sings “My Girl” nicely for the panel. He doesn't really look like a Danny, being a bit round and sweet-faced, but he's through anyway. The panel looks pretty leery about their Danny selection, though. Chicago must have been a disappointment because before you can say, “bite the weenie, Riz!” we're into the dance round. Denise tells us it's time for the auditioners to strut their dancing stuff. They have an hour to learn the routine. Denise reminds us we're looking for those with training, but also undiscovered talent. Our round-faced costume designer, Alex MacIntyre looks entirely different today! He's decked out in a leather jacket and a ducktail hairdo and does look a bit more like he could swing Danny today. Alex is nervous about dancing. Billy notes that, on paper, the girls have more experience than the boys. But there are some girls who are pretty nervous about the whole thing. As the dance starts, we find it's to “Rock and Roll is Here to Stay.” Our 42-year-old Dominic is not doing well. Jim grumbles that the guys are “hopeless.” And they look it. David does note that Alex MacIntyre can move and Kathleen agrees. Once the dancing ends, the panel deliberates. They aren't impressed by the talent in Chicago and Billy wonders if anyone will get through. Denise interviews the nervous auditioners. Dominic views it as a kind of a last chance for him for this. Cute little Kelly Lavelle is also anxious as they head back for the results. David quickly sends a bunch of folks home, but Kelly Lavelle makes it through! The 17-year-old beams! Another teenager, Jacqueline Pesco, who was taking the year off to live her dream, also makes it. She is obviously thrilled. This is an amazing opportunity for her. Meanwhile, David continues to machine gun people with no after no. Then it's Alex MacIntyre's turn. Kathleen fights for him, but David turns him down. Now Dominic finds out his fate. He's through and looks incredibly happy and relieved. That's it, though. Only seven people from the Chicago auditions make it into Grease Academy. Next week the auditions head to New York City. There should certainly be a gigantic turn out for the auditions there and I'd expect some fierce talent too. We’ll see if that pans out. A week later, we’ll head to Grease Academy to begin paring our 50 semi-finalists down to 12. The previews already promise some sudden romances at the academy. Should be good!

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