Hello everyone. I am a longtime lurker on this board and finally decided to sign up and post my review of the show (which I saw way back in September!).
I have read a lot of posts in this board, and I have yet to see a review by anyone who had no clue about Max, Laura, or the reality show. OK, coming clean here, I was a fan of the reality show, but my friends who were with me were completely clueless, so I will try to represent their unbiased-by-the-tv show viewpoint.
It's been a while since we saw the show, so I'll tell you what still to this day stands out in my mind. We really liked how the band was positioned above the stage, we all loved the opening scene with the lockers, we were all very impressed with Danny's entrance and energy during summer nights, we all thought the beauty school dropout sequence was fun, we loved the choreography in greased lightnin, we loved mooning (my one friend was squirming though thinking we were going to see Roger's "full moon"... too funny), we all agreed the best characters were Sonny (played by Kevin Q. that night) and Frenchie (both had wonderful comic timing), two of my friends thought Rizzo was fantastic, and (even though my friends went into this thinking Max didn't look like Danny (ahem.. Travolta)) they all admitted he was extremely enjoyable. For me personally, I really enjoyed "we go together" and there were two line deliveries that stood out for me... sorry, minor SPOILER alert... I was taken with Danny as he delivered his line to Sandy about "couldn't you tell how excited I was to see you?" (it was so sincere) and also Kenicke's extreme hurt when Rizzo tells him it's not his, "thanks a lot, kid" (he almost made us cry!). Unfortunately my friends (and I had to begrudgingly agree with them) thought Sandy was bland, but, and this is funny since most reviews have it the other way around, we all thought she was more interesting as sexy Sandy at the end. Speaking of which, I have to agree with those who said there was a lack of spark between Sandy and Danny. Having watched the TV show, I was endeared to Max and the way he would give little looks and knowing smiles to encourage his song partners throughout. So natural... you truly believed he was one-hundred percent into them. And the line delivery I mentioned above showed a glimmer of that, but something was missing during the final song.
And, even though I was a fan of the movie and soundtrack, am I the only one who felt that the movie songs didn't really fit? Given Max's gift for comedy, wouldn't it have been fantastic to have him perform "alone at the drive-in movie" and "choked up" instead? And I didn't understand why Sandy sings both Raining on Prom Night and Hopelessly Devoted. It seems a bit redundant (even though they were sung beautifully).
Overall this show was a fun time and one I will remember forever! The entire cast is extremely talented in terms of singing and dancing. The show flew by for us and we were smiling the entire time! If you grew up when we did, and you go into it with an open mind and an attitude for fun, you will love it! If I could come back and bring my family, I would in a heartbeat. That's all for now.
Thanks for posting. The movie songs are inserted poorly. "Grease (is the word)" is a fine opener, but the song is too '70s to fit in with the rest of the show. "Hopelessly" should be placed in the 1st Act, to give Sandy more than 5 minutes of stage time. "Stranded at the Drive In" works where it is, as "All Alone at the Drive In Movie" is a sub-par song. "One that I Want" doesn't fit in with the style of the show, either.
I agree that alone at the drive-in is subpar, but I really think Max could have made it hilarious and memorable. I wish there was some way they could have combined the humorous element of that song with the more serious Sandy.
By the way, after rereading my post, I should clarify that I am not in any way implying that Max's version of Sandy was anything less then fabulous, because I loved it (love his voice!) and I know that if they didn't have that song in the play he wouldn't have had a true chance to shine on a solo.
I enjoyed your post too. It's fun to read people's general perceptions and interpretations. Thanks for sharing. We've talked a number of different times on this board about the limitations of the play version of Grease and even this particular production. And yet with all it's limitations, we all say the same thing--I'd go see it again in a heartbeat. It's just fun!