GREASE LIVE! ~ DVD Review

Grease is the word! The landmark, live television production of the beloved musical Grease makes its home entertainment debut with GREASE LIVE! now available on Digital HD and DVD as of March 8, 2016 from Paramount Home Media Distribution.

Featuring a young ensemble cast, GREASE LIVE! reintroduces and reimagines some of the show’s most memorable moments, great music and timeless love story to an entirely new generation. The production draws upon both the original 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey and Paramount’s 1978 feature film adaptation to create a never-before-seen version with many modern surprises.

The sensational cast includes Julianne Hough (Safe Haven, Rock of Ages) as the angelic Sandy; Aaron Tveit (“Graceland,” Les Miserables) as bad boy Danny Zuko; Vanessa Hudgens (Broadway's Gigi, Spring Breakers) as bad girl Rizzo; Keke Palmer (“Scream Queens,” “Masters of Sex”) as sassy Pink Lady Marty Maraschino; Carlos PenaVega (“Big Time Rush”) as Kenickie; and multi-Platinum Grammy® Award-nominated singer and songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen as Pink Lady and beauty school dropout Frenchy.

The production also features special cameo appearances by multi-platinum pop superstar Joe Jonas and his pop-disco band DNCE as Johnny Casino and the Gamblers; actor and television host Mario Lopez as Vince Fontaine in the iconic high school dance scene; and Grammy Award®-winning R&B group Boyz II Men as Teen Angel, singing “Beauty School Dropout.” Plus, two stars from the original 1978 film Grease, Didi Conn (Frenchy) and Barry Pearl (Doody), also make appearances.

The GREASE LIVE! DVD boasts exclusive bonus features including a behind-the-scenes look at the monumental efforts behind the live production, the actors’ transformations into their characters, the choreography, cast interviews and more.

GREASE LIVE! DVD

The GREASE LIVE! DVD is presented in 16x9 widescreen with English 2.0 Dolby Digital. The disc includes the following:

· Live television production

· Without a Net: Performing GREASE LIVE!

· Becoming the “T-Birds” and Pink Ladies

· Greasin’ up the Joint

· Be-Bop, Swing and Jitterbug: The Choreography of GREASE LIVE!

· When Was Your First…?

· My Favorite Grease Moment

GREASE LIVE! was produced by Paramount Television. Acclaimed film, television and theater producer Marc Platt (Wicked, Into the Woods) served as executive producer; Tony Award-nominated director Thomas Kail (Hamilton, In the Heights) was the director overseeing the stage direction and Alex Rudzinski (“Dancing with the Stars”) was the live television director. The live television adaptation was written by Broadway writers Robert Cary (Anything but Love, Ira & Abby) and Jonathan Tolins (Buyer & Cellar, The Last Sunday in June)

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Review:

I couldn't wait to see this live version on Grease. I went to see a live Broadway show years ago. I absolutely love the movie Grease. It is one of my all time favorite movies. My daughter decided she would watch it with me, at first she wasn't too sure on it. It may be because she is only 8 but once we got a little further into the show she loved it! So much that she started watching it all over again before dinner that same day and then watched it again the next day with her brother.

It is a little different from the original but that is because you can only do so much on a stage. I did like that the cast is well diverse making a little more in the now. It was a lot of fun to watch and I was super excited to see a performance but the original Frenchie! Also Boys II Men do a great job in it! All the young actors do an amazing job with their singing and dancing, plus acting.

If you love Grease you will want to see this! If you haven't seen Grease it is a great live version on the original and will give you a taste of seeing a Broadway show performance.