t's not spoiling it, Sandy, it's only making it better.
June 2, 2010 1:07 PM Subscribe
There's a new sing-a-long version of Grease coming out... pity there's a few things missing from it.
Ah, "Greased Lightning."
Occasionally in middle school Chorus, we would watch musicals on video to kill time. I remember the teacher jumping up when that scene started, hitting "stop," and then us awkwardly sitting there as she fast-forwarded the VHS past all the pelvic thrusting and naughty lyrics.
Also, the school where they filmed it is very near where I live now. Marshall High, I believe?
posted by drjimmy11 at 1:20 PM on June 2, 2010
Occasionally in middle school Chorus, we would watch musicals on video to kill time. I remember the teacher jumping up when that scene started, hitting "stop," and then us awkwardly sitting there as she fast-forwarded the VHS past all the pelvic thrusting and naughty lyrics.
Also, the school where they filmed it is very near where I live now. Marshall High, I believe?
posted by drjimmy11 at 1:20 PM on June 2, 2010
I was at a test screening of this and to be honest, Sandy doesn't look as silly stamping out a cgi walkie talkie before singing "Youre The One That I Want" as you'd think she would.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 1:22 PM on June 2, 2010 [8 favorites]
posted by Senor Cardgage at 1:22 PM on June 2, 2010 [8 favorites]
We did Grease at my High School. The last lines before the big finale number went something like this:
Danny: Sandy! You changed for me and I changed for you! What does it all mean?
Sandy: It means we should just be ourselves and love each other for who we really are!
I think the Drama teacher had to add something to get the school to allow us to put on a play about underage drinking and sex, but come on! It was so syrupy I wanted to gag. And yeah, the chicks were screaming for Greased Lightning in our version too.
posted by TooFewShoes at 1:27 PM on June 2, 2010
Danny: Sandy! You changed for me and I changed for you! What does it all mean?
Sandy: It means we should just be ourselves and love each other for who we really are!
I think the Drama teacher had to add something to get the school to allow us to put on a play about underage drinking and sex, but come on! It was so syrupy I wanted to gag. And yeah, the chicks were screaming for Greased Lightning in our version too.
posted by TooFewShoes at 1:27 PM on June 2, 2010
$5 says the local RHPS crews show up with whipped cream in tow to set the record straight...
posted by GuyZero at 1:31 PM on June 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by GuyZero at 1:31 PM on June 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
Travolta's CGI-ed pout is ridiculous. It's almost a lower-lip sneer (which I honestly didn't think was possible, but apparently WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY).
posted by djgh at 1:34 PM on June 2, 2010
posted by djgh at 1:34 PM on June 2, 2010
At Port Perry High in Port Perry, Ontario, in 1990, the chicks were definitely creaming. I played Eugene.
posted by Shepherd at 1:37 PM on June 2, 2010
posted by Shepherd at 1:37 PM on June 2, 2010
Boy those two facts in that order had an effect that I did not intend.
posted by Shepherd at 1:37 PM on June 2, 2010 [7 favorites]
posted by Shepherd at 1:37 PM on June 2, 2010 [7 favorites]
TooFewShoes: "We did Grease at my High School. The last lines before the big finale number went something like this:
Danny: Sandy! You changed for me and I changed for you! What does it all mean?
Sandy: It means we should just be ourselves and love each other for who we really are!
I think the Drama teacher had to add something to get the school to allow us to put on a play about underage drinking and sex, but come on! It was so syrupy I wanted to gag. And yeah, the chicks were screaming for Greased Lightning in our version too."
In high school, the medly we did of Grease songs changed that line to "the girls will dream".
posted by ShawnStruck at 1:39 PM on June 2, 2010
Danny: Sandy! You changed for me and I changed for you! What does it all mean?
Sandy: It means we should just be ourselves and love each other for who we really are!
I think the Drama teacher had to add something to get the school to allow us to put on a play about underage drinking and sex, but come on! It was so syrupy I wanted to gag. And yeah, the chicks were screaming for Greased Lightning in our version too."
In high school, the medly we did of Grease songs changed that line to "the girls will dream".
posted by ShawnStruck at 1:39 PM on June 2, 2010
so, no Pussy Wagon, then?
posted by killy willy at 1:43 PM on June 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by killy willy at 1:43 PM on June 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
drjimmy11, they actually filmed Grease at three different high schools
posted by pahool at 1:44 PM on June 2, 2010
posted by pahool at 1:44 PM on June 2, 2010
I am just old enough to remember the original film taking some flack for being way too sanitized and vanilla as compared to the stage version.
We have become such fucking pussies, I swear.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 1:47 PM on June 2, 2010 [3 favorites]
We have become such fucking pussies, I swear.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 1:47 PM on June 2, 2010 [3 favorites]
and by the way, Venice High School has recently restored the Myrna Loy statue that is shown in the first exterior shot of Rydell High School in the movie. The original concrete statue was vandalized repeatedly throughout the 80's and 90's and finally removed in 2000 (after spending some time in a hideously ugly cage) The new one is bronze and looks great.
posted by pahool at 1:53 PM on June 2, 2010
posted by pahool at 1:53 PM on June 2, 2010
Exactly what I came in to say, Senor Cardgage. The film version *is* the clean version. Without cigarettes and cream, what's the point of living?
posted by SpiffyRob at 1:55 PM on June 2, 2010
posted by SpiffyRob at 1:55 PM on June 2, 2010
Isn't the film version already a bowlerized version of the stage show which has quite a bit more raunch?
posted by The Whelk at 2:01 PM on June 2, 2010
posted by The Whelk at 2:01 PM on June 2, 2010
There are actually two "official" versions of the Grease stage musical. The Broadway version has a lot more swear words than the toned-down version we got to put on at our high school. Also, "Greased Lightning" in the original version is a lot less about how fast the car is and more about how much tail they're going to get. I haven't seen the entire movie, so I don't know which one it resembles; probably neither.
Anyhow! We got the expurgated version, and as a result we were saying "Friggin' A" instead of "Fuckin' A." However, the principal still objected to it, on the basis that "friggin'" means "fuckin'." I have no idea how we got "shake a tit for old Rydell" past him.
posted by lore at 2:02 PM on June 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
Anyhow! We got the expurgated version, and as a result we were saying "Friggin' A" instead of "Fuckin' A." However, the principal still objected to it, on the basis that "friggin'" means "fuckin'." I have no idea how we got "shake a tit for old Rydell" past him.
posted by lore at 2:02 PM on June 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
At one of my kids' elementary-school program one year, a sixth-grade boy performed the entire "Look at me, I'm Sandra Dee" scene (and did it well, I might add).
Mormon mothers all through the audience gasped unironically at the "as for you, Troy Donahue, I know what YOU wanna do" line. I was nearly rolling on the floor laughing.
posted by mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey at 2:10 PM on June 2, 2010 [8 favorites]
Mormon mothers all through the audience gasped unironically at the "as for you, Troy Donahue, I know what YOU wanna do" line. I was nearly rolling on the floor laughing.
posted by mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey at 2:10 PM on June 2, 2010 [8 favorites]
so, no Pussy Wagon, then?
Our Greased Lightning was a real draggin' wagon. *sigh*
IIRC we also glossed over the whole Rizzo pregnant part. I don't remember exactly, but I think we just cut it out completely.
We did have the "Freddy My Love" number though, so the show did have some redeeming qualities. We were sold out at least one show, and the proceeds did fund a small scholarship.
BTW mr crash dmII:JO, as a Mormon mom I have to say that if I was at that performance I'd be signing along and then cheering. Did he wear a blond wig? That would have been awesome.
posted by TooFewShoes at 2:36 PM on June 2, 2010
Our Greased Lightning was a real draggin' wagon. *sigh*
IIRC we also glossed over the whole Rizzo pregnant part. I don't remember exactly, but I think we just cut it out completely.
We did have the "Freddy My Love" number though, so the show did have some redeeming qualities. We were sold out at least one show, and the proceeds did fund a small scholarship.
BTW mr crash dmII:JO, as a Mormon mom I have to say that if I was at that performance I'd be signing along and then cheering. Did he wear a blond wig? That would have been awesome.
posted by TooFewShoes at 2:36 PM on June 2, 2010
Han shot first.
posted by Artw at 2:39 PM on June 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 2:39 PM on June 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
There actually is an older print of Grease, the sing-along version, that's not ... expurgated. The theatre where I work has showed it several times. I'm not sure what was wrong with that one. It was kind of a hard print to get, though. High demand. Who knew.
posted by penduluum at 2:41 PM on June 2, 2010
posted by penduluum at 2:41 PM on June 2, 2010
The Sound of Music has nazis. That's way cooler.
posted by Artw at 2:42 PM on June 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 2:42 PM on June 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
TooFewShoes, indeed he did. And it was in fact awesome.
posted by mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey at 2:47 PM on June 2, 2010
posted by mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey at 2:47 PM on June 2, 2010
You should have seen the changes they made us make in high school to our production of a musical based on Me So Horny.
posted by flarbuse at 3:03 PM on June 2, 2010
posted by flarbuse at 3:03 PM on June 2, 2010
Censorship aside (why beat tickle a dead ticklish horse?) the typography looks nifty. I'm sure purists will balk at all the text flying around in the background, but were it an original film instead of a re-release of a canonized treasure, it might ride further on its graphic design chops alone.
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 4:06 PM on June 2, 2010
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 4:06 PM on June 2, 2010
Back when I did theater, I did Grease at the Weston Playhouse in Weston, VT. We had a director who added back in all of the swear words that were not in the script version that we received.
I played Sonny, who has no redeeming qualities. In fact, most of the characters in Grease have no redeeming qualities. I would not want to have to play those roles for more than two weeks.
(Back then, the playhouse hired a bunch of Equity actors for the main roles, and then filled out the smaller roles with college students from the Amherst area, as the then director of the playhouse worked at Amherst College. Nowadays, it seems to be completely an Equity playhouse. )
posted by wittgenstein at 4:56 PM on June 2, 2010
I played Sonny, who has no redeeming qualities. In fact, most of the characters in Grease have no redeeming qualities. I would not want to have to play those roles for more than two weeks.
(Back then, the playhouse hired a bunch of Equity actors for the main roles, and then filled out the smaller roles with college students from the Amherst area, as the then director of the playhouse worked at Amherst College. Nowadays, it seems to be completely an Equity playhouse. )
posted by wittgenstein at 4:56 PM on June 2, 2010
lore: on the basis that "friggin'" means "fuckin'
Frigging does not mean fucking, it means female masturbation. If your principal thought masturbation and sexual intercourse were the same thing, I begin to get a glimmer of where modern education went wrong.
posted by localroger at 5:19 PM on June 2, 2010 [3 favorites]
Frigging does not mean fucking, it means female masturbation. If your principal thought masturbation and sexual intercourse were the same thing, I begin to get a glimmer of where modern education went wrong.
posted by localroger at 5:19 PM on June 2, 2010 [3 favorites]
I was a kinda member of our HS theater group. We did fucking Cabaret cause it was cheap to put on and while we didn't do a lot of whitewashing there was some talk about softening the "I'm sleeping with Max" "So am I!" line. I put an end to that talk, mostly cause I was insanely in love with the boy playing Cliff.
Oh boy I designed and placed the lights to hit so well, where are you now?
posted by The Whelk at 6:04 PM on June 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
Oh boy I designed and placed the lights to hit so well, where are you now?
posted by The Whelk at 6:04 PM on June 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
Huh the rule that you had to be a Junior or Senior to be an actual actor seemed to allow us to be much racier then most HS groups. Heaven Can Wait had more then a few blue jokes.
posted by The Whelk at 6:06 PM on June 2, 2010
posted by The Whelk at 6:06 PM on June 2, 2010
Our high school put on Cole Porter's Anything Goes, which dealt with the taboo trifecta of sex, drugs, and religion. With racism and gangsters to boot.
The song Let's Misbehave beat Bloodhound Gang to the concept of "You and me baby ain't nothing but mammals" by many decades.
It was awesome.
posted by Gordafarin at 8:50 PM on June 2, 2010
The song Let's Misbehave beat Bloodhound Gang to the concept of "You and me baby ain't nothing but mammals" by many decades.
It was awesome.
posted by Gordafarin at 8:50 PM on June 2, 2010
Occasionally in middle school Chorus, we would watch musicals on video to kill time. I remember the teacher jumping up when that scene started, hitting "stop," and then us awkwardly sitting there as she fast-forwarded the VHS past all the pelvic thrusting and naughty lyrics.
I had the same experience, except we were watching Dangerous Liaisons.
and ya, high school..
posted by Chuckles at 9:31 PM on June 2, 2010
I had the same experience, except we were watching Dangerous Liaisons.
and ya, high school..
posted by Chuckles at 9:31 PM on June 2, 2010
I find this high school talk so bizarre.
We did Hair, fer crissake, unexpurgated, in 1994.
Now, here's the funny thing. Ten years previously, the two shows proposed for the school to do were Hair and JC Superstar. (My high school would alternate Shakespeare one year with a musical the next). Superstar was chosen because it was felt that there was too much fucking and toking in Hair.
Fast forward ten years, and Hair was chosen over JC Superstar because it was felt the latter could offend too many peoples' religious sensibilities.
Funny old world.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 12:48 AM on June 6, 2010
We did Hair, fer crissake, unexpurgated, in 1994.
Now, here's the funny thing. Ten years previously, the two shows proposed for the school to do were Hair and JC Superstar. (My high school would alternate Shakespeare one year with a musical the next). Superstar was chosen because it was felt that there was too much fucking and toking in Hair.
Fast forward ten years, and Hair was chosen over JC Superstar because it was felt the latter could offend too many peoples' religious sensibilities.
Funny old world.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 12:48 AM on June 6, 2010
I totally remember the summer Grease (the movie) came out. My friends and I saw it repeatedly and knew all the songs by heart. My parents got tickets for my family to see it at the Valley Forge Music Fair. Boy were they surprised as there was MUCH more adult language and theme in the stage version. It was all my poor mother could do to not reach over and cover my ears. Still, the movie did have it's more raunchy moments too and I hate this further pussification of one of my favorite childhood shows.
posted by NoraCharles at 4:59 PM on June 8, 2010
posted by NoraCharles at 4:59 PM on June 8, 2010
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