Grease: Live Invites You to Hang at Rydell High

• DATE: December 22, 2015
• POSTED BY: Jessica Koslow
• CATEGORY: Experience

The last time we wrote about Grease, it became — and remains — one of our most popular articles. Fox’s broadcast of Grease is in the news again, this time for its plans to fill the halls and bleachers of Rydell High with a live audience.

Unlike its NBC-produced predecessors, Broadway.com’s Ryan McPhee reports that Grease will invite audience members (by the hundreds) to be a direct part of the live broadcast experience.

McPhee writes, “The addition of a studio audience is a step toward ensuring live musical telecasts remain a theatrical experience in the truest sense, and veteran [production] designer [David] Korins is committed to blurring the line between the two medium.”

Director Thomas Kail adds: “There’s something we thought really suited Grease — the rhythm and the music of the show — to have that feedback with an audience. If we’re going to say Grease: Live, and we’re owning the ‘live’ness of it … we want to wrap our arms around that. That’s part of the thrill.”

And Korins continues, “We’re looking to infuse our world with many theatrical devices … to let people experience theater on a mass scale.”

Grease: Live stars Aaron Tveit, Julianne Hough, Vanessa Hudgens, Keke Palmer and Carly Rae Jepsen and airs on January 31.

Got a comment or question? Join the conversation on Twitter or Facebook.