Is “You’re the One That I Want” really the way we want to be casting $10 million Broadway musicals?
Honey (to quote the song), I don’t even want “Grease” back, period. Frankie Avalon is 67. Broadway’s first Danny Zuko, Barry Bostwick, is 61. His studly film successor, John Travolta, now plays a 350-pound mother in “Hairspray.” We’ve moved on. Does America really need another dollop of “Grease”?
But with the success of Fox’s “American Idol,” it was probably inevitable the gods of reality TV (the Brits) would one day find a talent-show rip-off in the theater. And riding America’s most popular musical just makes good business sense. The 1972 Broadway run ran eight years. The ’78 film starring Travolta and Olivia Newton-John grossed $385 million. Even the first revival ran four years. There always will be an audience for “Grease.”
Here’s how the game (airing 7 p.m. Sundays on NBC affiliate KUSA-Channel 9) works: Three judges slowly pare the field of wannabe Dannys and Sandys. But America gets the final vote. Results will be announced March 25, three months before the New York revival opens.
This is more than a taped audition. It’s the longest, largest and, at times, most humiliating cattle call in history. That has the theater community debating whether the show is an enormous denigration of the artistic process, or the greatest ongoing exposure the American theater has ever received.
Both sides are right.
While the show is drawing only 8 million viewers a week, compared with 37 million for “American Idol,” tell anyone in the theater biz that 8 million people a week are paying even remote attention to anything in their field, and watch their heads explode in bliss. In the two days after the TV show’s Jan. 7 debut, the upcoming revival sold $1.3 million in advance ticket sales. It’s an ingenious marketing scheme.
But Brenda Cook, director of the Playwright Theatre’s “The Perfect Party,” thinks the show demeans her profession. “On behalf of all those hard-working, professional actors in New York and across the country – people who have devoted their lives to developing their talents and skills – I find this show offensive,” she said.
British producer Al Edgington finds it “quite arrogant” to say his show denigrates the profession. “When it comes to finding talent, why wouldn’t you want to cast your net as wide as you can?” he asked.
Because while that net has been wide, most of those highly trained Broadway actors would not be caught dead going through the ignominy of this long, reality-TV process. So while the talent pool is huge, it’s at best a hybrid.
“I will promise you, the two who end up winning will be proof to everyone that not just anyone off the street can sing, dance and act professionally,” said dubious agent Cathy Reinking, NBC’s manager of casting before moving to Denver’s Maximum Talent. “You need incredible talent and a very special charisma to be a Broadway star – and this show proves that.”
Edgington said the theater community should lighten up.
“Look, instead of railing against it and saying, ‘Oh it’s a disgrace,’ surely you should embrace it, because it is going to help everyone,” he said. “The more exposure you can get for any medium, the more people become interested in it, and the more it then grows. It’s a simple case of a, economics; b, economics; and c, economics.”
Deb Flomberg, co-director of the E-Project’s “An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein,” agrees.
“I appreciate that it is bringing theater to a mass audience,” she said. “There are so many people who don’t realize the work that goes into any production, so any show that can raise awareness of theater as a whole is something I support.”
“You’re the One That I Want” is a spinoff of the BBC’s “How Do You Solve a problem Like Maria?” The London revival of “The Sound of Music” that followed is sold out through May 2008, Edgington said. “It has totally revitalized the West End.”
“You’re the One” does make the industry look a bit tacky. While the judges are far kinder than Cowell & Co., there’s still a malevolent undertone. Wholly inappropriate candidates with no prayer of being cast have been paraded in front of millions for our amusement and their humiliation. That’s unseemly – but the time-tested ingredient for highly watched reality TV.
I have quibbles, mainly that effective stage acting requires far different skills than it takes to impress voters watching on TV. Real auditions are incredibly vulnerable experiences, yet reality TV tends to trigger our innate desire to witness a horrifying self-destruction. That makes me queasy.
But it’s encouraging that a network really thought it could compete with “American Idol” by using the theater, which has never been mistaken for trendy, hip or cool. Unless you think “Masterpiece Theatre” is cool.
And no matter what they say, theater buffs are watching.
“I have a secret confession,” said Chris Boeckx, star of the Avenue’s “Destination Dinosaurs.” “I hate the concept. I hate the show. And, like slowing down when you drive by an accident … I can’t take my eyes off it.”
Theater critic John Moore can be reached at 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com.
Further reaction to “You’re the One That I Want” from Denver’s theater community:
Ali Zimmerman, Physically Handicapped Actors & Musical Artists League, Denver: I watched the first episode and was pretty much appalled…not that the people were bad or anything, but I didn’t get out of it the same thing I get when I go to real auditions – that feeling that everyone there is a huge theater freak just like me and I could easily be friends with anyone else waiting in line to go in. I didn’t really see myself becoming friends with the people on this show. But what can I say? I don’t like American Idol, either, yet I still watch it…
Philip B. Richard II, Cabaret Dinner Theatre, Grand Junction: I think it’s a great way to give Broadway productions and Broadway music more exposure to the public. I’ve enjoyed the episodes I’ve been able to watch and think it’s a great opportunity for the next generation of Broadway performers.
Talia Davis, Ballet Nouveau, Broomfield: I think the show gives non-theater people the opportunity to see just how a tough a Broadway casting session is. But I don’t know if it means the most qualified person will be cast. I trust the three panelists who have been making the decisions so far, but I don’t know that I trust the public to make the final calls. There are so many variables when you have 6 million people voting. If it is skewed in any way, the best actor will not get the role, but the most popular.
– Compiled by John Moore
