“Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies” (SkyShowtime) is, in a way, a re-enactment of what was already a revival: the 1971 musical ‘Grease’ jim jacobs And Warren Casey They explored the rock’n’roll culture of the 1950s in a spirit that was both loving and destructive. Six years later the popular movie version arrived, was reissued on several occasions, and was impossible to remove every time it reappeared on television. As such a popular brand, why haven’t there been a handful of ‘Grease’ sequels and series? Maybe because of the not-so-dreadful ‘Grease 2’ commercial debacle as we’ll see later?
Annabelle OakesThe screenwriter of ‘Atypical’ or ‘Minx’ took on the challenge of expanding the legend with ‘Rise of the Pink Ladies’, a series (musical and more nearly uninterrupted) that we return to the Rydell Institute. In 1954, four years before the original act. That’s when four marginalized girls decide to prove themselves as the legendary women’s group Pink Ladies, which will later consist of Frenchy (Didi Conn), Jan (Jamie Donnelly), Marty (Dinah Manoff) and Rizzo (Stockard Channing). ).
For actor, singer and dancer Marisa Davilla, the new (or first) leader of the Pink Ladies, it’s an explosion of emotion to hear these names. “First of all, it’s a sense of brotherhood,” he explains in an interview with this newspaper. “I grew up watching ‘Grease’ and wanted to be a part of all of them, especially that girl group. I never saw it as a small group like a group, but as a tolerant environment where girls could come together and have a good time.”
Danny and Sandy’s Reflexes
We first meet Davila’s Jane in the series: a somewhat ‘nerdy’ young woman (i.e. somewhat old-timey Jan) who has spent the summer of her life with the most popular Buddy (Jason Schmidt). Like Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) and ‘fatty’ Danny (John Travolta), the athlete gives hope to the nerd, and as in this case, each tells different versions of their relationship, which leads to a conclusion. False rumor crisis for Jane.
Olivia (Cheyenne Elizabeth Wells), a bit introverted after becoming everyone’s talk because of her romantic bond with a professor (Chris McNally); Cynthia (Ari Notartomaso), on the other hand, a girl who feels more comfortable around guys and wants to be a part of T-Birds, but still wants to blow up completely; and Nancy (Tricia Fukuhara), is more interested in men than being a fashion designer in New York.
need for diversity
Many will be happy and some will be offended by the cultural and sexual diversity of these Pink Ladies. Ari Notartomaso, representing the group’s ‘tomboy’, responds to the seconds: “We’ve had the opportunity to have a diverse cast that represents those not in the stories of the fifties. These people existed, but they did not appear in the media. Our Rydell Institute is located in a true California center with the same demographic [el Venice High School de Los Ángeles, donde se rodó ‘Grease’]”.
During the making of the series, Annabel Oakes seized a 1954 yearbook from this institute and saw photographs of many Japanese-American or Latinx or black students. Relative minorities who appeared temporarily in the 1978 film and now have the necessary representation. Cheyenne Isabel Wells, aka Olivia, explains: “Every boy or girl will be able to identify with someone. And older people who have never seen themselves can now find themselves. That’s what I’m most proud of. Still, well, the music is amazing”.
31 songs
Most of the large repertoire of thirty-one songs was composed and produced. Justin Tranter, Justin Bieber (“Sorry”) or Selena Gomez (“I’m losing you to love me”) the famous “hitmaker” and others, to whom we owe their pearls. One of the ‘hits’ of the series is ‘World Without Men’, which comes with a clever musical number included. “It’s pretty hard to be the first leader,” says Tricia Fukuhara. “I had to dance and sing back and forth, which was very interesting but also difficult. I still remember when I learned the choreography they told me to do it backwards as well.”
But little effort has been made to keep the ‘Grease’ myth alive, and to that myth we include the 1982 film sequel he directed. Patricia Birchchoreographer of the original film. Maxwell Caulfield (future playboy Miles Colby) and Michelle Pfeiffer (in their first leading roles) they pioneered a surreal ‘journey’ that is hard to forget. (Marisa): “Fabulous. The songs are really inverted. I personally love the bowling scene [con ‘Score tonight’]. Tricia stays in ‘Reproduction’, a rather heated biology class and admits her personal connection to the sequel: “I was involved in the production of a musical with Adrian Zmed, who plays Johnny Nogerelli in the movie. I remember being backstage with the rest of the kids and him all the time. asking us to do the smoking moment: “How did you do that, Adrian? How did you hide the burning cigarette in your mouth?” And he faked it for us!”