NBC put on its game face Sunday with the latest installment of "Grease: You're the One That I Want," their reality casting special for the soon to bow on Broadway revival of the classic musical. This week was missing any female performances, as the remaining four Danny's left in the competition made it guy's week. Also notably missing was any guest judge or performer, proving this show is now all about the competition at hand and less about cheesy gimmicks. Well, maybe not all gimmicks.
Jump starting the night's sausage fest was a boy band like ensemble piece of "
Greased Lightnin'" with some of that slick oil getting to the Danny's, as they were sporting rather tight tank tops and greasy biceps. The boys gave an energetic performance, finally looking like they are ready to take something by force. Hopefully that something is the lead role and not some poor unsuspecting Sandy backstage. It might not be summer just quite yet, but there seems to be a little summer loving going on between Max Crumm and Allie Schulz. Collective awe everyone.
Last week attempted to play up acting lessons all of the contestants were going through when not singing for their lives, so this week continued down the legit path having a few of the Danny's flexing their Shakespearian wit. There still is a lacking in that department, unfortunately, as many of the segments, at least those producers decided to air, played more for laughs than confidence boosters to the play's backers. Where is Uta Hagen's brutally honest coaching style when you need it?
"Hot Danny"
Austin Miller was the first to try proving he was more than merely a pretty face, attempting to show off his newly acquired comedic skills learned this week at Los Angeles' famed Groundlings improv theatre. Singing the Beach Boy's "Fun Fun Fun," while surrounded by a handful of Sandys, it was hard to tell who was the girl of the bunch as they all bopped around the stage. Tossing in his false setto, Miller's funny side played more like a fancy lad and less like the rough and tough Danny Boy he needs to be. If he wants to keep his position in the audition process, he is really going to need a rugged makeover, as his voice and dancing ability is already the best in the competition.
However, the man with the looks, Derek Keeling, is suffering from a lack of vocal range, which plagued him yet again this week during "Heaven." Having met with a vocal trainer, "Wholesome Danny" quickly turned into more of a "New Age Danny" jumping into the pool and onto the yoga mat in hopes of avoiding another cracked performance. Pairing up with Laura Osnes for the night sure put the image of a great looking Danny and Sandy into viewers' minds, but he still has an uphill battle as he fights his limited singing ability. What is quickly becoming apparent as the show progresses is that there is no easy pick amongst the Dannys. Though Keeling does have the smile down cold.
Max Crumm took a Rocky Balboa turn in the ring, building up to being a more suitable Danny. Does that make David Ian his Burgess Meredith this round? Singing "Hard to Handle," I was hoping for a little spank on the rear from Max as he tried handling his two dancing Sandys, but he wound up handling himself rather nicely. It is a bit of a reach for Ian to hope "Slacker Danny" will turn up as a sex symbol on stage, but he does have the ability to put his own unique mark on "
Grease." Looking ahead to next week, Crumm and Miller appear to be the toughest competition, at least as far as votes are concerned.
Last up for the evening was Chad Doreck, the self proclaimed thespian of the bunch. Spouting off some Shakespeare during his acting clip, he could have done with a few more singing lessons instead. "Ambitious Danny's" voice was all over the place throughout his musical number, quickly helping him fade into the sex fest brought by the accompanying Sandy dancers. In fact, nearly every performance this week went to the ladies, which obviously missed the point of an all Danny show. Clearly, the debacle of this series is the unbalanced amount of talent leaning more on the Sandy side of the scale.
But what would a night of "
Grease" be without another kid's dreams getting flushed down the toilet. This week's biggest loser was the adorable Kathleen Monteleone, who had become no stranger to the weekly bottom two. Vying for the judges' affection with "It's Raining on Prom Night," Monteleone did not impress either
Kathleen Marshall or Jim Jacobs, both opting instead to keep Allie Schulz. I mean, what would little Maxi have done without his sweetheart Allie in the competition?
Ian gave Schulz a rather harsh slap in the face though, openly stating that he was not in agreement with his fellow judges in the decision to keep her. Ouch! So, Monteleone skated off into the sunset, setting the stage for the final three ladies to bring out the claws next week and sing to the death. My vote will continue going to Laura Osnes, who won over all three judges last week, and is still the one that I want. Now if only I could figure out which of these Danny's is worth a toll-free vote.
Photos courtesy of NBC.
