CBS is taking it back to the old school, Rydell High School to be exact. The Eye Network is airing the 1978 classic musical film, Grease in singalong format on Sunday, June 7 at 8:30 PM ET. The film starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John is taking over the timeslot that was supposed to be for the 2020 Tony Awards, which was postponed due to the coronavirus.
The move by CBS to air the Grease Singalong has drawn outrage from the Broadway community which saw all productions on the Great White Way shut down on March 12 as a preventive measure to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and is not scheduled to reopen prospectively after Labor Day. Broadway actors, creators, and enthusiasts took to Twitter to voice their disapproval at the network’s scheduling.
Really, @cbs? You're going to air a Grease sing-a-long in place of the @TheTonyAwards? Whose grandmother's idea was this? (no offense, Nana) Leave the sing-a-longs to Disney and give live theatre back the ONE NIGHT of respect it gets per year.
— Jeremy Jordan (@JeremyMJordan) May 16, 2020
You could do a benefit, special live in-home performances, even just a best-of special of past Tony performances. I would rather listen to my tone deaf uncle sing the entire Maltby and Shire catalog acapella than watch a f*#@ing Grease sing-a-long. 😘
— Jeremy Jordan (@JeremyMJordan) May 16, 2020
https://twitter.com/gidglick/status/1261310366669328385
https://twitter.com/robbysteltz/status/1262423457511493633
https://twitter.com/musikell/status/1262494189247479809
https://twitter.com/LiterateGal/status/1261736131789373440
Hey @CBS. Instead of a generic sing-a-long of Grease, why don't you do a retrospective on the history of the TONY's w/ interviews from past winners & show the biggest and best performances from its history? It'd be a lot better than the show every community center does nowadays.
— Broadway Buzz (@broadway_buzz) May 15, 2020
Even if the productions are permitted to start on September 7, one show, Disney’s latest movie turned musical, Frozen, will not return when the lights of Broadway turn back on. In a statement to the Hollywood Reporter, Thomas Schumacher, president and producer of Disney Theatrical Productions, said:
“In the summer of 2013 when Frozen began its road to Broadway two things were unimaginable: that we’d soon have five productions worldwide, and a global pandemic would so alter the world economy that running three Disney shows on Broadway would become untenable.”
The other Disney musicals, which will return once Broadway is permitted to reopen, are The Lion King and Aladdin.
What do you think of CBS scheduling a Grease singalong on the night the Tony Awards would have aired? Let us know in the comments.
Source: Entertainment Weekly, Hollywood Reporter, The Independent
