Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies

“Grease” is the word; so is “Schmigadoon”

For decades, musicals have had a mixed existence.
They’ve thrived on stage – everywhere from high schools to Broadway – but were rare on TV … until now. Suddenly, the streaming networks have jumped in big-time.
The second season of “Schmigadoon” starts Wednesday (April 5) on Apple TV+; “Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies” (shown heere) debuts the next day on Paramount+. Two weeks earlier, “Up Here” debuted on Hulu.
Each is a full-scale musical series, with original songs and demanding choreography. “We were in rehearsals from the beginning to the very end …. We’d start the day with Scene 9 of Episode 2 and then end the day with Scene 6 from Episode 3,” said Marisa Davila, a “Pink Ladies” star. Read more…

Back, at last, to sunny (?) California

PASADENA — It was three years ago that we headed home from the Television Critics Association sessions, already looking forward to the next ones.
These trips, twice a year, run for two-plus weeks in California, bringing blue skies, sunshine, optimism and TV stars. Then the world stopped.
Today (Jan. 9), the TCA finally started its first in-person sessions since January of 2020. Onstage this morning was Kiefer Sutherland … just as he’d been so often in the past. He was followed by the young cast of a “Grease” prequel (shown here). Everything was back to normal … except, of course, it wasn’t: Read more…