Julianne Hough is a live-TV pro, thanks to “Dancing With the Stars,” but nothing could prepare her for the pressure of playing Sandy to Aaron Tveit’s Danny in Fox’s “Grease Live” musical event. “It’s a little daunting,” she says, “especially because Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta have completely made these roles iconic.
Oh my gosh. It’s kind of like how kids know Michael Jackson and Mickey Mouse and Elvis. You just know “Grease.” When I was a kid, my parents wouldn’t let us watch the PG-13 movies. When they were gone … I’d go downstairs to the basement and put on “Grease.” I’d do the dances and songs and try to be Sandy as long as I could — until the dance scene, and then I went into full-blown Cha Cha.
What has the general reception been to your casting?
I’ve had overflowing love and support from everyone, including Olivia Newton-John. I met her, and she was like, “Oh, you’re a perfect Sandy!” That took some weight off my shoulders a little bit.
How will this version of “Grease” differ from the original — or will it stay true to the classic?
We’re using a combination of both the Broadway production and the film version. I think we’re leaning a little bit more towards the film version, and taking some songs from the Broadway show. We don’t want it to come across as Sandy’s going to change for [Danny] and turn into this bad girl and then he’s going to like her. We’re trying to portray that she’s kind of just figuring out who she is on this whole year-long journey that they’re in high school. And then the same thing with Danny — he’s kind of growing out of having to be the cool dude, but he’s still not sure how he can do that and still be friends with those guys. It’s more about discovering ourselves for ourselves, rather than changing for someone.I think there are different kinds of performers, and I’m the kind who thrives off the adrenaline and the pressure that something could go wrong … We give 100% in all of our rehearsals, but then that extra little 15% comes from the audience.
What is your favorite “Grease” song?
Oh my gosh — that’s like asking me what my favorite dog is! I love “Summer Nights” because that’s kind of the introduction of Danny and Sandy … To sing, I love singing “Hopelessly Devoted.” We’ve moved where “Hopelessly Devoted” was in the movie and put it a little bit later so you can really see [Sandy’s] struggle of like, “Ugh, he’s like this, but I’m so in love with him and I have no options. I’m hopelessly devoted to him.” So I love singing that, and then one of my favorite songs is Rizzo’s “There Are Worse Things.” If you listen to those words it’s so heartbreaking and Vanessa [Hudgens] kills it. In rehearsals we’re all just sobbing. She nails it, she’s so good.
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