GREASE IS THE WORD ON NBC

Twelve contestants vie to be the next Broadway star on NBC reality show Grease: You’re the One That I Want.

With the new production of the musical Grease set to open on the Great White Way in July, the creative team is on a mission to find the new King and Queen of Rydell High, Danny and Sandy. Grease: You’re the One That I Want on NBC is American Idol meets Broadway where musical theater wanna bes compete for the lead roles and the viewers ultimately decide.

Two time Tony award winning choreographer Kathleen Marshall who will direct and choreograph the new production sits in as one of the judges. She talks about what qualities Sandy and Danny should have.

“Sandy she needs to be sweet lovely innocent but then she has to make the transformation to be the hot biker chick by the end and Danny even though he’s a charismatic leader of the gang we have to sort of see his vulnerability and see his soft side because you need that sort of charisma without being arrogant because ultimately we have to root for the two of them. We have to root for them to get together. If you don’t care to see Danny and Sandy together by the time the curtain comes down at the end of the show, which is another thing. It’s not just casting the Danny and the Sandy. You’re seeing who works as a couple too so that’s gonna be part of the process and be interesting.”

Kathleen who taught Harry Connick Jr. how to dance for The Pajama Game will have the challenge of weeding out the fans from the next Broadway stars.

“The hard thing is you also get people who just love Grease. I mean Grease is the most popular musical of all times. So you’ve got people who have just grown up with the show and love the songs and they just want to be a part of it because they love it so much but they just don’t have the talent. That’s the heartbreaking part. This is a really unique reality TV show because there’s a real prize here. A lot of things if you win the competition, great congratulations you win. Now what? This if you win the competition you’re starring on Broadway next summer.”

Auditions were held nationwide for Grease: You’re The One That I Want where the top 12 were trained at Grease Academy to refine their skills. Now it’s up to America to decide on the next six live episodes airing Sunday nights at 8PM on NBC.