TV News

Ana Gasteyer Joins Aaron Tveit and Vanessa Hudgens in TV's Grease: Live

The company also includes Julianne Hough and Mario Lopez.

Ana Gasteyer has joined the cast of Fox TV's Grease: Live.
Ana Gasteyer has joined the cast of Fox TV's Grease: Live.
(© David Gordon)

Stage and screen favorite Ana Gasteyer (A New Brain, Saturday Night Live) will play Rydell High School Principal McGee in the upcoming Fox television presentation of Grease on January 31, 2016.

The role of Principal McGee, originally played by Eve Arden, was created for the 1978 film version of Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey's musical. In the stage version, the authority figure is a teacher named Miss Lynch, played in 1972 by Dorothy Leon.

Gasteyer joins a company that includes Aaron Tveit (Catch Me If You Can) and Julianne Hough (Footloose) as star-crossed teenage lovers Danny Zuko and Sandy Dumbrowski. Carlos PenaVega (Big Time Rush) as Kenickie, Vanessa Hudgens (Gigi) as Betty Rizzo, Keke Palmer (Cinderella) as Marty, Carly Rae Jepsen (Cinderella) as Frenchy, Kether Donohue (You're the Worst) as Jan, David Del Rio (The Troop) as Putzie, and Mario Lopez (Saved by The Bell) as Vince Fontaine.

Grammy Award-nominated pop singer Jessie J will open the event with an updated version of "Grease (Is the Word)." Written by Barry Gibb, the song was first performed by Frankie Valli for the 1978 film starring Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta.

Grease follows the tempestuous romance between tough-talking high schooler Danny Zuko and shy, demure Sandy. The score contains musical-theater standards like "Summer Nights," "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee," and "We Go Together."

Grease: Live is a production of Paramount Television. The broadcast, adapted by playwrights Robert Cary and Jonathan Tolins, is based on the original stage musical by Jacobs and Casey and its 1978 screen adaptation.

The live performance is directed by Alex Rudzinski and Hamilton director Thomas Kail, with choreography by Zach Woodlee (Glee, Annie).