Mesquite native, now a choreographer, helps ‘Grease Live!’ jive

For Zach Woodlee, Grease is still the word.

The Dallas native can't remember a time when he didn't love the iconic 1970s musical, which basks in 1950s nostalgia.

Now, as a choreographer, Woodlee is in charge of all the high-energy dance moves in Grease Live!, the ambitious TV counterpart to the Broadway musical and hit movie.

"It definitely holds a special place in my heart," Woodlee says. "It's exciting to be working on a new version of something I've known all my life."

The TV production, which airs at 6 p.m. Sunday, stars Julianne Hough as sweet Sandy and Aaron Tveit as bad-boy Danny, mismatched teens who go together like rama lama lama ka dinga da dinga dong.

It's as if Woodlee, a Mesquite Poteet High graduate, can't get out of high school.

Before gracing the halls of Grease's Rydell High, he was choreographer and co-producer at another school for musically gifted TV stars: Glee's William McKinley High.

Woodlee talked by phone from Los Angeles last week during a rehearsal break.

What approach is Grease Live! taking? Will this re-invent the long-running musical and 1978 movie? Or is this version faithful to what went before?

Ours is sort of a hybrid. There have always been different versions of Grease, but the message is always the same and the great music and iconic moments are always going to be there.

We reference the movie. We even have some of the original cast members from the movie making cameos. But we're definitely putting our own stamp on Grease. There will be some surprises.

This is the hot trend in TV. In the past three years, NBC did live versions of The Sound of Music, Peter Pan and The Wiz. Later this year, we'll see The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Fox) and Hairspray (NBC). How does it feel to be bringing live musical theater to TV?

It's great for people who aren't able to get to New York and to Broadway to see musicals. There's a different energy that you get from live musical theater and I love that we can bring that to people. There's pressure to get it right, of course, but it's very exciting.

How do you think this cast will stack up against the movie, which starred John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John?

Seeing it the last couple of weeks as it has come alive in rehearsal has really been so exciting. The whole cast is doing a great job with these characters.

It's not easy to pull off an iconic show, but the work they're doing to become our Sandy and our Danny and our Rizzo, all of these characters, it's really amazing.

What turned you on to a career in dance and choreography?

My parents met dancing. My mom [Vicki Hammons Woodlee] was one of the original Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders in the 1970s. After she stopped cheerleading, they opened up a dance studio.

They had four boys and we all grew up dancing. Now two of my brothers are cops and one's a fireman. I'm the one who stuck with dancing.

To quote from one of the songs in Grease, tell me more, tell me more.

As for choreography, that just seemed like the next logical step. I was on tour with Madonna [as a backup dancer in her 2004 world tour]. When the tour ended, I was ready to make the changeover.

I started assisting Anne Fletcher and Adam Shankman when then they started directing. She did the first Step Up (2006) and he did Hairspray (2007), and I worked with them as choreographer.

It just felt like something that was right -- and all these years later, here we are.

What do you most hope that Grease Live! viewers will take away from watching?

If you leave with a smile and a good feeling, that's everything. That's what the show is about.

By David Martindale, Special Contributor

Grease Live!

6 Sunday, Fox (Channel 4). 3 hrs.