Justin Tranter (‘Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies’ music producer): ‘It was the hardest and most rewarding thing I’ve ever done’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
“It was the hardest and most rewarding thing I’ve ever done in my life,” says “Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies” executive music producer Justin Tranter. Never before has anyone created as much original music for a single season of TV. Their 30 songs for the Paramount+ series mold together the retro 50’s style of music with modern flair. “That level of logistics was really intense.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.
“Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies” takes place four years before the original “Grease.” In 1954, before rock ‘n’ roll ruled and before the T-Birds were the coolest kids in school, four fed-up outcasts dare to have fun on their own terms, sparking a moral panic that will change Rydell High forever.
Tranter, who has worked with superstars like Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Dua Lipa and Ariana Grande, was thrilled to work with this cast of newcomers. “Ari [Notartomaso], who plays Cynthia, is one of the best singers I’ve ever worked with in my life. They had never been in a studio before. Even though they went to a great musical theater school, it’s a very different art form than being on a microphone that can capture every single detail. They all stepped up to the plate.”
Submitted to the Emmys for Best Original Music and Lyrics is the song “I Want More,” performed by Marisa Davila in Episode 2. Tranter reveals it was the last song they wrote for the series. “The whole show was written and almost done shooting and we realized that Episode 2 just felt a little too slow with only two songs. We lost the rhythm of a musical. I was able to go and pick a spot to write a traditional ‘I want’ song, which is so important for musical theater. At this point I had been listening to Marisa sing for seven months. I knew how to make this new superstar sound like the superstar they deserved to. Not only did I get to write possibly my favorite song in the show, but I was able to have the context of the story and the context of this voice to make it as good as it can be.”
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