'Grease' is named after the 1950's United States working-class youth subculture known as “greasers” and the music borrows heavily from the sounds of early rock and roll. This production highlights this working-class run-down part of America in the '50s far more than the film or other productions have done. We see a run-down Rydell High, the Burger Palace Boys having regular run-ins with the law, whilst hanging out in deprived streets late at night. We see the darker side of gang violence and gang culture - again The Scorpions (the rival gang to the T-Birds in the movie) have been renamed to The Flamin’ Dukes. We get to see more of the other characters' lives and struggles as teenagers in ‘50's lower-class USA. To a point where this production almost feels like there’s no lead characters but in a positive way - every Rydell classmate gets a chance to showcase their talents - and there’s not a weak performer amongst them.
It’s been years since I last saw a stage production of 'Grease', my first time of seeing it was in the West End in 1993, and there’s been quite a few changes to this production from my memories of previous West End and touring productions. Stand-out changes include the change of the T-Birds to “The Burger Palace Boys” (after their local diner hangout), a few extra songs, a toned down “transformation” of female lead character Sandy at the end, and most upsetting for me - no transformed “Grease Lightening” in the finale - instead just a quick reference in the final scene where one of the Burger Palace Boys says that they scrapped the car and had their eyes on a better one.
There’s several things that made this particular tour the best production I’ve seen of the musical - firstly the fact that for the first time ever in a professional production of 'Grease', the students of Rydell High actually looked young enough to be believable as high school teens. Secondly was this particular stage set. The “hole” in the scenery where it changes from scenery to the Rydell school logo to Vince Fontaine’s radio station studio, down graffiti-clad backstreets where the guys hang out at night, often coming face-to-face with the law, the way the scenery changes were so quick and slickly done, from being at Rydell High to the Burger Palace, to the sleepover scene (where in the film we’d normally see “Look At Me, I’m Sandra Dee” by Rizzo and the Pink Ladies, but this instead came later on at an outdoor picnic scene with the car - the aptly named Grease Lightnin’).
We also got to see more of other characters such as Kenickie’s (Elliot Gooch) subtle affection for Rizzo, Marty's (Hannah-Faith Marram) engagement to a Marine, to the quirky Frenchie's (Marianna Neofitou) short-lived time at beauty school, to the misunderstood, bitter yet ultimately vulnerable Rizzo (Tendai Rinomhota). Of course the real attraction to 'Grease' as a musical is the fantastic music and lyrics. These didn’t disappoint, even the new songs thrown in for good measure. Whilst I don’t recognise any cast names or faces (which is incredibly rare for me!), the entire cast were electrifyingly outstanding. From the laugh-out-loud duet “Mooning” between Roger (Josh Barnett) and Jan (Maeve Byrne) to the ovation worthy “Freddy My Love” led by Hannah-Faith Marram with Jan, Frenchie and Rizzo, to the vocal standout moment of the show “There Are Worse Things I Could Do” by Rizzo (Tendai Rinomhota). But the most electrifying part of this production was the stunning choreography (Strictly’s Arelene Phillips); full of high energy, toe tapping moments from start to finish - all perfectly slick and in sync - it really made the audience find it hard to resist dancing in their seats - especially “Born To Hand Jive”. A special mention goes to Alternate Sandy - Ellie Kingdon - who makes her stage debut in this touring production. If this is her first professional debut I am filled with excitement and anticipation for what she will do next. Most definitely a name to remember and look out for in the future. Whilst vocally, dancing and acting both Sandy and Danny (Dan Partridge) were flawless - the only criticism I have is that there wasn’t any real chemistry between the two. But this is a minor thing I picked up on that otherwise didn’t distract from this stellar performance.
One
for old and new fans alike, this current touring production runs until the end
of November, and is at Sheffield’s Lyceum Theatre until 9th October. Tickets are limited as this is a well loved
musical that pretty much sells itself these days, so book fast to avoid
disappointment as there’s still a few tickets available and they’ll go like greased lightning! I could honestly go to every
single performance of this current cast and never tire of it. How can a musical that's 50 years old feel so
new and fresh?! Grab yourself a ticket
and you’ll see exactly what I mean.
Reviewer - Lottie Davis-Browne
on - 6.10.21
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