Grease (musical)


Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Named after the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as greasers, the musical is set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School and follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of peer pressure, politics, personal core values, and love. The score borrows heavily from the sounds of early rock and roll. In its original production in Chicago, Grease was a raunchy, raw, aggressive, vulgar show. Subsequent productions sanitized it and toned it down. The show mentions social issues such as teenage pregnancy, peer pressure and gang violence; its themes include love, friendship, teenage rebellion, sexual exploration during adolescence, and, to some extent, class consciousness and class conflict. Jacobs described the show's basic plot as a subversion of common tropes of 1950s cinema, since the female lead, who in many 1950s films transformed the alpha male into a more sensitive and sympathetic character, is instead drawn into the man's influence and transforms into his fantasy.
Grease was first performed in 1971 in the original Kingston Mines nightclub in Chicago. From there, it has been successful on both stage and screen, but the content has been diluted and its teenage characters have become less Chicago habitués and more generic. At the time that it closed in 1980, Greases 3,388-performance run was the longest yet in Broadway history, although it was surpassed by A Chorus Line on September 29, 1983. It went on to become a West End hit, a successful feature film, two popular Broadway revivals in 1994 and 2007, and a staple of regional theatre, summer stock, community theatre, and high school and middle school drama groups. It remains Broadway's 16th longest-running show.
Grease was adapted in 1978 as a feature film also named Grease, which removed some plot elements, characters, and songs while adding new songs and elaborating on some plot elements only alluded to in the musical. Some of these revisions have been incorporated into revivals of the musical. A used elements from both the original stage version and the film. A 1982 film sequel, Grease 2, included only a few supporting characters from the film and musical. It had no involvement from Jacobs or Casey, and Jacobs is on record disapproving of Grease 2.

Production history

Original productions and Broadway

The show's original production was directed by Guy Barile, choreographed by Ronna Kaye and produced by the Kingston Mines Theater Company founded by June Pyskacek on Chicago's Lincoln Avenue. The script was based on Jim Jacobs' experience at William Taft High School, Chicago. Warren Casey collaborated with Jim and together they wrote the music and lyrics. It ran for eight months. The cast: Doug Stevenson, Leslie Goto, Sue Williams, Polly Pen, Gary Houston, Marilu Henner, James Canning, Hedda Lubin, Bruce Hickey, Sheila Ray Ceaser, Bill Cervetti, Jerry Bolnick, Judy Brubaker, Mike O'Connor, Steve Munro, Barbara Munro, Mac Hamilton and George Lopez. In addition to the "R-rated" profanity and deliberate use of shock value, the Chicago version of Grease included an almost entirely different songbook, which was shorter and included multiple references to real Chicago landmarks.
Producers Ken Waissman and Maxine Fox saw the show and made a deal to produce it Off-Broadway. The team headed to New York City to collaborate on the New York production of Grease. The new production, directed by Tom Moore and choreographed by Patricia Birch, opened Off-Broadway at the Eden Theatre in downtown Manhattan on February 14, 1972. Though Grease opened geographically off-Broadway, it did so under first class Broadway contracts. The show was deemed eligible for the 1972 Tony Awards, receiving seven Tony Award nominations.
On June 7, 1972, the production moved to the Broadhurst Theatre on Broadway, and on November 21, it moved to the Royale Theatre there, where it ran until January 27, 1980. For the five final weeks of the run, the show moved to the larger Majestic Theatre. By the time it closed on April 13, 1980, it had run 3,388 performances.
The original Broadway cast included Barry Bostwick as Danny and Carole Demas as Sandy, with Adrienne Barbeau as Rizzo, Timothy Meyers as Kenickie, Alan Paul, and Walter Bobbie and Marya Small in supporting roles. Replacements later in the run included Jeff Conaway, Gail Edwards, Marilu Henner, Ellen March, Peter Gallagher, Ilene Graff, Judy Kaye, Patrick Swayze, John Travolta, Jerry Zaks, Rex Smith and Treat Williams. Richard Gere was an understudy for many roles in this production, including Danny Zuko, Teen Angel, and Vince Fontaine.

1973 London

The first exposure any Grease-related material had received in the United Kingdom was when The Wild Angels released a single containing three of the songs from the musical in 1972.
A full staging of Grease made its London debut at the New London Theatre in June 1973 with a cast that included Richard Gere as Danny, Stacey Gregg as Sandy, Stephen Bent as Roger, Jacqui-Ann Carr as Rizzo, and Derek James as Doody. Later Paul Nicholas and Elaine Paige, who had been in the London production of Hair, took over the leads. Kim Braden would also play Sandy. It was revived in London at the Astoria in 1979 with Su Pollard as Cha-Cha, Tracey Ullman as Frenchy and Tim Whitnall as Doody.

1993 London revival

The revival opened at the Dominion Theatre before transferring to the Cambridge Theatre in October 1996, where it ran until September 11, 1999. Directed by David Gilmore and produced by Robert Stigwood, the opening cast included Craig McLachlan ; Debbie Gibson ; Mike Doyle ; Tamzin Outhwaite ; Shane Ritchie and Sally Ann Triplett. McLachlan was succeeded by Shane Richie, Luke Goss, Ian Kelsey and Darren Day. The production's success led to the first British national tour which featured Shane Ritchie as Danny, Helen Way as Sandy, Toby Hinson as Vince Fontaine/Teen Angel, Ben Richards/Alex Bourne as Kenickie and Michele Hooper as Rizzo. The score included four songs written for the film adaptation: "Hopelessly Devoted to You", "Sandy", "You're the One That I Want", and the title number. As in the film, the Burger Palace Boys' were renamed the T-Birds for this revival.

1994 Broadway revival and U.S. tour

After 20 previews, a Broadway revival directed and choreographed by Jeff Calhoun opened on May 11, 1994, at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, where it ran for 1,505 performances. Featured were Ricky Paull Goldin, Brooke Shields and Rosie O'Donnell, Susan Wood, Hunter Foster, Sam Harris, Megan Mullally, Heather Stokes, and Billy Porter.
A U.S. national tour of the 1994 production started in September 1994 in New Haven, Connecticut, and ran for several years. The opening tour cast included Sally Struthers, who stayed with the tour for several years, Angela Pupello, Rex Smith, Trisha M. Gorman, and Davy Jones. Brooke Shields started on the tour in November 1994 before joining the Broadway cast. Other notable performers on the tour were Micky Dolenz, Adrian Zmed, Debbie Gibson, Heather Stokes, Sheena Easton, Mackenzie Phillips and Jasmine Guy, Sutton Foster and Marissa Jaret Winokur, and Lucy Lawless and Linda Blair.

1996 U.S. tour

This tour, produced by the Troika Organization, was a non-union bus & truck playing mostly one-nighters and split week engagements primarily in smaller markets. The production, which ran for two years, was directed by Ray DeMattis with choreography by Tony Parise and music direction by Helen Gregory. The original cast featured Randy Bobish, Nicole Greenwood, Gary Martin, Christine Hudman, Timothy Quinlan, Kimberly Wharton, Bruce Smith, Kathleen Connolly, Jeffrey Shubart, Laura Hornberger, Debbie Damp, Michael Giambrone, Juan Betancourt, Jamie Patterson, and Steven Sackman. Frankie Avalon starred as the Teen Angel for a one-week engagement at the Jackie Gleason Theater in Miami Beach.

2003 U.S. tour

This tour was directed by Ray DeMattis and featured choreography by Christopher Gattelli. The cast starred Frankie Avalon as the Angel, with Jamey Isenor and Hanna-Liina Võsa, Jason Harper, Danny Smith, John Ashley, Sarah Hubbard, Craig McEldowney, Kirsten Allyn Michaels, Jaqueline Colmer, Cortney Harper and Arthur J. Callahan.

2007 Broadway and London revivals and UK tours.

A second Broadway revival, directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall, began previews at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on July 24, 2007 and opened on August 19, 2007. Max Crumm and Laura Osnes were selected to portray Danny and Sandy via viewer votes cast during the run of the NBC reality series '. The original score includes four songs written for the film adaptation: "Hopelessly Devoted to You", "Sandy", "You're the One That I Want", and the title number. The Burger Palace Boys' name is the T-Birds in this revival. The production ended on January 4, 2009 after 31 previews and 554 performances.
A West End revival opened at the Piccadilly Theatre, London on August 8, 2007, and ran for nearly four years. The leads were similarly cast via ITV's Grease Is the Word, with Danny Bayne and Susan McFadden playing Danny and Sandy. The production closed on April 30, 2011 after over 1,300 performances with a U.K. tour to begin on May 6, 2011 in Edinburgh.
The UK tour features Danny Bayne as Danny, Carina Gillespie as Sandy, Ricky Rojas as Kenickie, Kate Somerset How as Rizzo, Derek Andrews as Roger, Laura Wilson as Jan, Richard Vincent as Doody, Lauren Stroud as Frenchy, Josh Dever as Sonny, Lois Urwin as Marty, Darren John as Eugene, Sammy Kelly as Patty, Jason Capewell as Teen Angel/Vince Fontaine, Nancy Hill as Miss Lynch, and Sophie Zucchini as Cha Cha.
In 2017, Grease started touring the UK again, this time starring The Wanted's Tom Parker as Danny Zuko, BBC Over The Rainbow winner Danielle Hope as Sandy and ''Strictly Come Dancings Louisa Lytton.
A further UK tour of Grease is scheduled to commence on 22 January 2021 at Theatre Royal, Plymouth. The production which was rescheduled from 2020 owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, will star Peter Andre as Teen Angel, Vince Fontaine and the Sergeant and will be directed by Nikolai Foster and choreographed by Arlene Phillips.

2008 U.S. tour

A U.S. national tour began on December 2, 2008 in Providence, Rhode Island and closed on May 23, 2010 at the Palace Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio. Taylor Hicks reprised his role as the Teen Angel after playing the part on Broadway, with Eric Schneider as Danny and Emily Padgett as Sandy. Lauren Ashley Zakrin replaced Emily Padgett as Sandy in October and Ace Young joined the tour as Danny on December 1, 2009.

2013/14 Australian Production

An Australian revival opened at Brisbane's Lyric Theatre on August 27, 2013 before heading on an Australian tour. The cast included Rob Mills as Danny, Gretel Scarlett as Sandy, Anthony Callea as Johnny Casino, Stephen Mahy as Kenickie, Lucy Maunder as Rizzo, Todd McKenney as Teen Angel, and Bert Newton as Vince Fontaine.

Royal Caribbean

In 2016, Grease premiered on Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas and Independence of the Seas.
During the 40th Anniversary year of Grease, Olivia Newton-John performed on the Harmony of the Seas in January 2018. Kory Fulton, who was playing Danny at the time, performed opposite of Newton-John.
Notable cast members in the original cast are Cory Lloyd, Katrina Diehm, Max Gukhman, Stephanie Miller, Kristian Morse, Louise Willoughby, Bradley Judge, Sarah Agar, Zach Sorrow, Lizzie Rees, Betty Marie Muessig, Dominic Fortuna.

International productions

There have been professional productions of Grease in Argentina, Austria French Canada,
In 1984, the Mexican pop band Timbiriche, starred in the musical, with Sasha Sokol and Benny Ibarra in the leading roles, getting an overwhelming success. Also recorded a CD with musical themes. Also participating the other members of Timbiriche, besides other children singers and actors like Eduardo Capetillo, Stephanie Salas, Thalía, Edith Márquez, Lolita Cortés, Hector Suarez Gomis, Usi Velasco and Angélica Ruvalcaba among others. The musical was produced by the Mexican actress and producer Julissa.
In 1994, the musical was revived at the Hidalgo Theater in Mexico City, by producers Alejandro Ibarra and Julissa. The cast included Alejandro Ibarra, :es:Juan Carlos Casasola|Juan Carlos Casasola, and Arturo G. Alvarez, among others.
A Spanish revival ran successfully at Teatre Victòria, Barcelona from October 3, 2006 to January 6, 2008. After a short national tour, the production was transferred to Teatro Nuevo Alcalá, Madrid, where it ran from October 14, 2008 to January 31, 2010 and then continued touring Spain until it finally closed on August 1, 2010, becoming one of the Spain's longest running production in history with 1090 performances. Directed by Ricard Reguant, the original cast included Carlos Solano as Danny Zuko, María Adamuz as Sandy, Elena Gadel as Betty Rizzo,
The New Zealand Production, ran at the Civic Theatre in Auckland during August 2010. The production featured the South African cast, with Jonathan Roxmouth as Danny, Bethany Dickson as Sandy and Genna Galloway as Rizzo.
A second Spanish revival directed and choreographed by Coco Comín ran at Cúpula Las Arenas, Barcelona from November 15, 2011 to January 22, 2012 and then was transferred to Teatro Coliseum, Madrid from March 6, 2012 to May 6, 2012, before starting a national tour. Edurne reprised the role of Sandy, During the Madrid run, the singer Julio Iglesias Jr. guest starred as Teen Angel in some performances.
In France, the first production of Grease opened on November, 1999 at Palais des Sports in Paris. The production moved at the Dôme Disney Village in Chessy in 2005. The show was revived in 2008 at the Comédia in Paris with Cécilia Cara as Sandy. This new production win a Globe de Cristal Awards in 2009 and moved to Palais des congrès in 2009 and to Le Palace in 2012, after a break in 2011. A third revival opened on September 28, 2017 at Théâtre Mogador in Paris. It is the first production completely in French, the previous ones were in French with English songs. Despite originally being billed as a limited engagement, it was extended to July 8, 2018 following its success.

Adaptations

Films

The Robert Stigwood Organization adapted Grease into a 1978 feature film, directed by Randal Kleiser and choreographed by Patricia Birch. In addition to Birch, three performers from the stage version carried over to the cast: Jamie Donnelly reprised her role as Jan, John Travolta performed as lead Danny Zuko while Jeff Conaway played Kenickie. Olivia Newton-John, an Australian country-pop singer, was cast as Sandy; to accommodate the casting move, the character's nationality was rewritten, and parts of the score were replaced. Substantial portions of the script which included replaced or reduced supporting character roles and added on-screen roles for characters unseen in the stage version, were written in by Bronte Woodard.
Grease was a major success for both Stigwood and Paramount Pictures, who re-released the film several times; the made international hits out of several of the songs. Paramount also produced a sequel Grease 2, featuring a younger class of students at Rydell High School. Grease 2 was a critical failure that Jim Jacobs disowned after its release; while it turned a small profit, Grease 2 was a financial disappointment given the high expectations set by the original film.

Television production

On January 31, 2016, in the wake of similar productions that NBC had performed for other musicals, Fox broadcast a live production of Grease, known as , as a television special starring Julianne Hough, Aaron Tveit, and Vanessa Hudgens.

Synopsis

Act I

In revivals that use the 1978 song "Grease," it is typically inserted at or near the beginning of the show.
At the Rydell High Class of 1959 reunion, old maid English teacher, Miss Lynch, introduces former cheerleader/yearbook-editor Patty Simcox Honeywell and class valedictorian Eugene Florczyk. Eugene gives a rousing speech, mentioning that the alumni who are missing from the reunion are surely present in-spirit. The scene segues to bring in the greaser gang known as the Burger Palace Boys and their auxiliary, the "Pink Ladies", as they sing a cruder version of the Rydell alma mater.
Flashing back to the first day of high school in fall 1958, the Pink Ladies sit in the lunchroom, and the Burger Palace Boys sit at the entrance to the school. One of the Pink Ladies, Frenchy, introduces her new neighbor Sandy Dumbrowski, who had been unjustly rejected from a Catholic school, to the others, as well as Patty. Sandy tells of how she had a brief love affair the summer before, which ended with unresolved love. Meanwhile, womanizing greaser Danny Zuko is telling the Burger Palace Boys the story of his own summer fling. The Pink Ladies soon after realize that Sandy's summer fling was the same Danny Zuko that attends Rydell High and arrange for the two to bump into each other at school; the resulting meeting is tense and awkward, as Danny had previously told Sandy that he attended a private academy and does not want to admit to the Burger Palace Boys that she was the woman he was talking about. As the Burger Palace Boys leave, Sandy is heartbroken, but the Pink Ladies cheer her up, by inviting her over to Marty's pajama party.
Shortly afterwards, the teenagers gather in the hall as Doody shows off his new guitar and performs a song.
At Marty's pajama party, the girls experiment with wine, cigarettes, and pierced ears; and talk about boys. The sheltered Sandy goes into shock from seeing blood when the Pink Ladies try to pierce her ears, leading them to mock her when she's not in the room. Marty tells about her long-distance courtship with a Marine named Freddy, which is implied she only maintains because of the lavish gifts he sends her from Japan.
That same night, the Burger Palace Boys are busy stealing hubcaps, unaware that the hubcaps are on Kenickie's car, Greased Lightnin'. Unfazed by the others' skepticism, Kenickie sings of the upgrades needed to make the car a racing-worthy .
Danny sees Sandy again at her cheerleader practice, and tries to apologize for his behavior. Patty interrupts and flirts with Danny. Patty informs Danny that track try-outs are nearing, and Danny tells Sandy that he will join the track team to prove himself; he leaves as Patty and Sandy practice cheering.
As the Burger Palace Boys and Pink Ladies gather at the park, Danny reveals to the rest of the greasers that he has joined the track team, much to their dismay and skepticism. After Roger and Jan bicker about food, drink and religion, she asks him how he earned the nickname Rump; he explains that, as "King of the Mooners," he has a hobby of baring his backside to unsuspecting victims, and in the process, both reveal their affections for each other. Rizzo teases Danny for falling for a girl who resembles the excessively proper teenage ingénue, Sandra Dee, and the other greasers join in as she makes fun of Sandy, who has not arrived to the picnic yet.
Sandy, working on a biology assignment with Eugene, comes in just as the greasers finish making fun of her. She attacks Rizzo in a fit of rage and erroneously assumes Danny is the one behind the mockery. Furious, she tells Danny that she wishes she never met him and storms out of the picnic. Danny shrugs off Sandy's negative response, and the greasers pair off for the upcoming sock hop. Danny teases Marty for not having a date, and the greasers all laugh.
For revivals that use "Hopelessly Devoted to You," the exact placement varies. It sometimes replaces the first rendition of "We Go Together" and in other examples, such as the 2007 revival, it is placed early in Act II.

Act II

The night of the sock hop arrives. Sandy is at home by herself, listening to the radio and crying over how much she misses Danny.
Meanwhile, Kenickie comes into the dance with his date, Cha-Cha DiGregorio, a beastly girl from Saint Bernadette's Academy. Patty tries to pair up with Danny, trash-talking Sandy's cheerleading skills in the process, but is unable to get out of her promise to dance with Eugene despite Rizzo trying to seduce Eugene as a distraction. Kenickie ends up paired off with Rizzo, and Danny with Cha-Cha. The MC Vince Fontaine, a radio disc jockey, begins the hand jive dance contest, and everyone eagerly participates as he tags the contestants out. In the end, Danny and Cha-Cha are the winners. Amongst the awards given to the couple, Danny receives two free drive-in movie tickets.
Sometime later outside of the Burger Palace hangout, Kenickie, Doody, and Sonny run into Frenchy. The boys are armed with an "arsenal" of household items and reveal that, to their surprise, Cha-Cha was the girlfriend of someone in the boys' rival gang, the Flaming Dukes; the Dukes, hearing of Cha-Cha's dancing with the Burger Palace Boys, challenged the boys to a rumble. Danny sprints into the scene wearing his track suit, to the disbelief of the other boys. Danny tells the boys he cannot partake in the rumble because of a track meet and sprints off.
The three remaining boys go into the Burger Palace for a snack before the fight, and Frenchy laments at what to do with her life, having dropped out of beauty school in frustration at failing all of her classes. The heavenly Teen Angel appears with a chorus of back-up singing angels and tells her to return to high school.
The three boys exit the Burger Palace, bemoaning Danny's betrayal while only halfheartedly noticing Roger is unaccounted for. They wait for the Flaming Dukes, but the rival gang never turns up. Roger finally turns up with only a broken antenna as a weapon; in response, the other three proceed to strip Roger of his pants and shoes.
At the drive-in, Danny tries to make up for his behavior and offers Sandy his class ring. She initially is thrilled, but pulls back and exits the car when he tries to move beyond a kiss. Danny laments his loneliness.
Several days later, Sandy and the greasers — without Danny — are gathered in Jan's basement. Rizzo, who missed her period, fears she is pregnant and tells Marty that the father is a stranger who had sex with her with a cheap, broken condom; word gets back to everyone else. The boys offer support as they leave; Rizzo rejects it, which leads Sandy to ask her why and concludes that Kenickie is the presumed father. Rizzo responds by saying that she is a better person than others make her out to be and that showing weakness is the worst thing she knows. Rizzo leaves, and Sandy decides what she needs to do to fit in with the greasers.
The next day, the boys are hanging out at the Burger Palace. A dejected Patty reveals Danny, who follows her in, has reverted to his old ways and quit the track team. Sandy comes in alongside the Pink Ladies, having transformed herself from an innocent schoolgirl into a greaser's fantasy, punching out a dismayed Patty. Danny is delighted at this change and the couple express their mutual feelings for each other.
Afterwards, the greasers prepare to head to Roger's to watch The Mickey Mouse Club, inviting Patty along. Frenchy takes a job as a makeup saleswoman at Woolworth's, Rizzo reveals that she is not pregnant, and she and Kenickie reunite. All ends happily, and the Burger Palace Boys, the Pink Ladies, Sandy, and Patty sing about how they will always be friends to the end.

Revival changes

Due to the popularity of the 1978 film adaptation, which made several changes to the musical's songs and themes, the subsequent revivals adopted several of the changes made in the film, particularly the replacement of several songs, and the renaming of the Burger Palace Boys to their film name, the T-Birds. However, in the revival, the role of Sandy Dumbrowski is not changed from the original Broadway production.

School Version

In order to make the original musical suitable for young performers and audiences, Jim Jacobs decided to write a "School Version" of the musical. This edition eliminates all of the references to cigarettes and alcohol, and also any swearing or bad language. Most of the songs have also undergone changes as well; the numbers are all shortened greatly and edited for content/language. Some plot lines are missing from the school version, such as Rizzo's pregnancy and her song "There Are Worse Things I Could Do" and “Hopelessly Devoted”. This section is entirely cut from the script and score. The beginning of the pajama party in Marty's bedroom is also cut. Overall, this version is considered to be G-rated.
In addition to the removal of "There Are Worse Things I Could Do," and Hopelessly Devoted, the following songs of the School Version have undergone lyric changes:
The remainder of the songs have been greatly edited for time, deleting several verses from the original songs.
A version of the play is available that keeps some of the adult references and innuendo but excises some of the more explicit lyrics.

Cast and characters

‡The character of Roger does not appear in the film or television versions. Putzie, a non-singing character, appears in Roger's stead, portrayed by Kelly Ward in the film and David Del Rio in the teleplay. Roger's songs were included on, performed by Louis St. Louis; they were left out of the teleplay.
A number of characters in the musical are unseen characters: Freddy Strulka, Marty's boyfriend and a member of the United States Marine Corps who showers Marty with lavish gifts from Japan; the coach of the track team; the Flaming Dukes, an adversary of the Burger Palace Boys who never show up to a threatened rumble; and Mr. Drucker, a perverted economic teacher who has made passes at the Pink Ladies. In the film, the Flaming Dukes are renamed the Scorpions and have an on-screen role, as does the track coach.

Musical numbers

Original Broadway production

;Act I
;Act II
* The 1972 version is the standard version licensed to professionals and amateurs through Samuel French, Inc. in the US and Theatrical Rights Worldwide Ltd in the UK/IE/Europe

1993 West End revival

;Act I
;Act II
;Act I
;Act II
;Act I
;Act II
Note*: "Grease Medley" is sung during the final curtain call.

Orchestration

The original score calls for a piano, two tenor saxophones, bass guitar, percussion, and two guitars. The 2007 revival includes two pianos, two reeds, trombone, trumpet, guitar, bass guitar, and percussion.

Awards and honors

Original Broadway production

1993 West End revival

1994 Broadway revival

2007 Broadway revival

Footnotes