Grease: The Musical
Photo by Marc Brenner
Guest review by Georgina Clark.
As the ultimate musicals fan, there is no show I love more than Grease. So, as I sat waiting for the auditorium lights to go down and the stage to light up, I was filled with anticipation.
The play follows the love story of resident bad-boy Danny, and Sandy, the wholesome and pure new girl he had a summer romance with. It is a typical ‘will they, won't they’ scenario, wonderfully enriched by the shenanigans of all their ‘cool’ friends and the usual high school dramas.
It’s often described as a ‘classic’, and with this being such a well-known film too, the pressure was on.
Photo by Marc Brenner
The performance begins subtly, introducing the young lovers as they sing a soft duet under a simple spotlight. Then, boom: we are blasted into the huge opening number - ‘Grease is the word’ - with the whole cast.
It was during this song that I spotted Rebecca Stenhouse as the iconic ‘Rizzo’. Despite this being the first big routine, it was easy to tell which character she was playing. No words were needed - just the sheer presence, stance, and way she moved made her unmistakable.
I will say that, to start with, the narrative did feel a little too fast-paced. The scene where they all arrive at high school, and the boys and girls are talking about their summer, was a bit hard to follow to begin with. Specifically, the girls' lines felt a tad rushed. However, as soon as the cast started ‘Summer Loving‘, they settled into the rhythm and the pace was good from then on. Indeed, during this number we were treated to some great vocals, with Hope Dawe as ‘Sandy’ wowing with her crystal clear and powerful voice.
Moving through the scenes was then seamlessly done using DJ Vince Fantaine (played on our night by understudy, Thomas Inge). The clever use of this character kept the audience's focus while the stage was reset each time.
Photo by Marc Brenner
I was impressed to see an actual car enter the stage for my personal favourite ‘Grease lightning’ – lead by George Michealides as Kenickie. Yes, I found his accent choice a little off-putting, but this was easily forgiven once he showed his fantastic dance moves!
In fact, the whole show, including the dance competition, had some of the most impressive choreography I’ve seen from a musical show. Created by Arlene Phillips, it was executed effortlessly by the entire cast – even if my heart was in my mouth watching them jump around on top of the car (Rizzo even doing so in heals at one point!).
It is worth pointing out for movie fans, while this show has all the Grease movie classics, the stage version does feature many songs, plot points, and character choices that differ from the film. My favourite addition is the love story between Roger (Putzie) and Jan – a romance I must admit I found myself more invested in than that of the main characters. The duet between the two – performed by Emerald B and Lewis Day - was not only simple and heartwarming, but also showed their amazing vocal talents.
In fact, I felt everyone managed to add their own sparkle to each character and didn’t try to copy the well-known, big-screen musical portrayals. Each performer was so well chosen for each role – with special mention of Hope Dawe who I think was born to play Sandy, and Thomas Inge who I simply loved as Vince Fontaine.
Overall, they put on an incredible show. I could go on all day, but if you’re looking for something that easy to watch and will leave you with a smile on your face then this is for you.
I, for one, will always be ‘hopelessly devoted’ to Grease...
Grease: The Musical is at Ipswich Regent until 25 May 2024.
FOR FULL SHOW DETAILS AND BOOKING LINK, CLICK HERE