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Marley Fenton as Danny and Hope Dawe as Sandy. Pictures: MarcBrenner Grease The Alexandra Theatre **** It’s more than half a century since the hormone fuelled greasers in the Burger Palace Boys and the flirtatious Pink Ladies first enrolled for autumn term at Rydell High back in 1971, but the class of 1959 are still as fresh as ever in this sparkling new production. Grease is better known for the1978 film which made an international star of Olivia Newton-John and cemented John Travolta’s role in popular culture – incidentally, Henry Winkler has always regretted turning down the lead role of Danny Zuko – but a cast full of energy and bursting with life prove its roots are here on stage. School, for those there now and those who remember it, has always been a breeding ground of teenage angst, first loves, broken hearts, broken dreams and Rydell fits pretty well all of that and more into its curriculum all set around the will they won’t they, love/hate, maybe, maybe not relationship of cool Danny Zuko and square newcomer Sandy Dumbrowski. (Square is what the cool kids of 1959 would call her, daddyo - FYI) The pair had had a summer affair (Sandy and Summer Nights) and said their sad goodbyes as Sandy was off to a posh school and Danny to the local high – except it all falls through over shiny shoes (don’t ask) and Sandy ends up at the same local school and here, on home turf, Danny, unrivalled leader of the oh so cool clique, The Burger Palace Boys, and a renowned, smooth, successful womaniser, can’t really let it be known he has a . . . girlfriend and a square one at that. He’s the cool dude playing the field and a regular girl is not good for his status, and status, his hard won rep, means much more than mere feelings . . . right? So we have a couple of hours of on off romance, some cracking songs, and to keep interest alive it chucks in a hint of teen pregnancy, a bit of gang warfare, a smidgin of bullying, girl power, sort of, and the macho groin inspired musings of teen boys whose brains wear Y-ftonts.
A trio of Pink Ladies with Emerald B as Jan (left), Alicia Belgarde as Frenchy and Rebecca Stenhouse as Rizzo Marley Fenton sports a fine voice as Danny Zuko, if we are being picky, perhaps he could have a bit more Fonzie style, but he gives us all the frustration, confusion and anger swirling round a youthful mind. Hope Dawe gives us a girl next door Sandy, a good girl who doesn’t smoke, doesn’t drink, doesn’t . . . you get the picture. She might have fallen for Zuko, but not at any price. Her big solo number, Hopelessly Devote to You, after Zuko blanks her at the Halloween ball, is sung with real passion and emotion, a real showstopper. She is matched by the school’s resident bad girl, the somewhat libertine Betty Rizzo, played in a defiant, rebellious and rather sad and aimless air by Rebecca Stenhouse. She is a smoker, a drinker and a . . . again you get the picture. When her past seems to have caught up with her she sings There are worse things I could do and you really do feel for her. The hard, take the world on, don’t mess with me Rizzo is simply a frightened girl alone, vulnerable and lost. She gives it real feeling and packs in raw emotion. And among the Pink Ladies we have Frenchy, played by Alicia Belgarde. Frenchy can put holes in your ears and has a breathtaking party trick which she shows off in the finale. She leaves school for beauty school - not a success – and her on/off love interest is Doody, played by Kieran Lynch, who gets all tongue tied and nervous when he talks to her. And there is India Chadwick as Marty, who has a long distance relationship with a marine called Freddy - a schoolgirl and a serving marine . . . really? He sends her gifts from Japan so she keeps it going.
Hope Dawe as Sandy with the bittersweet Hopelessly Devote To You Among the Burger boys we have Kenickie played on Press night by understudy Adam Davidson, not that the role was diminished one iota, Adam has a great voice and stage presence and his balance and athleticism leaping about on his car blasting out Greased Lightnin’ was a sight to behold. Kenickie and Rizzo are another on-off relationship as young loves bloom, flourish, die and revive to fill the school days. Another love story in waiting is between Jan, played by Emerald B from the Pink Ladies and Rump from the boys, played by Lewis Day. Rump being Roger’s nickname, which Jan thinks is derisory but Rump wears as a badge of pride as he is the King of the Mooners . . . you need to be there to get to the bottom of that one. The loose canon in all this is Cha Cha, played by Deena Kapadia, who goes to the dance as a blind date with Zuko – only problem . . . she is the girlfriend of the leader of rival greaser gang, The Flaming Dukes, at a rival school. Cue rumble . . . which never seems to actually take place. Running the school we have Dominique Planter as Miss Lynch, with a few words of wisdom for Patty, the track team captain, played by Phoebe Roberts, another good girl who has fallen for Zuko. While holding the kid’s attention is the local motormouth DJ Vince Fontaine. You pick up about one word in three, which is about as fast as the brain can process the constant stream of DJayese from his booth halfway up the back wall. Joe Gash makes Vince every parent’s nightmare and he also pops up as the teen angel, helping to put it all in perspective with advice for Frenchy with Beauty School Dropout. And perspective means compromise and a transformation of Zuko letting his feelings out and Sandy letting, well, herself out for the You’re The One That I Want finale, with everyone loving and living happily ever after, or at least until the next performance when it all starts again. The result is an enjoyable teen musical comedy that doesn’t tax the brain cells, full of familiar songs with a plenty of laughs along theway and with a huge, hard working cast, 24 strong who light the stage up with their boundless enthusiasm.
Colin Richmond's set is simple and effective dominated by a huge Rydell roundell around Vince Fontaine’s WAXX radio station studio on the backwall and two stage high sets of steps – with of course the rust bucket convertible Greased Lightning with its LED optional extras. Richmond's costumes evoke the era while Ben Cracknell’s clever lighting helps to set scenes and produce highlights amid the minimalist scenery. The eight piece band under musical director Charlie Ingles on piano are excellent with special mention for the brilliant Eddie Tatton on guitar and while we are at it, hats off as well to Jemma Starling, assistant MD on keyboard, Dan Humphreys on bass, session man Dave Stewart on drums, Joe Atkin-Reeves on saxes and clarinet, Ruby Barber on trumpet and flugel and Andy Watson on trombone. This was a good band and they deserve a mention by name. Arlene Phillips handled the huge cast superbly with well thought out choreography and interesting interpretation of musical numbers. The stage always looked busy and alive without appearing crowded while director Nikolai Foster, artistic director at The Curve, Leicester has built a solid reputation for innovative staging and you can see why. Danny and Sandy will be hand jiving along to 20-07-24 Roger Clarke 16-07-24 |
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