Grease

‘Grease’ the stage musical written in 1971 really came into public recognition when it was made into a multimillion earning film. Since then it has been performed by countless amateur companies and   the rights are regularly withdrawn when it has a revival in the West End or goes on a national tour… such is the entertainment value that professional companies and audiences  flock to see the show, dressed up and ready to dance!

It comes as no surprise that Frome MTC sold most of the seats very quickly and by the curtain up on the first night was totally sold out!

Fortunately for the audience the talented cast that FMTC gathered together did the show full justice. Many of the company were principal performers in their own right and each demonstrated a splendid ability to entertain. The band (tucked away in the assembly rooms) shone throughout the show giving us the sound and tempos required by the iconic songs. I was pleased that FMTC had purchased the rights to the 4 additional songs from the film, as this show already quite short would have been the poorer without them. The simple but effective set of staircases connected by a balcony ( very in vogue this year as so many shows I have seen have used this setup as the  basis for  their sets) worked well with the addition of stage and personal props.

‘Grease’ is now a rather a period piece set in 1959 an amazing 38 years ago. To an oldie like me it is very nostalgic as it represents my youth and the early beginnings of the permissive society. This company did the show full justice with their enthusiasm and energy, acting ability, singing and excellent timing when bringing out the humour of the show. There were many outstanding performances among the excellence on stage, almost too many to mention. The Pink Ladies were all individual characters and all gave superb performances with a special mention to Daisy Mercedes as Betty Rizzo, hard as a nut with a soft centre, lovely character and performance. The T Birds were equally as good and the special mention here is for Ryan Hughes as Danny Zuko, with his perfect wig he epitomized the Danny we all know and expect to see. Were there any downsides… perhaps a few not worth mentioning, but one quite out of the reach of the director, was the size of the stage … with such excellent energetic dancing you could all have done with a bit more room. But no faults for this well paced, well performed and directed, classic forerunner of the modern rock musical, very well done FMTC.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.