Grease

NODA Award winning Curtain Call Productions opened their 2019 season this week with their production of Grease.  Grease the musical tells the same story as that of the 1978 film.  The love story of Danny and Sandy set in the rock ‘n roll era in America.

This production was directed by Joel Montague and set traditionally.  Normally, the show opens to the Rydell ‘Alma Mater’ and subsequent dialogue.  In this show, Joel changed the opening to include a voiceover and the song ‘Sandy’.  The ‘Rydell Parody’ was then cut from the opening sequence.  For me, this meant that there wasn’t a great opening impact to this production.  There were various changes to the normal script structure within this production.  Extra dialogue was added in ‘Beauty School Dropout’ and the ‘Megamix’ was added at the end.  I have performed this show many times and these added extra bits really worked (apart from the ‘Hairspray’ bit in the Megamix) .  It added to the overall pace and energy.  Most of the production values were strong in this production.  The vocals and the visuals were particularly strong.  I do question some of the directorial decisions.  For example, the car for Greased Lightening was pushed onstage at the start of the scene.  Kenickie arrived midway through the scene to a beeping horn – yet his car was onstage.  The inclusion of the character of Sandy within the dance contest was a strange decision too, as was the song ‘Sandra Dee’ within both acts.  Whilst I loved the pace and energy to this production, I felt this was detriment to the characterisation and the storytelling.  I found that many of the T-birds lacked individuality and the part of Patty was overplayed and unfunny.  I am, of course, being very picky.  The audience certainly enjoyed this performance.  I also enjoyed the introduction of male cheerleaders which were used well throughout, particularly in scene changes.

Malcolm Forbes-Peckham was the musical director for Grease.  An accomplished MD, Malcolm and his team played from the orchestra pit.  I liked the overall pace to the musical numbers.  The band sounded great throughout.  It might’ve been nice to directorially place the band within the jukebox of the set, but this is only a suggestion.

Joel Montague (assisted by Rhianne Stubbs) was the choreographer for this production.  Curtain Call are known for their excellent choreography and this production didn’t disappoint.  It’s not hard to see why Joel has won best choreographer a number of times in the NODA awards.  The cast numbers were well rehearsed and carried off the choreography very well.  ‘We Go Together’ and the opening dances to Act 2 were particularly strong.

Costumes and Set were great.  Having a minimal set enabled the space to be used for staging and choreography.  The costumes helped establish character and style.  I liked how each of the Pink Ladies had their own individuality.  The ensemble costumes were equally great.

A special mention has to go to the wigs.  It wasn’t until after the show, did I realise that most of the hairstyles (male and female) were wigs.  I would’ve sworn that people had styled their own hair!  The wigs, particularly for the T-birds and Frenchy were outstanding!  Well done to David Birt and his team!

The lighting and sound were generally good.  I felt that the sound levels and quality at the opening needed looking at but overall the sound blend between cast and the band was good.  The lights were used well throughout.  I liked the use of colours and gobos, which helped establish location.

Danny was played by Jacob Taylor.  Jacob played this part well and had a good stage presence.  He looked a little younger than some of the other T-birds, but I liked the physicality that he brought to his character.  Jacob displayed some lovely vocals too.   He also had a good rapport with Sandy, and I believed that they really cared for each other.

Sandy was played by Beth Kerrigan.  I felt totally at ease watching Beth in this role.  I felt that she gave an individual performance.  She showed a great vulnerability and pureness as Sandy before her ‘change’.  Beth also had lovely vocals too.  I would’ve preferred to have seen a change in vocal style from the nice Sandy to that of the ‘sassy’ Sandy but I’m being very picky.

Kenickie was played by Matt Meachin.  I felt that Matt could’ve been stronger to play the leader of the T-birds and assert his authority.  He sang and danced well throughout.   Greased Lightening was a visual treat!

Rizzo was played by Shannon Webb.  Shannon certainly looked the part.  I loved her wig and costume choices.  Shannon also did well to convey the serious and hurt Rizzo.  Whilst I didn’t believe that Rizzo was in love with Kenickie, I loved Shannon’s version of ‘There Are Worse Things I Could Do’.

Doody was played by Sean Clark-Wilkinson.  I thought that Sean was strong in this role and he was well cast.  Because he had great stage presence, I felt he might’ve been more suited to Kenickie- but this is just an observation.  Sean displayed lovely vocals in ‘Those Magic Changes’.  He has a lovely tone to his voice!

Frenchie was brilliantly played by Rhianne Stubbs.  I loved Rhianne’s characterisation.  She used her voice and physicality well to convey this role and I really cared about her character.  She was very well cast in this role.

Matt O’Donnell played the role of Roger.  Matt had a lovely rapport with Lianne (Jan), and I really liked the way they interacted throughout, particularly during scene changes.  I would’ve preferred if Matt had more individuality within the T-birds.  Matt has a lovely tone to his singing voice – I liked his version of ‘Mooning’.

Jan was played by Lianne Oakes.  I really liked the rapport that Lianne had with Matt (Roger).  They interacted well and established themselves as a couple from the outset.  I liked Lianne’s version of this character and she was entertaining to watch.

Harry Burke played the role of Sonny – the crass T-Bird! Harry had a lovely rapport with Heather (Marty), and they worked well together.  I would’ve preferred if Harry had more individuality within the T-birds, particularly during the crowd scenes such as the High School Hop/Dance contest.  For example, he could’ve been hitting on the girls in the chorus.

Heather Taylor played the role of Marty.  I liked the level of class that Heather brought to Marty.  This helped establish her character as ‘the one who is going to go places’.  Heather’s version of Freddy My Love was lovely, and she had a great rapport with Harry (Sonny).

Patty was played by Helen Edmonstone.  I cannot fault Helen’s commitment to her character and the confidence she displayed onstage.  I personally found the character of Patty unfunny and very distracting in scenes.  I felt that it was massively overplayed and compromised the intricacies of this complex character, especially the way that she interacted with both Sandy and Danny.  She is supposed to befriend Sandy (genuinely) then sneakily and jealously try and snare Danny from Sandy.  This was missed in this version.  I felt that the director choice for allowing this version of the character was at the detriment to the production.  Again, I cannot fault Helen for her commitment to the characterisation.

There are far too many other characters and roles for me to mention in this review.  However, I have to specially mention Sean Johnson-Hargreaves for his outstanding vocals as Teen Angel.  I loved his version of ‘Beauty School Dropout’ – which was musically different to the norm. 

Overall, I felt that although there were many changes to the script and structure of this piece, the pace and energy was fantastic.  This was detriment to character and storytelling from time to time.  Visually, this show was fantastic.  The dancing and the choreography were very strong and there were some stunning vocals from individuals.  Highlights were the chorus numbers throughout this piece.  I congratulate Curtain Call for another entertaining production and I wish them all the very best for the upcoming Regional NODA Awards.

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