Grease

After a whirlwind summer romance, super-cool Danny Zuko and morally upstanding Sandy Dubrowski are unexpetedly reunited when she transfers to Rydell High for their last year of school. It is set in the 1950‘s and tells of the trials and tribulations of teenage life that make growing up so difficult. A superb performance was delivered by Lee McCusker as Danny. He had great stage presence and charisma, he totally capturing Danny’s personality, and what an amazing singing voice he has - I particularly loved his rendition of ‘Sandy’. There were four other members of the macho ‘T-Birds’ each fulfilling their respective roles admirably. Jordan Driffield was top-notch as Kenickie, he certainly gave it his all in ‘Greased Lightening’. Euan Blair showed the shy and reticent side of Doody splendidly and his singing of ‘Those Magic Changes’ was just super. Matthew Day was first-rate as Sonny the somewhat boastful and sure of himself member of the group and Ed Telfer was perfect as the fun loving, mischievous Roger. Their equivalents were the sassy ‘Pink Ladies’ and Sandy was soon ensconced into the group. Sophie Cheetham excelled as Sandy portraying the sweet, innocence of the character perfectly but then fabulously transforming into a man-eating, sexy siren. She has a lovely singing voice which was especially apparent in ‘Hopelessly Devoted To You’ and there was a delightful and believable chemistry between herself and Dandy. Shorelle Hepkin gave a stand out performance as Rizzo the tough, outspoken, derisory, yet vulnerable, leader of the Pink Ladies.  Her characterisation was so impressive and the passionate singing of ‘There Are Worse Things I Could Do’ was just sublime. Gemma Nolan was excellent as the sophisticated, flamboyant and sexy Marty, as was Amy Norton as Frenchie who is totally absorbed with her looks and her forthcoming dream of being a beautician. Another fine performance came from Danielle Kennedy as the compulsive eater, Jan. Her duet, ‘Mooning’, with Roger was so delightful. Alison Doram was superb as Patty Simcox. She certainly was the extrovert, exuberant, over enthusiastic cheerleader and what a dancer, also, when following such an athletic ‘High School Hop’ that she was part of, she immediately went on to beautifully sing ‘It’s Raining On Prom Night’ - unbelievable! I was very much taken unawares, (not having looked at the programme properly) when Teen Angel, normally played by a man, was played by the wonderful Sarah Morell - and why not! Her Rendition of ‘Beauty School Dropout’ was outstanding, as was her costume. Splendid support came Pauline Hindle  (Miss Lynch), Mhairi Herring (Cha-Cha), Steph Doore (Jodie Casino), Jon Bennett (Vince Fontaine) and Giuseppe Manzione was just perfect as Eugene. All of the ensemble numbers were so well sung and the innovative and imaginative choreography was absolutely stunning and so slickly and dexterously executed with such energy and enthusiasm. The excellent set (Scenic Projects) was enhanced by wonderful props and lighting and together with fabulous costumes, a great cast and orchestra there were definitely “worse things I could have been doing” than enjoying this most entertaining and super show. Congratulations to everyone involved. 

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