Grease

Firstly I would like to thank EMS for the hospitality shown to me and Nikki Wood. EMS chose a show likely to be a Box Office success which should appeal to both young and old alike. It required a young enthusiastic cast and for their annual production it did mean that many of the regulars of the Society had stood aside and well over half of the cast were making their first appearances.

The show is well known after its original format of 1971 was converted to the iconic film in 1978. Audiences will know what to expect and will want to be immersed into the many catchy numbers on offer. It is probably very difficult to move away from the preconceived ideas that audiences will have from the film and therefore many of the visuals may need to be very similar. As a result, the cleverly transitional and simplistic set moved seamlessly from scene to scene for the most part and was absolutely suggestive of the original film, setting the scene accurately and providing bright, eye-catching scenes. The costumes, hair styles, and props were all very well presented and accurately portrayed both the time period and the visuals that were needed. Unfortunately, lighting was occasionally rather dark and didn’t highlight the characters properly (or the actors didn’t find the lights on offer) and on occasions the sound levels were not good enough for the words to be heard clearly. In the opening scene, behind a gauze screen, not a single word was heard, either due to the sound levels of the band or the low set of the soloist’s microphones, but this didn’t help build the idea of a young couple having a wonderful teenage holiday romance.

This aside, the bright and energetic backdrop of the set certainly translated to some very good individual performances with the group numbers clearly well-choreographed and drilled to absolute accuracy. The soloists all performed their numbers with great confidence; one criticism of rapport maybe a question around the necessary chemistry between those who were acting together at times. However, I thought the close harmony singing in ‘Freddy My Love’ was really well performed by Sophie Barlow, as Marty, and the Pink Ladies. One couple who did work together were Daniel McLoughlin, as Roger, and Hanife Hursit, as Jan and the duet Mooning was very well presented. Sarah Prentice, as Rizzo, made the most of ‘Look at me I’m Sandra Dee’ and showed great confidence in her role. As mentioned earlier all the solos were sung confidently and the other T birds Regan Meadowcroft, as Kenickie, led ‘Grease Lightning’ and Liam Mabin, as Doody commanded the stage when performing ‘Those Magic Changes’ and ‘Rock’n’Roll Party Queen’ with Roger.

Lance Vernon is a well known actor in the local area and here, making his debut for EMS, he took on the challenging role of ‘Danny Zuko’. Playing opposite as ‘Sandy Dumbrowski’ was Isobel Pinsky, also making her debut, and both showed their undoubted talent performing the many numbers on offer to them. However, maybe due to the age difference, the two just didn’t seem plausible as a couple which led to the finale of ‘You’re the One That I Want’ feeling rather flat compared with a celebration of a love affair coming to fruition.

Ash Bolt, as ‘Teen Angel’, got the most out of his only appearance on stage performing ‘Beauty School Dropout’ and there were cameo roles from the old stagers Adele Needham, as ‘Miss Lynch’, and Steve Wreford, as ‘Vince Fontaine’.

James McGregor, as Musical Director, had assembled a talented 15 piece band and had got the ensemble singing to a good level. As mentioned earlier this was complimented by the stylistic choreography offered by Mai-Lin Hagiwara as the movement was well rehearsed although occasionally lacking total energy. David Youll, as Director, got some fine moods at times but overall it didn’t seem as though the audience were witnessing a big production. It would be neglectful to not reiterate that David Youll clearly crafted some really strong individual performances from an undoubtedly strong cast but somehow the overall production seemed to be lacking the big feel that a show like Grease almost demands. Perhaps this is the danger of staging an iconic box office film, the shortcomings of the script, or the sparse ensemble during those big chorus numbers, but somehow the pace of the show seemed slow and that well known feel good wow factor was missing.

In summary I believe EMS are to be congratulated on choosing such a well known show and for encouraging so many new performers to their group who will hopefully swell the numbers for years to come. My overall feeling at the end of this afternoon performance was that far more needed to be done to enhance both the energy and the chemistry of the production. That being said there were so many good individual performances and these were very pleasing to both the eye and the ear.

 

Mike Canning

NODA South West District 7 Representative           

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