Grease

This show was automatic…systematic…hydromatic and most importantly, Greased lighting. For their debut Cast Productions Yorkshire, staged Grease the musical, and what a debut. Founders, Matthew Roddis, Amy Parker and Rebecca Elliott must be over the moon what this cast of young performers delivered to audiences. 

With clever direction from Roddis, we were transported to back to the 1950s where Grease was most definitely the word. One piece of direction I particularly liked was the focus on the radio. Musical Direction was in the hands of Mr Musical himself, Matthew Symonds. Whenever you see a show and Matthew is the Musical Director, you know you’re in for a vocal treat. The cast produced a great sound and wonderful harmonies. Choreographer, Gary Thomas, who also portrayed Miss Lynch, yes you read that correctly, Miss Lynch, created high energy and original routines that were excellently executed by the cast. 

With crisp vocals and an exaggerated laugh, Jack O’Boyle was every inch the Danny Zuko we have in our heads. The relationship between the Burger Palace boys was excellent, and you could feel a real connection between all of them. Ethan Ingram as Sonny, Roman Baker as Doody, Christian Nutbrown as Kenickie, and audience favourite, Harrison Turner as Roger portrayed their characters with believability and connection, each showing off their own unique talent, with Turner showing off that little bit extra. Where we have the Burger Palace boys, we need their counterparts, the Pink Ladies. Although I felt that the connection between the boys was tighter than between the girls, the pink ladies still gave great performances of these iconic characters. Chloe Robertson, excelled as Beauty School Dropout, Frenchy. Not having a Teen Angel, Robertson sang the song, and this worked so well. I would like to see this change in more productions of the show. Chloe was joined by Alexis Emmey as Betty Rizzo, Laura Folkes as Jan and Megan Count as Marty, each adding personality to their respective roles. 

However, for me the star of this show was Sandy Dumbrowski,  excellently played by Scarlett Buxton. Not only did Buxton look like Sandy, she understood who Sandy is and blew the roof of the theatre with her outstanding vocal talent. From shy and naive to the vamp that Sandy becomes, Buxton successfully took the audience along with her on that journey. A great performance. 

The main characters were well supported by Lucy Firth as Cha Cha, Sam Simmons as Johnny Casino, Jess Nelmes as Patty, Jenson Cooke as a loveable Eugene and high energy ensemble. Costumes and wigs were excellent and a big shout out to Alex Cowen and Sheleena Antwi who created them. 

For a debut production, the show was excellent, and just the way to spend those ‘Summer Nights’

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