Grease

Everybody's favourite feel-good 1950s nostalgia musical made its way onto the Hippodrome stage with the great weight of expectation which always accompanies the production of a well-loved show everyone in the audience feels intimately acquainted with. I have to say that my own knowledge of the show is based upon little other than a vague memory of having seen the odd clip of the film and having endured the ubiquitous 'Grease Mega-Mix' in every pub I ever went in during the 1990s. To see the whole story unfold on stage was therefore something of a novelty for me and I approached the evening happily free of any preconceptions: unfortunately, some of the problems I had with the production meant that my unfamiliarity with the narrative and characters didn't help in making for a clear exposition of the show. This didn't seem to be a problem for an audience happily more familiar with 'Grease' than I was however, and a packed house seemed to thoroughly enjoy the experience.

Welcoming the audience into the auditorium in fine style, resident DJ and MC for the evening Vince Fontaine (in reality, the Hippodrome's own Tony Cousins) established the show's fun and free-wheeling atmosphere very well, encouraging the audience - many of whom had dressed in period outfits as characters from the show - to really get involved in the evening. The set was dominated by a colourful jukebox-effect set with a revolve which made for quick and easy changes of scene while maintaining the overall feel of '50s American pop culture throughout the show. Perhaps I wasn't sitting in the best place in the auditorium to appreciate that it was intended to resemble an LP turntable but the effect was pleasing nevertheless. This was a nice touch as it reflected both the lively, throwaway artificiality of the enterprise while suggesting a flavour of the era too. Set dressing, props and staging was of the very accomplished standard audiences have come to expect from the Hippodrome crew and the big set piece numbers really did look very good indeed.

The cast did a good job of bringing their characters to life and all were in fine voice which was fortunate, as the show only really has any pep or vigour - or in fact anything of interest going on at all! - in the musical numbers. Leader of the T-Birds, Josh Hindle was a very effective Danny, bringing a welcome injection of goofy charm to the character which was much appreciated. Stressing the humour of the would-be 'leader of the pack' was a good move and Josh sailed through the straightforward musical requirements the character with no problems. His ill-starred would-be paramour Sandy was also well played by Karen Wilkinson, a newcomer to the Hippodrome, who captured the character perfectly and brought with her a very engaging singing voice. The two teen tribes of T-Birds and Pink Ladies were also brought to life vividly by a talented young cast who coloured their individual characterisations with an engagingly light touch for the most part, which was much appreciated. Cathryn Osborne played no-nonsense Rizzo with a hard edge which was just right; Jade Brett brought a solid maturity to Marty; Jess McGlinchy was a delightful Frenchy and Jan was very amusingly played by Emily Wilkinson in one of my favourite performances of the evening. Simon Jackson gave a rather broad performance as Kenickie and was every inch the wannabe tough guy; Gary Leonard played a particularly rumbustious Doody; Fletcher Smith was a very acrobatic Sonny and Jack Herbert impressed as the comical Roger, also doubling up as a past his prime Elvis Presley in the 'Beauty School Dropout' number, one of the musical highlights of the show. The smaller cameo roles were very well played and gave very strong support indeed: James Holt and Sophie Greenwood were both very engaging as Eugene and Patty - two performers who didn't stint on effective characterisation despite their modest stage time; Sophie Counsell was excellent as a flouncy and tempestuous Cha Cha DiGregorio; Angela Schofield brought her customary twinkle to Miss Lynch; David Smith was every inch the smart 1950s man about town as Johnny Casino and the aforementioned Tony Cousins gave excellent value as Vince Fontaine, book-ending the show by welcoming the audience into the auditorium and   keeping the music flowing from his jukebox at the end of the show too. Of particular note was the fact that here was a very young cast - and a large cast at that - brimming with talent, which is great news for the future of amateur theatre in our area: a very promising situation indeed.

Despite the best efforts of the cast, great costumes, faultless musical direction and some fabulous dance routines - full marks to Helen Cheung for the choreography - I'm afraid that for me, the overall impact of the show was somewhat disappointing. The problems with the sound in the theatre (certainly on the evening I was there) became a definite barrier to really being able to enjoy the production and connect with the show. There were sections of dialogue which seemed to go on forever and to no good purpose between musical numbers which were made even more frustrating by the fact that for the most part, large chunks of it were inaudible. Microphone cues seemed to be missed on more than one occasion and there was a definite issue with the quality of the amplified sound throughout the show. Faulty equipment? Bad acoustics? Mis-timed sound cues? I'm not sure that there weren't instances of all of these on the night I attended: for the vast majority of the audience, I'm sure this wouldn't have been too much of an issue with following the narrative but speaking as someone who doesn't know the show all that well, it proved to be a real problem for me in really getting to grips with what was going on. In the final analysis, it did seem that this was a show which had far too many tedious linking passages of dialogue where characters swapped banalities to and fro merely to link the popular tunes together. I know this is very much a problem with the show itself rather than this particular production of it but there didn't seem to be much of an urge from the production team to try to make a virtue of the necessity to try and move things along or add a bit of theatrical spice to the rather bland fare that 'Grease' undoubtedly is; the technological shortcomings in the sound department did in fact get in the way rather seriously too.

All that said however, the packed house seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves and waited for each familiar song with enthusiasm which, in the final analysis, is what the evening was all about. The big musical routines were lively and full of colour and energy, with an enthusiastic cast clearly enjoying themselves and managed - for the most part - to make sitting through the rather tedious sections of the show worthwhile. Although the overall opinion of the show in my section of the auditorium did seem very mixed, it seemed that a good time was had by all for the vast majority of the audience and one can't really say fairer than that. My thanks go to all at the Hippodrome for the customary very warm welcome: I look forward to the next production with keen anticipation - as I'm sure do the loyal audiences who appreciate the Hippodrome's place at the centre of the cultural life of our region. 

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