Grease Jr

It’s hard to believe that it was way back in 1978 (before I was even born I’m smug to add) that John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John first cast a spell with the big screen rendering of this musical, shooting it into international fame! Said film and its soundtrack played an enormous role in my teenage years, thankfully it’s “sick” to be into musical theatre today but in the mid 90’s, it was geeky and wholly uncool – but did I care? Hell no! Grease was the word (for me) back then and there was an air of nostalgia to see the musical having the same impact with teenagers today as it did for me!    

This enthusiastic rendition of Grease is an enjoyable evening for fans of the original film. The much beloved classic, voted #1 musical of all time by Channel 4 in 2003, has been faithfully brought to life by SAM Theatre’s junior section - their debut project!

Rydell High School is the backdrop to the blossoming love stories between Danny and Sandy and their friends who also pair up. Sandy was played with the appropriate innocence and prim poise by Lucy Allan. Danny was every inch the cheeky, slightly arrogant and chilled kid thanks to Lucas Moore’s interpretation. It’s no mean feat to deliver this role with the degree of likability required to latch onto the character alongside his negative traits but Lucas must be commended on achieving that.

Alex Barrett stopped the show with his rendition of ‘Mooning’ which was the vocal highlight of the show from any solo performer, knocking it out of the park, sterling job!

I was also highly impressed with the ensemble vocal work too, the backing vocals to ‘Freddy, My Love’ were exquisite and executed with an accurate epoch, clear and nostalgic harmonies were confidently performed with no modern pop habits coming through (bends, trills and other irritating traits) were nowhere nearby from these youngsters which is testament of the shows style firmly implemented from the shows Musical Director, James Goodwin.

Making a notable impression was Freddie Pearson as Eugene, he’s one to watch! Without forcing it he shone and was in character throughout, even when the focus wasn’t on him and he’d pitched it spot on.

The shows Musical Director was also responsible for the choreography which, again, was in keeping with the show’s era, was well drilled and most importantly, the cast evidently enjoyed performing the sequences which rockets any dance performance into another level.

The scenery was minimal, well…it has to be at the Altrincham Little Theatre, but we understood where we were and what was what so … job done. Being really picky, the tables didn’t appear to be as retro as they perhaps ought to have been but it didn’t deter the overall impression, most people probably wouldn’t have even registered this factor anyway!

Some of the positioning of the cast did hinder some crucial sightlines (primarily during the ‘Summer Night’s’ scene) when we couldn’t see Sandy at all for a large part of this section.

The energy of the show never drops with the ensemble of T-Birds and Pink Ladies driving the pace.

Many of the audience will have remembered the original film fondly. There were three young girls sat on the row in front of me who knew all the lyrics and talked nonstop about the film whilst waiting for the show to start. Everyone in the audience knew exactly what they were going to get – songs which have been lodged in their subconscious minds for years, rekindling memories of more innocent times. And, it’s fair to say, they weren’t disappointed and nor was I.

The nostalgia of this musical is what I cling on to…the booming post-war excess of America’s golden decade complete with those guilty pleasure showtunes, it’s hard not to love this classic tale of teenage love.

Splendid job on your debut youth production!

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