JADAR

★★★★☆

Get ready Manchester, because “Grease is the word… It’s got groove, it’s got a meaning”.

Nikolai Foster’s UK tour of Grease certainly has all the funk and suave of the classic 70s movie and original show, recapturing the careless and whimsical world of the dancing, sex-crazed ‘T-Birds’ (this time known as the ‘Burger Palace Boys’), and the flirtatious and sassy Pink Ladies in their high-school prime.

With high-octane choreography from Arelene Phillips (the best of which appears in the incredible ‘Hand Jive’ and ‘Greased Lightning’), an interesting variety of 50s era costumes by Colin Richmond, an incredible score by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey (with ‘new’ and old songs alike), and a talented cast of performers, the show doesn’t disappoint.

However, a number of editorial and script choices from the original show left me a little perplexed as integral character moments were ultimately lost, whilst other moments felt a little shoe-horned. 

Grease follows the teenagers of Rydell High in their escapades and romantic endeavours. After a romantic whirlwind in the summer, lovers Danny (Marley Fenton) and Sandy (Hope Dawe) bump into each other at high school, but Danny’s bad-boy greaser persona pushes Sandy away. Despite everything, fate, friendships and school seem to keep pushing them together. 

While Grease’s characters seem completely separate to today’s society, fashion and mannerisms, after a few songs, it’s easy to get sucked into this dramatic world of flirtatious fifties felons. The modern and gritty feel sometimes felt a little contradictory to the 50s ideals and aesthetics, but ultimately the show creates a convincing recreation of that era, with leathery greasers, rebellious teens, and crazy school dances.

The set consists of gym bars, lockers, dining tables, bleachers and staircases, with a central podium for Elvis-esque radio host Fontaine (Joe Gash) to announce from, eventually leading into the Rydell dance competition, and the campy ‘Beauty School Drop Out’ as he descends the stage in hot-pink angel wings, like a little flamingo coming down the heavenly staircase in the most out-of-pocket and another iconic sequence of the show.

The set also gets a Halloween make-over and changes up from time to time, the most impressive set being the neon lit burger palace or the spooktacular dance. 

One prop I’ll never get over in theatre is a car. Back to the Future had me in awe with the DeLorean, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang wows audiences with its innovation, and Grease has one of the most classy cars, wheeled about to the drive-through, praised by Danny and Kenickie (Ben Nicholas), and most impressively danced on during the equally iconic ‘Greased Lightning’.

While it felt odd that Danny wasn’t the one singing the famous lines, the choreography, pyrotechnics, moving light effects around the car’s frame and wheels, and the enigmatic energy of the typically horny song make up for it.

The only other sequences that comes close to this were ‘We Go Together’ and the incredible finale mash-up and sing-a-long, the latter of which had the audience on their feet singing and dancing (although some unfortunately couldn’t contain themselves during the show’s initial performances of these songs, as is often the case with classics and jukebox musicals). 

Speaking of the show’s sexuality, I had actually forgotten how much was cooked into the story! The show develops a heavy-handed approach to the gang’s sex urges, with lots of sex jokes, thrusting, flirting, teasing about Sandy’s virginity, and cringy yet often funny attempts from the ‘Burger Palace Boys’ to flirt with the ‘Pink Ladies’, including the aggressive Rizzo (Rebecca Stenhouse), and the cute and bubbly Frenchy (Alicia Belgarde).

My favourite joke was subtle and hilarious, with Danny telling Sandy not to leave him at the drive-through before bursting into song seconds later about how he’s “stranded at the drive-through” during the piney ‘Sandy’ sung expertly by Fenton.

That suave Travolta attitude, mixed with Fenton’s own twists on the character, endearing vocals, and his more vulnerable moments as Danny are incredible to behold. I craved those moments where Danny might finally break his bravado and show Sandy he cares because of the endearing performance of Fenton, but just wished that the script would have allowed for more of this vulnerability like the movie adaptation had.

There were so many other great cast members and interesting characters developed too.

My main issue with the show lies not with this particular version of the show but the theatre version itself. While I loved that other characters were fleshed out and that we had a sprinkling of “newer” (actually old and a little less catchy) songs, I felt Sandy and Danny’s character developments were neglected quite a bit. We have a rather disjunct plot with gang fights, dance competitions, fall-outs, pregnancy scares, dropping out of school, fixing up cars, and various other things happening one after the other, with Danny and Sandy’s relationship supposedly being the central arc that weaves it together.

However, it sometimes feels like that chemistry between the two is never fully explored aside from their romantic shared summer in the opening. Sandy randomly goes to the drive-in with Danny after he ignores her at the dance and constantly seems attracted to him despite him treating her like dirt or flirting with other women and listening to Rizzo bad-mouth her.

Then there’s the fact that Danny’s redemption never occurs, halting his character development as he ditches track as Sandy predicted (unlike the movie where he became a letterman to prove he had changed). Instead, he’s often rude, horny and flaky, undermining the moment where Sandy changes for him, dressing in bedazzled leather and flirting confidently with him.

In the movie, this moment felt empowering and confident as she satisfied her own doubts as well as trying to meet Danny in the middle. In this version, it felt a little less punchy as Danny remains his horny and suave self, not proving anything to Sandy, and ultimately just making her feel like another one of the girls despite their chemistry in ‘You’re the One That I Want’.

Other odd choices include getting rid of Greased Lightning and never seeing it revamped, the rival gang fight not happening, and their quarrel never amounting again (yet one of the ‘Burger Palace Boys’ somehow gets a black eye afterwards), Rizzo and Sandy’s lack of reconciliation, and the absence of Sandy especially with her supposed friends (the ‘Pink Ladies’).

Ultimately, it felt like there were some choices that, while true to the original show, meant certain character developments and arcs didn’t always play out with that desired catharsis, unlike its movie counterpart.

While the second half was my favourite part, with the most fast-paced routines, and iconic songs, there were quite a few of these moments that didn’t come to fruition and needed a little refining.

Saying this, my issue lies in the musical’s original storyline more than this particular adaptation, which took a grittier vibe, held a magnifying glass to the interesting side characters, and brought oodles of energy and charisma.

Despite this, the show’s casting is phenomenal, with particular stand-out performances being Rizzo and Sandy, who were both incredible powerhouses, both evoking powerful emotions in their solo performances.

Dawe’s ‘Hopelessly Devoted to You’ evoked the same intensity as Olivia Newton-John’s iteration yet nicely varied from the original (despite its timing after the dance feeling a little odd), and her performance of ‘Look at Me, I’m Sandra Dee (Reprise)’ was incredible.

Stenhouse’s ‘There Are Worse Things I Could Do’ captured the ferocity of a woman scorned by judgement, somehow creating the same vivacious energy as Mama Rose’s passionate outbursts in Gypsy.

Ironically, while I didn’t recall this character from the movie, I loved the characterisation of Doody (Kieran Lynch), the more kind-mannered and shy one of the group, who also (kind of) plays guitar. His high voice had that chaotic ‘T-Birds’/’Burger Palace Boys’ ring, yet his singing voice was lusciously smooth.

Ultimately, Grease is an “electrifying” night out with nostalgic storylines, iconic songs, amazing harmonies, stunning (and exhausting) dance routines, charismatic and memorable characters, and a talented cast of performers. It perfectly captures that raw 50s feel but loses its way at times with its beefier story meandering slightly, and not quite matching the cathartic ending of the movie’s adaptation.

Grease runs at Palace Theatre Manchester until October 12 and tours the UK until November 16.

Photo: Marc Brenner