Wales Millenium Centre – until 19 October 2019
Reviewed by Rhys Payne
3***
Grease the Musical, which landed at the Wales Millenium Centre, is one of the most well-known story lines in history. Musical and non-musical fans have no doubt watched the film (starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John) which means that putting on a tour of such an iconic story in the form of a musical is a very difficult thing to do well but this production coped well with the general expectations.
The story of grease has had many iterations in its history from the original play (written by Warren Casey and Jim Jacobs) to the more refined broadway adaptation, to the film version that many people know and love and finally to every slightly altered version on the touring productions. This means the actors and producers have a very difficult task to make each production unique enough so the audience doesn’t feel as if they have seen it all before but while still keeping the iconic world of Grease that people are familiar with.
In this version the story began with Danny and Sandy, from the audience’s perspective, were standing inside a big TV that showed the image of a beach which is obviously a look back to their ‘summer romance’ which everyone is familiar with but the TV lighting was very unique and interesting. The creative time managed to blend the tradition of Grease with newer ideas and nothing showcased it more than this opening scene. From a personal perspective, I didn’t particularly like this TV concept as it was ridiculously cheesy and over-the-top but that is just a personal preference and I know that many people thought that this was a fantastic inclusion. A similar idea was used during the drive-in movie theatre scene were a projection of a film was put into what looked like a projector screen so the audience could clearly see the film however it was in the green and red 3D effect which made sense as Danny and Sandy were wearing 3D glasses. I much preferred this technical aspect but also am appreciative of all the ways the team on this show tried to make this tour unique and special to the audience.
The highlight of this show was the fantastic dancing shown throughout especially by the male members of the cast. The choreographer has planned complex routines that looked incredible when compared with the lights and staging. The song Grease Lightning for me was a fantastic showcase of dance which diverted from the dance moves everyone thinks of when thinking about this number but was incredible nether the less. Despite this though I felt the number needed to be bigger. This show is one of the most well-known numbers in the film and music and I expect a massive impact which this production slightly missed despite the inclusion of gymnastics and a flying car. In my opinion, it was the lights that let this number down it didn’t reflect the magnitude of the song. This concept of being slightly let down with the iconic moments in the show reappeared towards the show with Sandy’s big entrance in her new attire. With this production, she simply walked through a set of doors located downstage right almost off stage and so the shock of seeing her and Danny’s shock didn’t happen at the same time. I thought that she should have some sort of big moment with a spotlight so the two reactions align.
As a general note, the accents in this show needed work. Many people slipped in and out of the characters accents which are really frustrating to see. Some actors, when speaking in their desire accents, needed work on their pronunciation and devotion as it was often times very hard to understand what they were saying which makes the show difficult to follow. One accents that I found particularly annoying was Sonny Latieri (played by Damian Buhagiar) who had a very exaggerated Mexican accent however he was the most consistent actor with his accents which was great to see.
It is important to note that not all the blame for clarity of dialogue should go to the actors themselves, this show had a lot of microphones issues with the microphones not being on when they should be and so the volume was not always correct which meant people closer to the back of the auditorium would struggle to hear everything. This can be attributed to ‘opening night teething’ but still needed to be improved for future performances.
Darren Bennet who played both the Teen Angel and Vince Fontaine was very entertaining in this show but he appeared to excel more as being the teen angel than Vince. His singing as the Angel for Beauty School Dropout was amazing and was one of the highlights of the show. My only qualm with the teen angel role is that in the programme and certain advertising they use Peter Andre in the role however there is no mention of him in the programme and he isn’t in the show I saw which is very confusing and misleading. Another minor character that I personally enjoyed was Doody, played by Jordan Abbey. This character helped to provide many of the comical moments in the show but also he fitted the character perfect. The fresh-faced Jordan was believable as almost the plucky sidekick. Both the casting team and Jordan himself managed to fill this role perfectly.
Having to take on such a big role in this iconic show must be very difficult as you technically have all the stress and pressure of the big names who have taken on the role before you. Dan Partridge’s portrayal of the lead role Danny Zuko was very on-brand for the character. The problem with this character is that you have to be able to have enough swagger that the mannerism and actions look somewhat natural and logical to you as an actor. Dan Partridge excelled at the physicalisation of this role and made for a very believable cool group leader. On top of this, his singing was fantastic.
Another incredibly difficult character to portray in this show in Rizzo. She is a bad-ass throughout but obviously by the end of the story you are supposed to feel sorry for her. Rhianne-Louise Mccaulsky who took on this role was great but I think she wasn’t quite able to balance this concept. I think the directorial team made a decision to portray Rizo as almost a bully and so at the end, the sympathy from the audience wasn’t particularly there. However, Rhianne-Louise more than made up for it with her incredible vocals especially during ‘worse things I could do’ which was out of this world and had many of the audience members in tears. This song for me was the highlight of the entire show.
Overall, this production of Grease the Musical was unique and special but there were some aspects that were unpolished and needed work. I would rate this production 3 stars and would recommend it to any Grease fans who want to see how production companies can keep Grease modern and relevant in today’s times.