Annelisa Hall and Joseph Santi. Photo: Jess Busby
It’s fun, it’s colourful, delivered with verve, a good dollop of irreverence and at a cracking pace. In this iteration of Grease the Musical, what’s not to like? Even before Sandy (Annelisa Hall) and Danny (Joseph Spanti) are seen in silhouette in the opening number, we’ve been treated to a collage of 1950s advertising material and graphics (credit here to video designer Craig Wilkinson) – and so a grinning moon is perfectly fitting as our lovesick pair part on their last summer night.
The set and costumes are technicolor bright, especially for the Pink Ladies (who appear in a later number clad in various pastel shades of negligees) and later still in the red and gold jackets in the ‘Greased Lightin’ ‘ scene. Set, costume and wigs designer James Browne said he wanted to retain the 1950s feel but he also wanted to demonstrate a contemporary feel, reflecting how we see the ’50s today. He has certainly succeeded.
Browne was taking his cue from director Luke Joslin, who wanted to honour the original story (which began on Broadway in 1972, but which has been eclipsed by the 1978 film with Olivia Newton John and John Travolta) but also to make it ‘cool, fresh and bold’.
Everyone (or at least every one in the audience on the opening night) knows the songs and the first big number ‘Summer Nights’ sets the tone for a fun night.
Among the principals, Mackenzie Dunn as Rizzo is a knockout, a glorious mix of sass and vulnerability. Her rendition of ‘There are Worse Things I Could Do’ really upped the emotional ante and earned her the biggest applause for a solo on the night.
As the leads, Hall and Spanti give us an attractive Sandy and Danny, and deliver their numbers well, but aren’t totally convincing as two people madly in love and destine for one another. Of course, it’s a big ask for Sandy, who’s actually doing a fine job as being Sandy albeit in demure, pale blue full-skirted costume, to suddenly don a black leather jacket and assume a different personality to fit in with the perceived status quo, but that’s Grease for you – and ‘You’re the One That I Want’ number is a definite crowd-pleaser. And (spoiler alert!) Sandy does get her man, so maybe that’s a tick for feminism.
Big name draws – Marcia Hines as Teen Angel, who gets everyone on side with her powerful voice in ‘Beauty School Dropout’ and Jay Laga’aia, who belts out ‘Born To Hand Jive’ – are, as you would expect, a delight. And Patti Newton’s strutting Miss Lynch earned her fair share of adulation.
Despite Joslin’s intentions, the story may be a tad hackneyed for 2024 but what’s not is that it is an all-Australian production. And that in itself is worth celebrating, so thanks John Frost and Crossroads Live! The choreography is tight, and if a good sing-along musical, delivered with zest and energy, is the one that you want, then here it is.
