When I, an avid musical theatre fan and longtime member of MUST (St Andrews Musical Theatre Society), discovered that the upcoming autumn show was going to be Grease, two emotions flooded through me: excitement (c’mon it’s grease) and curiosity.
Grease requires a car, Grease Lightening, and I was fascinated to discover exactly what the ever elusive ‘car-plan’ was going to be. What I wasn’t expecting for a car to be brought on by two tire-wielding stagehands to rapturous applause (myself included) who seemed to be lapping up their moment in the spotlight—after Rocky Horror’s other prominent stagehands, clearly this is the era of the tech, and I am here for it!
Grease is the word! Credit: Ellen Rowlett.
Now, I thought I knew Grease—I rewatched the movie and even Grease Live in preparation for this show— but when I watched the first act, I mostly felt confused. The sleepover scene came and went and there was no Sandra Dee, and I was fairly convinced that this was secretly the Junior version of the production when that song appeared during a park scene that I had never heard of before. When the interval came—and to We Go Together, no less— I quickly went on to Wikipedia to make sure that this wasn’t secretly a concert and discovered that I in fact do not know Grease, and you probably don’t either, and that’s okay! So long as you don’t make the same mistake as the people sat beside the reviewer’s corner and leave during the interval because you’re missing out on a treat.
In short, despite showing off my ignorance (oops), this show is brilliant. Of course, it wasn’t without hitches, frequently the band got confused—leaving poor Sandy stranded right before Hopelessly Devoted, as she sat on the stage patiently waiting for them to start her solo, or, at another point, started to play the transition music, stopped, paused, and then began to replay the same transition music, a moment so noticeable that the audience laughed— there was one seemingly random blackout, and set changes took a fair bit of time as the mysterious people in black attempted to collect strewn pillows from around the stage, or to cautiously lift a table covered in glass bottles out of fear that it’d drop (and, inevitably smash). However, these did not detract from the spectacle.
As soon as Sandy began singing, chills ran down my body, and as I briefly looked around the audience, I spotted countless people waving their arms, swaying to the music, and even heard a few singers humming along behind me! Both Sandy (Maeve Murray) and Rizzo (Isabella Gustitus) performed incredibly, and both left me with chills after their solos. Gustitus’ performance was convincing, heartbreaking, and brilliant. In Act 1, I was slightly concerned because I felt like Gustitus was playing Rizzo too sweet, but she quite quickly proved me wrong when There Are Worse Things I Could Do pulled my heart out and shattered it into a thousand little pieces. Not only were the vocals incredibly impressive, but the expressiveness in, not only her body language, but also the musicality (directed by May Tomlinson) shaped this much-done song into something new.
Summer Days. Credit: Ellen Rowlett.
The male leads were just as impressive, Callum Wardman-Browne’s Danny was sympathetic, a rarity for the sleaziest (greasiest?) character in Musical Theatre, and his solo has been rolling through my head since the show ended—the little why-y-y is a true earworm, you have been warned. Ian Crew’s Kenickie was dynamic, systematic, hydromatic, and he was just like lightening on stage, not to mention the fact that his hair was probably the most film-accurate of all the hairdos on the stage— it quite literally defied gravity.
Honestly, all the cast were exceptional. The T-Birds were all great individually and in a group—I especially enjoyed Ruby Thake’s Roger, who was sweet, awkward, and his duet about mooning was amazing, despite the sound issues that plagued it, as the microphones seemed to glitch in and out of existence— though I am not one to judge as I would be absolutely useless behind a sound board! Doody’s solo, Those Magic Changes, performed by Marco Gil Harris accompanied first by himself on the guitar (he actually strummed!) and then the band, was truly amazing— he has the voice of an angel.
And, speaking of angels, now to discuss the Teen Angel. This is truly the era of Matthew Colquhoun strutting across the Byre stage, his third show this term, second that I’ve reviewed, and his third scene-stealing role. From the moment he started to cross, his white suit shining despite the blackout, the audience was laughing. When he draped himself across the iconic chaise longue, legs hanging partially off, and all the way throughout Beauty School Dropout—including hitting a nightmare note perfectly—he was hilarious and perfectly cast. The subtle digs at Frenchie were beautifully acknowledged, and the mid-number applause was entirely deserved.
Act Two opens with one of the biggest numbers in theatre: the Hand Jive. It was impressive, with both full cast moments and amazing character features—great lifts (especially for Jan performed by Nim Warner) and callbacks to other productions in Jan and Rizzo, whilst Frenchie’s (Sophie Longstaff) little bull fighter moment had me cackling. The song was impressively sung by Ben Stockil, a shining moment performed in an equally shiny outfit. The highlight of the Hand Jive is, of course, the pair of Danny and Cha Cha (Calia Reilly) who both performed splits, jumps, and lifts and truly proved the triple act status of both Wardman-Browne and Reilly.
Born to Handjive. Credit: Ellen Rowlett.
I also want to take a moment to appreciate one of the best (and most underappreciated) characters in Grease: Patty Simcox. She’s an overachiever who is desperately chasing after Danny with little success. Performed by Bella Yow, Patty plays more of a background role, and yet my eyes were drawn to her every single time. Whilst Danny and Sandy are talking, I’m focusing on Yow bending and wiggling her ass to try and distract, or her bending down and trying to show off her boobs. At the end of the show, she drags herself as though she’s some kind of swamp creature and I am not exaggerating when I say that the audience was howling.
This show could not have gone forward without such a brilliant team, and I want to take a moment to congratulate Director Caroline Daley for her excellent handling of the sheer horniness of this show—seriously, every other line is an innuendo— and her ability to bring together such an excellent show. Grease rocked the Byre Stage and the audience left with the biggest grins on their faces, having danced, hummed, and howled. Naturally there were a few hitches, but this is student theatre and so that is inevitable, and I’m sure that by tonight those will be entirely ironed out—so if you manage to get some last minute tickets on the door (as they’re deservedly sold out) you’re in for a treat!
Grease is running at the Byre Theatre from the 12th-14th November. It is currently sold out.
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