Review: Grease youngsters fizz with energy and talent
Review: Grease by York Stage Musicals
Venue: Grand Opera House, September 16
Before the iconic movie there was the stage show Grease, way back in 1971. The movie didn’t come along until 1978 but that’s the performance that most people remember.
Who can forget the songs, the outfits and John Travolta with a quiff and Olivia Newton John in black Lycra? It’s one of those classics that we all love and remember fondly.
It was with a little trepidation that news of an amateur performance of Grease by York Stage Musicals was received. How could you take the best parts of the movie and bring them to a small stage at the Grand Opera House and do them justice?
And with amateurs making up the cast as well. Hopefully the familiar music alone would be enough to carry the show.
There was no reason to worry, this amateur cast were anything but, their enthusiasm for their performance shone through and was more than obvious to the audience. It was an excellent show full of energy and vitality.
You could tell how hard the whole company had worked to perfect their performances and singing. There are some stars of the future in this company for sure.
For a start the cast looked the right age. It has to be said that several of the cast characters in the movie were pushing the boundaries of belief when it came to them being high school students, that wasn’t the case with the York Stage Musicals version as many of the cast members are still students themselves, and certainly have some great experience and performances behind them.
One of the boys ballet attempts was rather funny (although I am not sure it was supposed to be).
We all have our favourite characters, mine being Kenickie (Reese McMahon) and Rizzo (Lauren Sheriston) and my daughter’s being Sandy (Robyn McIntyre). But I have to say one of the star performances came from local girl Katie Glover in her role as Frenchie.
There were several songs that weren’t in the movie and as with all the songs they were very well performed and received.
Grease is on at the Grand Opera House until Saturday and is a real treat for all the family.
- Grease is at the Grand Opera House until September 21. Performances start at 7.30pm, with matinees on Friday and Saturday
- For more information see the Grand Opera House website