Grease

Grease
Book, Music and Lyrics by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Presented by The Q, Queanbeyan Arts Centre. Directed by Stephen Pike. The Q, 253 Crawford Street Queanbeyan. 29 July – 15 August 2015

Director Stephen Pike triumphs again with a bright and brash take on this 70s-come-50s nostalgia classic. To sum it up, fabulous! The costumes, the singing, the choreography, the set design, the great use of LED lighting panels, and use of a largely young, enthusiatic cast all adds up to a vibrant experience. I can remember asking Mum what the phrase “a bun in the oven” meant after seeing Grease in Year 6, a class excursion the teachers had to fight to get past the P & C. In fact, you’d be hard pushed to find an audience member for whom Grease wasn’t a formative experience, which means the old issue of how to treat something everyone’s an expert on is turned up to eleven. Mr Pike’s solution is to keep the musical, costuming and characters strictly faithful to the original, while letting designers go to town with the look of the set and lighting. The moment the main cast struts out, they’re recognisable as the characters you know and love—you’re thinking hey, there’s Frenchy, Cha Cha, Jan, Rizzo, Kenickie. Not only that, there seem to be allusions to other nostalgic set pieces. Marcus Hurley isn’t just John Travolta’s Danny, he’s got the odd gesture borrowed from Arthur Fonzarelli and Vinnie Barbarino. There’s a touch of American Graffiti neon in the colours and set, and poor old butt of all jokes, nerd Eugene (Hayden Crosweller) channels Horshack from Welcome Back Kotter. Not sure whether I was imagining it, but Sandy (Rosanna Boyd) in her pre-transformation phase even seemed to shuffle a bit like Saffron from Absolutely Fabulous.

The music had the audience itching to get up and dance. Ms Boyd looks the image of The Neutron Bomb herself, and she nails Olivia’s vibrato and that slight country twang. That final duet with Marcus Hurley, “You’re the One That I Want”, was every bit as brilliant as the original. In an otherwise faultless performance, perhaps Mr Hurley could have toned down the accent just a little in “Sandy” but it’s a small complaint that only stands out because the rest of it is so good.

Emerging young talents Dave Collins, Risa Craig, Sophie Hopkins, Amelia Juniper-Grey and Tristan Davies all shine in their solos. The opening number “Grease is the Word” was a bit muddy and maybe could have been improved by transcribing up a key or two. But then it always was an oddity, written by a band known for their falsetto voices, sung by a 50s celebrity most famous for his falsetto, but in 70s-style requiring only a limited range and in a low register. Liam Downing’s “Greased Lightning” was vibrant and exciting, accompanied by the fabulous dance ensemble. The dance was vibrant and exciting, as you would expect having been choreographed by the wonderful Jordan Kelly. But for me the absolute stand out performance was Vanessa de Jager, unrecognisable under the cute short wig, as Rizzo. Her sarcastic “Look at Me, I’m Sandra Dee” was hilarious and her version of “There Are Worse Things I Could Do” was deeply and surprisingly moving, full of regret and pride.

Just don’t think too much about what it means – it’s peer pressure, the musical – but instead go along and enjoy the memories. You’ll have to be quick to get a ticket since many of the performances were sold out well before the opening.

Cathy Bannister

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