Pelican Productions. Arts Theatre. 8 Aug 2026
Grease has become one of the modern standards of musical theatre. It’s the contemporary West Side Story, although interestingly they’re both set in the 1950’s and feature teenage lovers who have to overcome one or two obstacles. For Grease, rather than the tragedy of Tony and Maria (or Romeo and Juliet) played out in the tenements of New York, we have the experiences of writers Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey set in a working class Rydell High School in Chicago.
The production has become a bit more sanitised over the years – while there is still a reference to teenage pregnancy and an allusion of gang warfare, all the sharp edges have been blunted, and it’s pretty much family fare.
Everyone knows the plot and the songs by now; the musical has been performed since 1971 and the film just pushed it into the stratosphere – one of the songs We Go Together is even featured in the animated children’s feature The Secret Life of Pets.
There are two casts sharing this performance duties in this production; this review covers Cast 2. The show opens with Grease is the Word and this gives a promising indication of what is to come from Director Vanessa Lee Shirley. The energy is high, the voices are strong and the poodle skirts flash across the stage in a cacophony of bright colours (Costume Designers Kylie Green and Emma Pool). There are a few sound smudges but these are worked out as we go along.
The performers are supported by a fantastic live band, who sit atop the action on a mezzanine floor. They really came to the fore with some great saxophone and trombone particularly in Hand Jive; under the direction of Ben Francis the band kept it pumping all night. Nic Collins choreography is as tight as you would expect for performers schooled in dance, and vocally, there were some real standouts. Of particular note was Connor Foreman as Roger singing Mooning, a beautiful tenor with a great falsetto.
There were more triple threats than you could shake your booty at. Alek Kudra and Ali Burns (Danny and Sandy) anchored this great ensemble, with great performances from Henry Green (Kenickie) and Caitlin Laventure as the defensive but tough talking leader of the Pink Ladies, while Francis Osei-Tuttu does a fine turn on the dance floor. Mark Stefanoff’s Beauty School Dropout is another highlight while the standout is the entire company coming together for the afore mentioned We Go Together.
The twist in Grease that stands it apart from many redemption tales, is that the rough boy Danny is not tamed by the good girl Sandy; instead she conforms to his ideals, losing the skirt and cardigan for leather pants, tight tops and sexy dance moves and a rip roaring version of You’re the One That I Want. It’s perhaps the best-known song in this musical, along with Hopelessly Devoted to You, yet neither of them belong to the original stage version, both being written by Australian John Farrar for the movie. This is one of those instances where the various versions of a production have melded together to create a stronger whole.
Pelican Productions has a long history in youth theatre and they have a great pool of performers to call on from their various classes and workshops. There are performers at differing levels of their development, but the ensemble work is to be lauded.
In terms of the contemporary appeal of Grease, I have to relate a conversation had in the audience. A young man asked about the location when Sandy and Danny are grappling in the front seat of Greased Lightning. When told they were at the drive-in, there was a slight pause, then the question, ‘What’s a drive-in?’. How time goes by.
Arna Eyers-White
When: 8 to 9 Aug
Where: Arts Theatre
When: Closed
