Review: THE ORIGINAL GREASE Is A Gritty, Honest Return To The Darker Side Of 1959 Working Class Chicago

Friday 8th April 2016, 7:30pm, Reginald Theatre, Seymour Centre

Squabbalogic captures Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey's (Book, Music and Lyrics) original vision of the iconic story in THE ORIGINAL GREASE. Stripped back from its sanitized Broadway and Hollywood treatment, this recreation of the original version highlights that Jacobs and Casey had much more of a story to tell than the one most people know.

As Director Jay James-Moody outlines in the program, this work is a reconstruction of the original work, conducted in 2010 by Jim Jacobs and American Theatre Company in Chicago Director PJ Papparelli. It strips away songs written for the 1972 Broadway production and the 1978 movie, returns songs that were cut prior to its original Chicago debut, and returns the sound to an authentic 1950's and early 60's Rock'n'Roll. It also has a broader focus where all of the characters were given depth as they went through this period of change in their lives. It is unapologetic in the way it addresses issues facing teens of the time from drinking, smoking, sex, needing to fit in, living in what seemed like a dead end town and the threat of nuclear war.

Set designer Georgia Hopkins has created a grungy garage inspired set complete with tires holding up the band's platform, cable reels, and beat up metal lockers. As THE ORIGINAL GREASE has less focus on the restoration of a car than the movie, it seems that Hopkins has opted for this focus on the mechanic's space may be to give the audience more comfort around the connection between this work and the more familiar movie. The grey palette of the assorted items allows the audience to imagine that the space is a range of other locations from the high school hall and courtyard, Jan's home, parklands and the street corners where the Burger Palace Boys hung out. Hopkins has also utilized a garage window in early scenes to set the scene before the drama has the opportunity to explain the setting, from the banner of the school's 50th Anniversary of the Class of 1960 to the images of the 1950's and 60's. Later, the window serves as an additional point of egress, along with a pathway through the band, to allow a variety of entrances and exits.

To offset the drab grey set, Costume Designer Brendan Hay has drawn on the bold styles of the era. For the Pink Ladies, their confidence in their sexuality is expressed in stuffed exposed bras, wiggle skirts and colorful short romper outfits. As opposed to the well-known uniform jackets, the girls have embellished a variety of jackets and tops with the Pink Ladies Logo, but no two girls wear the same style of garment, each has been carefully selected for the character's individual taste and body type as James-Moody has thoughtfully cast the students to represent a cross section of the community that would be found in a school. The 'good girls' Sandy and Patty are presented in more demure full skirts but Patty's bust line alludes to the possibility that she isn't as pure as she'd like people to think as she harbors an infatuation with the disinterested Danny. Hay has selected jeans, undershirts, check shirts and leather jackets for the boys, the 'Greasers', but refrains from the uniform embroidery that the group was known for in later incarnations of the show. He has defined each boy with a similar individuality to the girls, with the nerdier Miller, returned to the storyline, bearing a satchel and Doody being almost preppy in contrast to Danny, Sonny and Kenickie's harder image. Hay goes all out, drawing on his flamboyant cabaret connections, to create Teen Angel and Vince Fontaine as caricatures and comic relief against the raw realism of the rest of the production.

Presented as a flashback from the Class of 1960's 50th Reunion, the story has plot points that many are familiar with but also includes more depth. Patty has a bigger, more defined character, and the characters of Miller and Roger/Rump are returned to the story. Whilst the story still weaves around the relationship between Sandy, this time from Chicago, and Danny, there is more even focus on the other girls and boys. It is more defined in its era, culture and location and makes the hard issues and the Kids' handling of these situations more prominent. It gives the girls more power, particularly Sandy's decision to relax and give Danny another chance, but on her terms, along with giving her a more human response like the catfight with Rizzo when she finds her mocking her with Look At Me I'm Sandra Dee. .

The ensemble present the works with an understanding of the lyrics, as evidenced by Coral Mercer-Jones moving rendition of Rizzo's There Are Worse Things I Could Do which highlights her own lack of self-confidence and loneliness, covered by her 'selling' her body and thinking that sex equated to love, along with pointing out to Sandy, that if she were truly Christian, she wouldn't be judging but rather supporting her. Similarly Kiss It is presented by Sandy and the Pink Ladies with a power and confidence that puts the girls in charge of the situation, no longer accepting a subservient position of women of the past.

Choreographer Simone Sallé has captured the energy of the era with wonderful choreography to Benjamin Kiehne's (Musical Director) tight music. The early rock'n'roll sound is recreated by the 6 piece band whilst Sallé recreates the swinging dances that see girls thrown around in full skirts in the limited space available. She has ensured that the dances have been adapted to suit each character without mocking them. Whilst there were sound issues with the balance of the band drowning out singers, body microphones not registering at the right moments and some of the vocals being weaker than one would expect, the energy and honesty go a long way in making up for these shortfalls.

THE ORIGINAL GREASE is a wonderful expression of another era and it should be seen by many more people so that the real story of the 'Greaser Gangs' and the early Rock'n'Roll generation is properly understood rather than the saccharine version of the movie that so many accept.

THE ORIGINAL GREASE

Reginald Theatre, Seymour Centre

6 April - 7 May 2016

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