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Nicholas de Jongh's rating
, Grease is under-sexed, under-done and under par
By
Nicholas de Jongh
9 Aug 2007
How under-sexed, how under-done and under par I found director David Gilmore's attempt to put the brilliantine back into Grease!
Yet this famous high school musical, set in the Fifties when leather jackets were fresh fashion items, when girls in flashy cars at drive-in movies warded off kisses and clung to their virginity, was welcomed by first-nighters like a long-lost lover.
The wild reception surely owes plenty to the way it followed in the song and dance footsteps of The Sound Of Music and Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat: prime-time TV viewers were asked to choose which performers should be awarded Grease's romantic lead roles.
This craze for turning the public into a nation of casting directors has already worked small wonders at the box office. The trick, though, fares less well with Grease than it did with The Sound Of Music or Joseph. Neither of the leads, a less than dynamic Danny Bayne as gang-leader Danny Zuko and Susan McFadden as the girl for whom he falls but cannot pick up, display the singing and acting charisma required to galvanise this almost plotless musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey.
Gilmore's production, with neon-lit, basic sets that swing from high school to burger palace, proves no match for his 1993 production on which this is closely modelled. Almost everything and everyone is now caught in caricature's grasp rather than garlanded in satire - from the posturing high school gang boys to the girls wearing ridiculously ornate party dresses.
They gabble like zombies, talk of little but sex, while doing little about it. Even the boy-grabbing Rizzo, whom the outstanding cast-member, Jayde Westaby, makes first hard-edged and then vulnerable in her finely delivered song, There Are Worse Things I could do, merely suffers a phantom pregnancy.
The words of the songs, from Shakin' At The High School Hop to Greased Lightnin' with boys dancing atop a silver car, tend to be regularly submerged by the small but overpowerful band. These numbers may offer amusing pastiches of Fifties rock'n' roll and gentler pop, but I could not hear to tell.
Arlene Phillips's choreography had such sexy gusto in 1993. Now the dancing tends to be careful rather than dynamic. Just once, in Beauty School Drop-Out, with a Busby Berkeley stairway to heaven, girls wearing white mortar boards and silk dresses, glittering hand mirrors focused on faces, does the staging betray flashes of fun and imagination.
As Danny Zuko, the high school gang-leader who wears an Elvis, greasy quiff and a James Dean leather jacket, Bayne ought to project male cool and cockiness, with a touch of the bashful when he falls in love at first sight.
He needs to send waves of sex appeal lapping over Susan McFadden's new girl, Sandy Dumbrowski, who remains for most of the musical something of a Dumbroadski, as primly wholesome as Doris Day. Bayne, always several, unfortunate centigrade above cool, looks a neat dancer but not much of a gang leader. He makes little of Zuko's awkwardness in love, even when revealing his heart in song.
McFadden's Sandy reveals a shrill singing voice and her attempts to play prim make her look elderly-confused. When she finally shakes down her hair and slips into a sexy leotard the transformation smacks of silly fairy tale.
Is it not high time producers found real stars for musicals again?
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Reader views (20)
i saw this musical 4 month ago and i just loved it !
the acy is so talented and bring the old classic back to life - rizzo is just fab!!
... you most see it !!
- Revital Sition, israei, 11/04/2010 17:22
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Music great, actors great, dancers great .... that is apart from Danny and Susan - they were absolute rubbish and not worth my money! Danny was like a pansy!
- Sloojy, uk, 27/02/2010 10:55
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Went and saw grease on 14th November 2009 with my husband for his 50th birthday, was fantastic Ray Quinn as Danny was awesome and Emma Stephens as Sandy had a fantastic voice. Stuart Ramsey was brilliant as well.
Had a great scene with three men in the shower that was really funny. Ray Quinn threw his hair comb at the end of the performance and I was lucky enough to catch it. The whole show was packed with loads of great singing and dancing. Fantastic cast well done.
- Michelle Norris, Essex, 15/11/2009 21:32
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Went to see Grease last night.Danny was good,but Sandy's voice was too overpowering next to Danny.The best in the production was Riz!
- Viv Houry, London, 10/04/2009 10:19
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Boooring!
I can't believe people think this show is entertaining and see star quality here. This comes to show that it doesn't really matter what you do, people will be amazed by anything that's on the stage.
Acting is lame, singing is OK and dancing choreography is just ordinary. Danny is just average no singing and his bad-boy attitude is more ridiculous than tough...if I were John Travolta I'd sue this guy.
Plot is still to be found and everything is predictable (pants down for the class nerd...come on! If at least he had been wearing a thong it might have been original). The whole show is basically boring and even the music altough being live sounds softer than the movie on DVD.
I wouldn't (and won't) recommend it to anyone.
- Rod, London, UK, 14/02/2009 13:46
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After seeing the well-raved and talked about musical grease, i was stunned at the level of performance. The dance numbers were great, the singing was tuneful and strong, the acting was as realistic as west end gets and the upbeat atmosphere left me buzzing the whole night.
When i went to see the show (1/09/08) Ray Quinn was staring as Doody. Ray is most well known for placing runner-up in X-factor 2006 and has from then on created a busy life with many talents shining through. He excelled at acting, singing and dancing in the Picadilly Theatre.
My favourite parts of the show were the entracote dancing scences. These reallt inspired me with my dancing and i loved the choreography. Everyone was on time and the songs were fabulous. Having the show in a larger theatre would of made a huge difference as everything would of been bigger and better. But i think they did well with the size of the stage they had.
After having a really great time at the show made me want to see it all over again. I would really recommend this show to families and anyone who love's the film released 1978!
- Kirsty Sherrott, Dartford, England, 15/12/2008 18:37
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I saw the show last year and 'it was absolute pants' acting was wooden, Danny was overweight and the singing was awful. I received tickets as a gift this summer and thought 'oh no, here we go again' but I must say the show was more polished, Danny was more 'hunky' and the singing was great. They seemed to have more energy. Now I would recommend it. I think it has shown, negative feedback can change things around.
- Sue, Essex, England, 29/09/2008 21:53
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After seeing the well raved musical Grease I was stunned by the high standard and charisma. The dance numbers were flawless and energetic, the vocals were out of this world and the cast members were fab! If I did have one criticism it would have been that they should have got a bigger theatre but other than that it was truly a memorable experience. I would definitely recommend this west end musical to anybody and I hope that they have as good as a time as me.
- Kirsty, kent, england, 13/09/2008 17:30
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If you're a fan of Grease, I recommend you go and buy the DVD and settle down at home with a takeaway and a bottle of wine. This wasn’t worth the tube fare, let alone the price of admission. At least one person we saw walked out halfway through, and if it hadn't been my Daughter's birthday treat I would have joined her. As it was I found myself nodding off more than once, and almost begged for it to end. To be fair, Bayne was not performing the night when we went (25/7/08) but I saw no great quality in any of the remaining cast, so this didn’t seem to be the issue.
We watched a plot-lacking jumble of songs, dances and bursts of unconnected dialogue, which might have worked if more had come from the movie, but it seemed almost half the songs weren’t even original. The stage looked small and cramped, and with sets and props that were thin and unconvincing. Acting, and singing talents were similarly weak, and the whole thing had an air of amateur theatre about it.
I began to cringe during the interminable and effusive curtain calls, so blatantly did they try to elicit applause. Paradoxically they lasted as long as some of the numbers in the show and with better choreography, but not even this last burst of energy and smiles could cover up the preceding two hours of torture. Yes, some of the audience - including my 9 year old - thought it was great, I didn’t. Compared to ‘Chitty Chitty’ Mary Poppins’ and the great ‘Mamma Mia’ this was bottom draw.
- John Fernandez, Haywards Heath, England, 27/07/2008 09:19
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I have seen Danny and Susan in Grease twice and I thought they were amazing. They are both stars, his dancing is fantastic and her singing sends shivers down your spine.
- Sophie, Surrey, 27/01/2008 17:05
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I went to see Susan and Danny in Grease in October and I thought they were amazing. The performance was upbeat and both leads had good comic timing. I will be going again soon and I cannot wait. I loved every minute of the performance and think that Susan and Danny portrayed the characters really well.
- Lauren Camilleri, Sutton, 16/12/2007 14:04
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We went to see Grease last night and found it thoroughly enjoyable, however thought that Danny Bayne outshone Susan McFadden by miles - he's a true star.
- Jo Andrews, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, 14/10/2007 20:19
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I took my daughter to see Grease last Friday and we both thoroughly enjoyed it, I would certainly go and see it again.
- Ben Read, Royston, Hertfordshire, 14/10/2007 16:42
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I saw grease for the first time last year it was phenominal so good we saw it again the following night, so I was realy looking forward to seeing this latest production Danny and Susan were fine but the rest of the cast looked like they had been rounded up from the nearest job centre. Sorry to be so negative but last year I saw something spectacular, this year the show was forgettable apart from Jason Capewell who was a true pro.
- Kate Neaves, Orpington Kent, 23/08/2007 13:50
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We thought the show was fantastic! We wanted to see Grease and that is exactly what we saw with danny playing a perfect danny and susan playing a perfect sandy. What did the people who have vehemently criticised the show want to see? I am sure if we gave them a chance to play parts in a completely new show they would also be excellent! Keep it up we thought you were absolutely great!
- Samantha Lamb, Northampton, England, 17/08/2007 22:54
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I went to see Grease and I would love to get back to see it again
Danny Bayne and Susan were great I thought, as were all the cast I'm surprised they didn’t get better reviews.
- Catherine Deering, Bray, Co. Wicklow, Ireland, 12/08/2007 15:32
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The show was good, and Susan and Danny were excellent, you must have been at a different show.
- Anne, Cork Ireland, 12/08/2007 14:32
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There are 3 main reasons why the public are invited to vote for these singing sensations. Firstly the TV companies rake in a huge load of money from the premium rate phone calls, secondly the TV companies get to make a cheap programme because they're using the public to appear in them and will pay out very little money in making the programme and thirdly the 'successful' singers will be paid a pittance when they appear on stage thereby negating the need to pay 'big bucks' to an already-established star, plus of course lots and lots of free publicity (possibly reason number 4). Either way, the TV companies benefit, the producers who put on the musical benefit and the public pays for it all. A very nice little earner indeed. You can see why the TV companies were loathe to shut down their premium rate phone lines until they were almost forced to.
- Paul Wilson, London, UK, 12/08/2007 14:32
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What a fab show. Danny and Susan looked liked they had been up on that stage for years. Can't wait to take my children to see it. Well done to all the stars of the show.
- Debbie, Kent, 12/08/2007 14:32
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Poor old Nick - Buddy and Grease in one week - two tired old shows clogging up what used to be West End theatres. SOLT should be ashamed - it's just becoming a place of TV wannabees and celebrity casting in long running shows that years ago lost their bite.
- M.Byrne-Jones, London, 12/08/2007 14:32
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