“I urge you to go watch these exceptionally talented performers tell you how “Grease is the way they are feeling!”.”
The new UK tour of Grease the Musical is being performed at the New Theatre Oxford from the 24th – 28th of September 2024. I went along to the Press Night and it blew my socks off. The show is set in the 90s at Rydell High School and tells the story of Danny Zuko (Marley Fenton) and Sandy Dumbrowski (Hope Dawe), who meet and end up falling in love. The show navigates the struggles of romance during school and maintaining a reputation that you have created for yourself. The show had an extremely strong cast of actors that commanded the stage during complex dances and worked together to create a joyful atmosphere for its audience.
The play began with the powerhouse of a number ‘Grease’ which was a full company number that set the bar incredibly high for the rest of the show. To be, already, immersed in the story from the first number was astonishing. It was polished and dynamic with flawless dancing and vocals by all. I was blown away by the actors’ stamina to perform the song alongside the technical dances which were brilliantly choreographed by Arlene Phillips. The lighting design and operating was spot on with the beats of the music and complimented the actors’ costumes very well. The score in ‘Grease’ carries the story line and is purposeful in telling the story further rather than being separate and irrelevant to the plot.
The costumes were brightly coloured, fun and accurately represent the ‘90s high school’ feel. The contrast in colour was interesting with the boys wearing black and denim while the girls wore pink and oranges. The only costume item that was consistent was that everyone wore different coloured Converse shoes which united and bonded the company into one. The set was easily manoeuvred around the stage in many ways and was so simple yet so effective. The lighting accurately lit the stairs and the follow spot worked incredibly hard to make sure that the performers were seen at any given moment while moving on the stairs.
Marley Fenton and Hope Dawe played the lovable characters of Danny Zuko and Sandy Dumbrowski. Both had beautiful tone to their voices and great chemistry with each other. In ‘Summer Days’ their voices blended together precisely and sounded gorgeous. Overall, the acting was brilliant and even in the big ensemble scenes everyone’s’ characters had backstory and purpose throughout that really brought the stage to life. The two were accompanied boldly by Rebecca Stenhouse (Rizzo), Keiran Lynch (Doody), Ben Nicholas (Kenickie), Alicia Belgrade (Frenchy), Emerald B (Jan) and India Chadwick (Marty) who all completed the package of the performance. Their performances were quick-witted, high energy and thoughtful.
Grease the Musical will continue to be shown at the New Theatre in Oxford until the 28th of September then it will go back on tour around the UK and Ireland. I urge you to go watch these exceptionally talented performers tell you how “Grease is the way they are feeling!”.