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Grease

Theatre Under The Stars sounds romantic so what better place to play host to the revisited Rydell High School love story as portrayed in the musical Grease. Grease opened on July 11 at Stanley Park’s Malkin Bowl, an outdoor theater in the heart of North America’s largest metropolitan park. It is doubtful that many more theatergoers could have been accommodated as all the chairs were full and the hillsides were ringed with people sitting on blankets or the grass on this balmy west coast night.  

The two leads Gaelan Beatty as Danny Zuko and Tracy Neff portraying his on again off again girlfriend Sandy Olsen were upstage by the outstanding performances of a supporting cast Melissa Assalone, Louisa O’Keane, Nicole Stevens and Kayla Dunbar as the Pink Ladies. They were matched by quality performances from the T’Birds comprised of Robert Markus (Doody), Mark Turpin (Roger), Tyson Coady (Kenickie) and Daniel Johnston as Sonny Latierri. Dunbar and O’Keane nailed their accents and Nicole Stevens brought everything that you would expect to the tough and earthy demeanor of Rizzo. She also possesses great vocals that were particularly noticeable when she sang “Look At Me, I’m Sandra Dee,” as the Act I was drawing to a close.  

The musical opened with the infamous Cafeteria scene at Rydell High and two songs, “Grease Is the Word” and “Summer Nights,” that were on the lips of countless teenagers during 1978 when the film Grease starring Olivia Newton-John (Sandy) and John Travolta (Danny) was playing at theaters throughout North America.  

The musical highlights for me were the dancing and singing of “We Go Together,” the closing number for Act I and the opening number for the Second Act, “Rock ‘N Roll Is Here To Stay,” during the High School Prom scene. We tip our hats to choreographers Alex Pesusich and Kevin Tookey for having the cast primed and ready for their dance numbers. For an opening night performance, I was amazed at how flawlessly the cast performed their unbelievable dances, gyrations and even gymnastics.  

Galean Beatty who is already a stage veteran of productions that include Fame, Guys And Dolls and Tommy, has the good looks of a young John Travolta and evokes both a playfulness and sexiness so vital to the role. Beatty’s ability to get inside the head and heart of Danny Zuko results in an honest depiction of his character and easily elicited strong emotional responses from an appreciative audience. In contrast, Tracy Neff’s portrayal of Sandy Olsen was technically sound but emotionally lacking. Neff unfortunately fails to get in touch with her character’s heartbreak and love forlorn emotions. Her character often comes across as more angry and catty than vacillating between deep crush and heartbreak. Hopefully before the play finishes its run on August 18 director Lalainia Lindbjerg Strelau will be able to pull that kind of performance from Neff. What we can so however is that Neff’s vocal performance was matched only by that of Nicole Stevens (Rizzo) and that is saying a lot because there are not too many weak links in this cast as far as the singing is concerned. Neff gave an outstanding vocal performance with “Since I Don’t Have You,” demonstrating that she has tremendous range and was able to hit all the high notes. 

We would be remiss and not mentioning the music director James Bryson’s splendid interpretation of the music of Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Leading his band and doubling on saxophone, Bryson was joined by pianist Scott Knight, bassist Jason Cho, drummer Jayden Beaudoin, guitarist Greg Webber and fellow sax man Kevin Shan.  

If you living in the Greater Vancouver Area or are planning on visiting Canada’s west coast go to www.tuts.com for more information concerning when the play is running and how you can obtain tickets. If you live in the Seattle area, it is only a two hour drive and it will be well worth it.  

By Joe Montague, exclusive rights reserved

Joe Montague is an internationally published journalist / photographer and the publisher of Riveting Riffs, www.rivetingriffs.com . His ministry is dedicated to the memory of his late son Kent David Montague who went to heaven at the age of 18. All copyright and distribution rights remain the property of Joe Montague. 

Photo by Tim Matheson.