Poodle skirts and leather jackets were a common sight in the foyer of the Brisbane Entertainment Centre when Harvest Rain brought ‘Grease – The Arena Experience’ back to Brisbane for two homecoming performances (14 July).
Starring Thomas Lacey and Ashleigh Taylor in the lead roles of Danny and Sandy, Christine Anu as Teen Angel and 'The Footy Show'’s Beau Ryan as DJ Vince Fontaine alongside a core cast of 30 professional performers supported by an amateur mass ensemble of over 700 young performers, the movie-musical production was a spectacle of nostalgic proportions.
A mega-hit soundtrack drives Grease’s storyline, and the vocal talents of the main cast positively shone during the solos peppered throughout the show. Standouts were Emily Monsma (Marty) singing ‘Freddy My Love’, Ruby Clark (Rizzo) performing ‘There Are Worse Things I Could Do’ and Thomas singing ‘Sandy’, whose performance inspired a handful of swaying cell phone lights to quickly multiply around the arena.
All the slapstick, innuendo and quips from the movie dialogue were delivered by the cast with perfect aplomb, from Rizzo’s sarcasm and the T-Birds’ buffoonery, to Danny strutting off stage full of greaser bravado in his track team short shorts.
My personal cast favourite was Stacey de Waard, who not only delivered a pitch-perfect portrayal of Frenchy, but also nailed her dreamy, good-natured qualities. Georgie Bolton as insatiable Pink Ladies member, Jan, was also fantastic, delivering many of the laughs of the night.
From Danny’s knee slide after singing, “It’s electrifying,” in ‘You’re The One That I Want’ to the large-scale hand-jive, the choreography was superb and true to form, but not without surprises. The traditionally all-male T-Birds were joined by two overall-clad females in ‘Greased Lightnin’’, and Sandy’s and Danny’s iconic ‘Shake Shack’ moves were regrettably missing from their ‘You’re The One That I Want’ routine.
A personal distraction throughout the show was the under-utilised large video screen that acted as a backdrop. Close-ups of the cast singing, particularly during the solos, would have been a treat to behold, as well as imagery relevant to the scenes playing out on the stage. I found myself wishing for moon footage during ‘Mooning’, fairground imagery during ‘We Go Together’ and a white staircase during ‘Beauty School Dropout’.
Hats off to Harvest Rain for continuing their tradition of helping young aspiring artists by involving them in major productions. For the performers, it must be an absolute thrill. However looking at the ensemble (aged between 10 to 21 years), I wondered whether some might be a tad young for the show’s adult themes. I also felt at times that the presence of the mass ensemble on the floor overwhelmed the action on stage, and it wasn’t until the ‘We Go Together’ finale when the full professional cast was on stage that the balance felt right.
But these are the nit-pickings of a die-hard ‘Grease’ movie fan. ‘Grease – The Arena Experience’ is fun, funky and faithful, and a must-see if it heads your way.
