GREASE: The Musical

Summer nights have come to Brisbane early with a refreshing and vibrant production of GREASE. If you’ve never seen the original 1971 stage musical (remembered by most as the 1978 film) then you have a treat in store with Millennial Productions’ version showing for a short time in Brisbane. Sure, the storyline about 1959 greasers at Rydell High is a little outdated, but the stage version is much better than the film because there are more songs, and they are more evenly shared — in this case by a superb cast of performers. The iconic leads Sandy Dumbrowski and Danny Zuko are played by Tayler Ramsey and Elliot Daniel Gough, two sweet but steady triple-threat performers.

Their supporting T-Bird and Pink Ladies mates are Rizzo (Mila Faye), Kenickie (Zephram Chambers), Marty (Chelsea Sales), Sonny (Cooper Williams), Jan (Emma Bettinson), Roger (Jackson Hughesman), Frenchy (Chelsea Jamieson), and Doody (AJ Betts). The High School Principal Miss Lynch is the wonderful Carly Wilson, and the goody-goody nerds are hammed up to the hilt by Angelina Bourke as Patty and Peter Wood as Eugene. They provide great comic support, along with Riley Watt, giving his all as the over-enthused DJ Vince Fontaine, and Marguerite Du Plessis as Cha Cha. There is also an outstanding ensemble of 10 fabulous dancers and singers, led by choreographer Jess Briskie, taking the best inspiration from the film and adding her own touch to energetic dance sequences, with a live band directed by Nate Stevenson. The whole dynamic package is tied together perfectly by director Taylor Andrews in a bundle of entertainment that showcases a very rich crop of Queensland-based talent.

This group of performers are simply super. As Sandy and Danny, Tayler and Elliot provide the right amount of romance and humour, and their combined vocal range will lift the lid on any theatre – catch them at the intimate Claver Theatre while you can! The supporting characters are by no means ‘secondary’ with wonderful performances of ‘Freddy My Love’ by Chelsea Sales, ‘Greased Lightning’ led by the enigmatic Zephram Chambers, ‘Born to Handjive’ led by Riley Watt and ‘There are Worse Things I Could Do’ by Mila Faye.

In an inspired piece of casting, AJ Betts doubles as Doody and the Teen Angel. I thought AJ had been cast for their comedy chops which already added another element to the show, but wait until you hear ‘Beauty School Dropout’ – a crooning, ballad-blasting voice to die for!

Millennial Productions is a Brisbane based not-for-profit with a mission to develop community culture through musical theatre. You’ll leave the theatre singing and dancing. So, for a feel-good introduction to tomorrow’s stars of musical theatre today, get yourself and your gang over to this production of GREASE: The Musical.

Find out more: www.millennialproductions.com.au/grease

Beth Keehn

Images: Clear Image Photography