Grease
Reviewed by V Cate
La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts & McCoy Rigby Entertainment
Thru February 12
At the time of Grease’s first live performance in 1971, the material — with music, lyrics, and book written by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey as they reminisced upon an adolescence taking place only twelve years prior — was more risque and raw than its current iterations. The year 1959 marked a clear liminal point between the buttoned-up 50s and the sexual revolution era, and a cast of working-class Chicago-based high schoolers provided a dynamic context in which to explore the tension between societal expectations, personal identity, and blooming primal desire.
Banking in on the show’s incredible stage success (it boasted Broadway’s longest performance run until being unseated by A Chorus Line in 1983), 1978’s film adaptation sanitized the material while adding new songs (“Hopelessly Devoted to You”, “Sandy”, “You’re the One that I Want”) to the repertoire.
In the 1970s, the ending subverted the cinematic trope popular at the time in which the virginal femme convinces the masculine rogue to embrace their sensitive side. Sandy, who spends the entire course of the story being bullied for being too straight-laced, makes the decision to embrace her sexuality. Her reward is the approval of her peers and a “happily ever after.”
But the play’s message doesn’t land the same way five decades later. After experiencing a surface-level romance with a boy who thinks negging and a cool image constitute sexual entitlement, audiences are savvy enough to recognize the relationship’s toxicity. The stage play widens its focus beyond the two lovers, making it a real ensemble show. But between fat-shaming, slut-shaming, violence, pedophilia, and really unhealthy gender roles, we can only interact with Grease in one of two ways: as a meditation on how far we have (or haven’t) come since the show’s creation, or as a source of familiar and easily digestible entertainment.
So, why choose to mount a musical that doesn’t offer much outside of nostalgia? Producing Artistic Director BT McNicholl answers clearly enough in the show’s program: It’s what their subscribing audience wanted to see. Revolutionary, Grease isn’t. But, if you’re looking to slip into a saccharine headspace with bright colors and fun sounds, this show delivers.
Music Director Ryan O’Connell leads the cast and band to great technical achievement, and Christopher M. Albrecht’s choreography is spectacular; you’ll be hard-pressed to resist joining in on the hand-jive or swaying in your seat to the smorgasbord of musical Americana. Visually, everything pops with energy, from Stephen Gifford’s scenic design and Steven Young’s lighting to Adam Ramirez’s fun costumes.
Kari Hayter directs a bright, zestful show, and the ensemble delivers strong vocals and physicality across the board. The one thing the performances lack is emotional honesty, with the show-stopping songs focused more on technical precision than authenticity or vulnerability.
Even so, it’s hard to resist the desire to zip up a pink jacket or comb in some pommade, and the siren’s call to go together (like rama lama lama ka dinga da dinga dong) remains so enticing we may forget all over again the ephemerality of youth and the feelings of young love and hope in friendship.
La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd, La Mirada 90638; Thurs., 7:30 pm; Fri., 8 pm; Sat., 2 & 8 pm; Sun., 1:30& 6:30 pm; www.LaMiradaTheatre.com or (562) 944-9801; Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes with one intermission.
