By COLIN MACLEAN - Staff Writer
Edmonton Sun ~ Friday, May 9, 2003
You can go home after all.
Mom and dad may be gone, your old grade school
a parking lot and your childhood address a 7-Eleven, but there is one place
that remains resolutely untouched by time.
Rydell High
The girls still wear bobby socks, the nerds
sport saddle shoes and the greasers stick back their hair. In today’s
world where everything seems disposable, Rydell High stands forever as
it was in the ‘50s.
Of course, Rydell is the high school at the
centre of this surprising Citadel Theatre celebration of the youth you
never had. Surprising, because if ever there was a show that has
spent too long in the oven, it’s Grease. Is there a high school in the
world that hasn’t produced it?
But director Bob Baker is a theatrical alchemist,
turning dramatic dress into pure gold. Cheerfully cherry-picking moments,
costumes, songs and dances from the original 1971 production, the John
Travolta/Olivia Newton-John movie, the newer Tommy Tune Broadway version
and his own seemingly inexhaustible bags of theatrical tricks, he has pumped
vital new life into the old warhorse. (With the help of choreographer
Krista Monson, who matches Baker’s high-spirited vision step by exuberant
step.)
The dramatic elements are pitched just over
the top, the acting performed in the grand manner, the singing is full-bodied
and delivered with zip and the production numbers are, well, I don’t think
thrilling is too strong a word. Just wait till you catch the entire
company givin’ ‘er to We Go Together or Summer Nights.
The movie was tailored for Travolta and Newton-John
but here, freed from the shackles of mounting a star vehicle, Baker is
able to spotlight others in his talented cast.
Consequently, Christian Goutsis as Doody delivers
a knockout version of Those Magic Changes, Scott Walters shines
as Kenickie in Greased Lightning (a love song sung to a car) and
Aaron Walpole and Shelley Simester are romantic in Mooning, a homage
to baring your bottom for fun and recreation. Lindsay Thomas bounces all
over the stage as cheerleader Patty Simcox - and can that girl dance.
The two gangs – the Pink Ladies and the Greasers – interact within their
groups with energy and fun.
Each of the characters gets their moment and
all make the very best of it.
Celina Stachow’s aspiring hairstylist Frenchy
is appealing and she has one of the best musical theatre voices around.
Briana Buckmaster unleashes a strong, clear
voice as Rizzo, the embittered leader of the Pink Ladies. This Rizzo
makes more sense than the near psychotic reading Stockard Channing gave
in the movie.
Ashley Wright brings an imposing heft to his
Miss Lynch, avoiding the temptation to overplay the cross-dressing and
delivering a character with some dignity (but funny).
Coming off their memorable pairing in last
year’s Cabaret, Baker’s leads are pedal to the metal all the way.
John Ullyatt’s Danny is softer and more vulnerable
than Travolta’s swaggering dude, but it’s a valid and convincing take.
Under his “cool” we see that Danny is kind of a sweet guy. His song,
Sandy,
sung when she walks out on him at the drive-in, is the anguished cry of
a kid with raging hormones who can’t figure out the opposite sex.
Pamela Gordon, besides unleashing that big
voice of hers in songs like Look at Me, I’m Sandra Dee and
Hopelessly
Devoted to You, manages to pull off the impossible – she makes Sandy,
surely one of the blandest creations in all of theatre, into a flesh-and-blood
character.
And
Then There's Bobby Curtola
There could be no other Teen Angel in this
country. We first see him in silhouette at the top of a huge staircase
and then when he finally appears in his silver lamé suit to exhort
Frenchy, the beauty school dropout, to “go back to high school.” There
is no doubting the charisma of a star that has held audiences for 50 years.
Maybe he’s not quite hitting those big high notes anymore but you can see
the undimmed twinkle in his eye as he commands the stage.
Any small problems I saw in the preview I was
permitted to attend no doubt evaporated by opening night.
The top price may range around $70 but let
me tell you it’s worth it. Get your tickets because Grease is the
word and when it gets around, there won’t be a seat left.
Grease ends the Citadel’s season playing on the Shoctor Stage and is already
held over.
John Ullyatt and Pamela Gordon
HONOURS
