Grease is still the word

Grease, Palace, Manchester, to Saturday
WANT a feelgood evening packed with sing-a-long songs, energetic dancing, and sheer entertainment?

Then the Palace Theatre, where one of the biggest musicals to hit the stage in the last 40 years is playing until Saturday, is the place to go this week.

The phenomenon that is “Grease” is just as popular today as it was when audiences slapped down the critics’ initial lukewarm reviews and turned the musical into an instant hit in the 1970s.

The great stage show draws its audience into Rydell High School as Danny tussles between staying cool and succumbing to his passion for his good-girl summer lover. At the same time that girl, Sandy, ponders whether to shed her “girl next door” look to turn rebel chick and keep her man.

Carina Gillespie is the undoubted star of the show, her pint-sized physique hiding a tremendous set of lungs and a voice that would have given Olivia Newton-John — Sandy in the iconic film — a run for her money.

But it’s never easy for anyone to step into John Travolta’s movie shoes as Danny. Even so Danny Bayne, who won an ITV reality talent show to find a new Danny in 2007, is a popular choice judging by the reaction of the audience.

After four decades on stage, Grease has lost none of its appeal.


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