GLC MUSICAL REVIEW Else

Klein Ikkink, 4Ve

GREASE THE MUSICAL

Grease is a musical released for the first time in 1971.
The musical Grease is remade into a movie, which was released in 1978
and directed by Randal Kleiser. There are 3 remakes of the musical in The
Netherlands; this review is about the remake in theatre season 2015-2016.
The protagonists in the musical are: Sandy (actor: Vajn van den Bosch)
and Danny Zuko (actor: Tim Douwsma).

First impressions

Grease is a very joyful musical. The moment in the play I like most is the
moment where Sandy changes herself completely so Danny will like her
better. Her transformation is amazing; she looks like a totally different
person!
In the story Sandy joins a group of girls and they all become friends. This
reminds me of my own group of friends because we do the same things as
the girls in the musical: have sleepovers, talk about boys, gossip, etc.
The funniest moment in the musical is the part when Danny and Sandy
see each other for the first time in school. The beginning of the musical
makes clear that Danny and Sandy have a very nice summer together, but
they both thought it was only for the summer and they would not ever
meet again. The moment they realize they are in the same school is
therefore very funny.
I did not like one costume in particular, I liked the contrast between the
costumes of the group of boys and the group of girls: the boys all had
really cool clothes on like leather jeans and jackets, and the girls all had
really girly clothes like pink skirts and dresses.

Description:
The costumes were all from the 1950s
All the actors were busy with their image and appearance (especially
with their hair)
In the song about a car (Grease Lightening) a real car and real
headlights in the car were used
Some actors changed there costume more than 3 times and some
wore the same costume the whole musical
With both the group of boys (T-birds) and the group of girls (Pink
ladies) there is one person that did not fit in the group
At the beginning of the second act of the musical an actor had a
conversation with some of the audience members
When there were girls in cloud costumes and boys in blue costumes
it gave us the impression of a dream
Both the boys and girls smoked real cigarettes on the stage
GLC MUSICAL REVIEW Else
Klein Ikkink, 4Ve
The audience could see the band, which ws making the music in
front of the stage
The music was from the 1950s

Analysis
Focus
The actors mainly organize the focus of the play, as the focus lies on fitting
in. The focus is transmitted to the audience by making it realistic, and by
showing the audience things they deal with on a daily basis. In the musical
they show things like a girl that can not have lunch with the Pink Ladies
because she was not cool enough, or Danny who does not want to tell his
friends that he likes Sandy because he is afraid of what his friends will
think or that Sandy wants to change her looks so that she will fit in better
and Danny will like her more.
These are things that happen to everyone, and in this way the focus is
perfectly transmitted to the audience.

Tension
There are a lot of different forms of tension used in the musical. One of
them is conflict.
Conflict is used at the beginning of the story when Danny acts like he does
not know Sandy because he is afraid of what his friends will think, which
makes Sandy angry because they spent the whole summer together. This
is essential for the rest of the musical as this is the first moment for both
Sandy and the audience to realize that everything is about fitting in, and
because it engages the desire to know what will happen next.
Another conflict in the musical is between Sandy and one of the other Pink
ladies (Rizzo). Rizzo was angry with Sandy because Rizzo thought Sandy
had everything but acted like she had nothing. This conflict is essential
because eventually the scene ends with a confession from Rizzo: She was
not angry with Sandy, she was so frustrated because she was
unintentionally pregnant.
Another form of tension that is used in the musical is surprise. Surprise is
used at the end of the musical when Sandy transforms from a righteous
girl into a daring, bold girl. This transformation is the final droplet that
brings Sandy and Danny together, and is therefore necessary in the
storyline.

Contrasts
In the musical the dynamic use of light is used to make a clear distinction
between different kinds of scenes. In a scene in which Sandy is dreaming
bright lights are used, but in a scene with the T-birds that is set in an old
garage dimmed lights are used. The contrast between movement and
stillness is very big, as there is a lot of dance in the musical. The
movement differs per song; songs in which more persons are involved
have more movement than songs where only 1 or 2 persons are involved.
GLC MUSICAL REVIEW Else
Klein Ikkink, 4Ve
The contrast between Sandy and Danny is also big. Danny is a firm, tough
boy and Sandy is a shy, modest girl. This makes it very interesting for the
audience to watch, because 2 totally different persons fall in love.

Symbolism
Grease is a symbolic representation of human experiences. The musical is
based on things that all humans experience at some point in their life.
Another symbol used are the clothes of the T-birds; they all wear black
leather jackets that represent firmness and sturdiness, which is an
important aspect of the storyline.

Interpretation

The basic motivation for Sandy in the musical is to get together with
Danny. She is so in love with Danny that she completely changes herself
so he will like her better. Sandy could have chosen to not change herself
and forget Danny, because what his friends thought of him was more
important to him than his feelings for her.
Dannys basic motivation in the musical is to get together with Sandy, but
also to not embarrass himself by his friends.
He could have made the choice to not care about what his friends thought
of him.

I think the musical was written to discuss subjects that are normally not
discussed in real life. The musical is about the 1950s, a time where it
became more acceptable if women smoked cigarettes, drank alcohol or
wore short skirts.

I think the dramatic artists chose to produce this musical now because of
sentimental reasons. The audience likes to watch the musical and re-
experience the good old time.
Therefore I think the playwright also looks back at the 1950s as a nice
time, because they made it a joyful musical with a lot of happy songs and
dances.

Background information

Grease is musical released in 1971, directed by Jim Jacobs and Warren

Casey with additional songs written by John Farrar. Grease is named after
the working-class in the 1950s known as greasers. The musical is set in
1959 at Rydell High School and follows ten working-class teenagers.

Another play Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey have written together is Island
of Lost Coeds. Other plays written at the same time are Hair and A
Chorus Line.
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Klein Ikkink, 4Ve
The 1950s were a decade of building up what the war had destroyed. It
was the time for youth to unfasten from their parents and wear leather
jackets and tight sweaters.
It was a time for music like rock and roll, alcohol and dance parties.
The musical Grease is written to show the audience all these aspects of
the 1950s.

The musical differs from this time because rock and roll is not that popular
anymore; now a days pop music is really popular. Leather jackets and tight
sweaters are still worn, but alcohol under youth is not usual anymore.

Informed judgement

Overall is Grease a very entertaining musical to watch.

The 2 protagonists can sing really well, but the dancing of the actor who
plays the male protagonist is not really good. This is disappointing as there
is a lot of dance in the musical and he fades away between all the other
dancers, because all the other dancers dance extremely well.
It can also be clearly seen that the 2 protagonists have a large age
difference, which was strange because in the musical they were in the
same class.
The storyline of Grease is related to almost everyone in the audience,
because things humans experience at some point in their life appear in the
musical and some audience members have experienced the time the
musical is about.
This is a nice aspect of the musical because you can place yourself in the
actors.
It is very amusing to watch the scenes of the Pink ladies, because it can be
clearly seen that they had a real good connection with each other.

Consequently, I give the 3rd remake of musical Grease in The Netherlands

an 8.2

Else Klein Ikkink, 4Ve