Grease

The Lumberjack and I went to GREASE last night at the San Diego Civic Theater. The performance was wonderful. It was the touring production, and the acting and singing were excellent. Taylor Hicks debuted as Teen Angel, and he did a fabulous job. His voice is very good and I was impressed by his acting, not to mention his oh-so glittery suit.

I was slightly disappointed by the story itself, though that has nothing to do with the quality or performance by the actors. As one who grew up watching the movie, the Broadway production of Grease varied a bit. Granted, it is difficult to recreate a car race scene onstage, but that concept was entirely removed from the musical. Instead, Sandy realizes, during a party where she is essentially the outcast as Danny doesn't show up, that she must change to be with him. There is no big race scene at all, just a final dance in the dinner of "You're the one that I want" followed by a reprise of "We go together."

I also felt that Sandy's character was a bit left out in the first act. In the movie, you can see and feel how Sandy and Danny long to be with each other, despite the initial social challenges. The movie takes time to develop both characters separately. In the musical, Sandy's role was scarce in the first act, which I felt limited the amount of excitement created when they do eventually get together. In the scenes she did participate in, she was almost so good, too good, that she seemed unlikeable. I know this is no fault of the actress herself. She did a fabulous job and really embodied Sandy as well as anyone following in Olivia Newton-John's shoes could. However, I felt the script to be lacking when it came to getting the audience to sympathize and understand the complexity of the Sandy-Danny relationship. I would have liked to see more of Sandy so that the audience was really rooting for the love-filled ending.

Overall, the production was good. I'm glad I saw it, but I don't know that I'd see it again.

Score: B