Review: Grease a crowd-pleaser that ticks all the nostalgia boxes

The Pink Ladies and the T-Birds lead out the title track in Grease. Photo / Mark Hamilton

The musical theatre scene in Hamilton has an absolute banger in the lead-up to Christmas, with two crowd-pleasers ticking all the nostalgia boxes.

Grease, directed by Kyle Chuen, and Saturday Night Fever, directed by Mike Williams (read the review here) are both big productions, packed full of well-loved songs and energetic dance numbers. They also feature large, youthful casts, and truly showcase the next generation of talent in the region.

From the first moment of Grease, the opening night audience showed they were here for it, with thunderous applause after the full cast’s performance of the title track.

The scene changing straight into the bleachers for Summer Nights works well, with the cast integrating set transition into their characters. Summer Nights is a chance to see and hear the key characters of Sandy (Rachel Bloemendal) and Danny (Felix Rowe) properly, and for the Pink Ladies and T-Birds to establish their different personalities.

Both Bloemendal and Rowe are accomplished in their roles, with Rowe showing the tough-guy guffaw of Danny as well as his vulnerability. Bloemendal captured the sweetness of Sandy, and it was nice to see her stretch out in a powerful solo of Hopelessly Devoted To You in the second act.

Helen Drysdale-Dunn continues to impress as an all-round performer, showing Rizzo’s world-weary sass with aplomb. Her solo There are Worse Things I Could Do was a standout. Briar Simpson is a sweet and ditzy Frenchy and Ella Veitch has fun as the worldly, flirtatious Marty, while Aana Watts has Jan’s humour and naïvety down pat.

The T-Birds are led by Kenickie (Eckard Becker), who has the swagger and the attitude, while Memphis Ward as Doody brings comedy and a great voice. Iosia Tofilau as Roger has a lovely scene with Watts for Mooning, and Zac Clarke (Sonny) helps to make the T-Birds a highlight whenever they’re on stage.

Greased Lightning was a great example of this, with full noise and dancing from the male ensemble, great staging and strong vocal performances. The audience loved it.

Ben Wilson looked to be having a ball in his cameo as Teen Angel. The arrangement of Beauty School Dropout showcased his voice and was another crowd-pleaser. A big shout-out to the set design of Jason Wade and his production team - this dream sequence was staged and lit beautifully.

The ensemble was polished, and every actor had focused activity and energy. Many had understudy roles, vital in these times, and you felt confident that any of them could step up.

While not shying away from the attitudes of the era, both Chuen and Williams had to consider some of the dated elements in their respective scripts. There were subtle but effective touches for this, particularly during Summer Nights.

No musical is possible without the band. With musical supervision by Nick Braae and direction by Damian Brell, the eight-piece comprising Brell, Darryn Redshaw, Reece Geilen, Katie Wigmore, Joseph Brady, Rosalie Glessing, Kenny Peng and Matthew Colvin was well-drilled and lively.

A small quibble is that occasionally the music overwhelmed the vocalists and some of the lyrics, and subtleties were lost. At times, some of the actors sounded like they were shouting lines - a mix of youthful exuberance and the pace of the show, perhaps.

The programme, which is packed full of ‘50s references, is a comprehensive and fun keepsake.

It’s almost impossible not to have fun at both of these shows, so get a ticket while you can. Saturday Night Fever runs until the 10th & Grease to the 17th of December.

The Details

What: Grease, directed by Kyle Chuen

Where: Clarence St Theatre, Hamilton

When: December 3-17

Tickets: https://www.clarencesttheatre.co.nz/grease