And as the acclaimed Curve production of Grease hits the road for a UK and Ireland tour, director Nikolai Foster promises: “It has all the moments you love from the film and the original but with some extra grit, guts, gravitas and spice! “Audiences are in for an electrifying night of explosive choreography and incredible songs as they witness the raw talent of the greatest young performers working onstage today.” Written by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, Grease opened in Chicago in 1971 and played Broadway the following year, where it was nominated for seven Tony awards. It ran for eight years and featured such little-known (at the time at least!) performers as Patrick Swayze, John Travolta and Richard Gere.
Having understudied several roles on Broadway, Gere got to star as Danny Zuko when the show had its 1973 London premiere at the Dominion Theatre. Then, of course, Travolta played Danny in the 1978 blockbuster film version opposite Olivia Newton-John as Sandy Olsson. The name-change from Sandy Dumbrowski wasn’t the only tweak; Sandy was now Australian to accommodate Newton-John’s accent, the Burger Palace Boys were renamed the T-Birds, some songs were jettisoned, the story was relocated to sunny California and its harder edges were softened.
First helmed by Foster in 2016, the Curve production – which has since toured the country and enjoyed sold-out summer seasons at the Dominion – reinstates the names, the location, the toughness and some of the songs, along.
