Musicals Blog

Grease

by Claire J Rottenberg


The musical "Grease" was the next step forward in rock and roll musicals. While "Bye Bye Birdie" showed mostly the wholesome side of teenagers, "Grease" moved into the more rebellious age of American teens. Although it is set in 1959, it is probably more characteristic of the 1960s generation of teens than that of the 1950s. "Grease," like "West Side Story," dealt with working class youth. But "Grease" went further than its predecessors by including themes of sex and teen pregnancy.

The original stage version of "Grease" began off-Broadway in 1972. It was a hit both with audiences and critics and was able to make a successful move to Broadway. It was even more successful on Broadway, where it ran for 3,388 performances, outlasting all previous Broadway musicals.

"Grease" opened in London's West End in 1973 and the film version was released in 1978. The next major production of "Grease" was not until 1994 when it returned to Broadway in a successful revival that starred Brooke Shields. Thirteen years later, a second revival opened on Broadway.

The Broadway version of "Grease" helped launch the careers of several actors, including Patrick Swayze, John Travolta and Treat Williams. Richard Gere started as an understudy in the Broadway production and then went on to star in the lead role in the London production.

Although "Grease" was critically acclaimed and extremely successful, it did not win any Tony awards. It was, however, nominated for 7 Tony awards for the original production, including a nomination for Best Musical.

The film version of "Grease," released in 1978 and starring John Travolta and Olivier Newton-John, has become a film classic. New songs were added to the film, including the title song, written by Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees, and the Academy Award nominated song, "Hopelessly Devoted to You." Most of the other songs were written by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The film was very successful at the box office but it was not rereleased until 1998 and DVD fans had to wait until 2002 to purchase "Grease."