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."