Ladies and Gentleman, my sister's Grease review (humbly bowing):

Hi everybody, my registration is pending otherwise I'd post this myself. I went to Grease last Tuesday with a friend from work (we are flight attendants who were in NY for the night).

I have seen Grease three times previously with my sister (with Laura and Max), and we have gone to NY several times to see other Broadway musicals. During the Grease reality show my favorites were Laura and Derek, but Ashley was always my second choice for Sandy, and Max really wowed me after seeing him in person. I would loved to have seen the Laura/Derek combination, as I thought they had a good chemistry on the show.

*This review is my honest opinion, and is not meant to make friends or enemies.

The show started with Dominic coming out as Vince Fontaine to warm up the audience and sing some oldies. He was good there, and in the show, although sometimes he tried a bit too hard and came off as a little desperate and cheesy, rather than the sexy older man that Marty has a crush on. He seemed very happy to be there though!

I was surprised at all the empty seats (about 4 to my left, and 2 to our right, as well as some in the row behind us - we were in orchestra left, row B). I kept thinking people would come to fill up the seats, but they never did, and it was nice to have some space! But bad for the show's grosses, I imagine!

Then the show began with the high school scene, instead of the silhouette of Danny and Sandy professing eternal love at the beach. I missed that, because I think that it really set the tone, and let people know that they had fallen in love that summer.

The stand-outs to me were Frenchy, Eugene, the Teen Angel, Miss Lynch, and Ace Young as Kenickie. I really missed Jose as Sonny, he was great comic relief and very watchable. Stephen Buntrock is great as always, so funny and perfect for the role.

Ashley is very tall and pretty and her voice was nice, better than she sounded on tv, though she was flat for a few notes. To be honest, she's just not believable as a Catholic schoolgirl, but the line where she says "to hell with it" before "You're the one that I want" was believable. That was the one time I never believed Laura. Ashley seems better suited to the role in Hairspray or maybe as Marty, something a little sexier and more sophisticated, like a college sorority girl perhaps. You can't believe anyone taking advantage of her - she just is not the type to pine over a guy, which brings me to Derek. I have to say that I was disappointed because I expected more from his performance on the reality show, and because he's done the role before. He is definitely physically the Danny type, but there was no depth or sincerity to his performance, and he didn't seem like a leader or like he was "in the moment". To me, there was just no chemistry between the two of them. I know they're only onstage together for a short amount of time, but you just don't root for them to survive the chaos and misunderstandings, because they don't act like they even enjoy being together.

One change which could have been cute was the scene at the drive-in, where Danny and Sandy are kissing and he wants to feel her chest. It's a funny premise, but went on for about 30 seconds too long, when it just became silly and uncomfortable.

The real standout to me was Ace Young as Kenickie. I've never seen him perform before, and I don't know anything about his American Idols days. He has stage presence, star quality, and sex appeal. I could easily see him as Danny. He was the one I watched most of the time - he was fresh and exciting and seemed to really want to be there.

Rizzo is too harsh for me. In the movie she seems to have a bit of a sense of humor - she's not as mean as she is in the play - but just comes off as too cool for school and a little insecure.

Another change was the lack of dancing during the final scenes. I was expecting lots of energy, but it was more just hand clapping and hopping around. Perhaps Ashley and Derek are healing from injuries or something, but those scenes used to be high kicks, twirling, and lots of connection and dancing between Sandy and Danny.

During the show the audience was pretty non-responsive and most of the jokes fell flat, though there was polite applause. There were no standing ovations or loud cheering at the end, and the cast basically walked off into the wings (instead of the high energy dancing that I was used to).

After the show several people came outside to pose for pictures and sign autographs, including the actors who played Doody, Sonny, Marty, Rizzo, Teen Angel, and Vince Fontaine. Then Ashley came out and was very sweet to everyone, and after her, Derek came out and signed as well. Ace Young came out last, and spent the most time with his fans. He was extremely nice and gracious to everyone, making small talk, and posing for pictures. I am now an Ace fan! What I liked about Max and Laura is that they always came out and signed together, because they knew people wanted pictures of the two of them, and they always laughed and joked with each other and seemed to really like being together. Ashley and Derek didn't come out together and I never saw them look at each other or speak to each other.

Two ladies who stood next to us had come out from Chicago and asked where Max was, because that was whom they were hoping to see. We told them that he was back in LA, working on film projects.

All in all, I wouldn't be shocked to hear if Grease was on it's way out, and I would never spend money to see it again. My friend liked it, not as much for the play itself, but because she liked the music, and to hear it in person. I'm glad that I got to see it with this cast as a comparison, but except for Ace Young, the changes are inferior compared to how it used to be. Like I said before, this is solely my honest opinion, and I know many of you won't agree with me because you have been waiting for Ashley and/or Derek to be in the show. They are just fine, but perhaps not for these roles, or to be matched together. Have a great night everyone, and thanks for reading my review!!

Terri


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