King’s Theatre, Glasgow
Performance reviewed: Wed 18 Jan 2012
Until: Sat 28th Jan 2012
Rating: * * *
Grease is the word, and you may have noticed posters all over Glasgow telling you so. The 1950s musical has arrived in town on its most recent UK tour.
I last saw this show in Glasgow in 2004 with Jonathan Wilkes as Danny. This time around Danny is played by Danny Bayne, overall winner of Simon Cowell‘s ITV musical theatre talent show aptly named Grease is the Word in 2007. I actually preferred his take on the character, though nothing he does is too different to John Travolta’s Danny.
Another Grease is the Word alumni, Kate Somerset How, plays Rizzo, channeling Stockard Channing with fabulous attitude and sarcasm.
Wholesome Sandy is played by Carina Gillespie. She’s nice, she’s sweet, she has a good voice and can hit some high notes – but I didn’t feel the connection between Sandy and Danny.
X-Factor’s Mary Byrne plays Teen Angel. This is a casting choice I was sceptical about prior to the show. There is no denying she has a good voice but I feel her costume could have been better and also feel the role of Teen Angel is best suited to a male (it was recently played by Robin Cousins and another former X Factor contestant Rhydian Roberts). Predictably though, she still received the loudest cheer of the night.
There is a large cast and some great ensemble numbers, with choreography from Arlene Phillips, but ultimately there’s nothing new in this production. The familiarity means you sing along and recite the lines in your head but also means there’s nothing there to make you go “wow!” (Though Greased Lightnin did make me jump).
With the January blues taking hold, you need something upbeat. With so many classic songs (Summer Nights, Hopelessly Devoted to You, We Go Together, etc) there are worse things you could do (sorry, I couldn’t resist) than go and see Grease.
