GREASE


Contemporary casting choices bring Musical Theatre West’s 2022 Grease revival into the 21st century to crowd-delighting effect without sacrificing an iota of the show’s 1950s nostalgia.

Unless by some twist of fate you’re one of the few who have somehow managed never to see either Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey’s stage musical or its 1978 movie adaptation, you’ll immediately recognize Grease’s iconic cast of characters beginning with Danny (Jonah Ho’okano), undisputed leader of the Burger Palace Boys (and the coolest, hottest hotshot at Rydell High), and wholesome girl-next-door transfer student Sandy (Monika Peña), whose initial on-campus encounter with Danny has her wondering if their recent beach romance may have been a case of “summer loving” and nothing more.

There’s also Danny’s smart-alecky sidekick Kenicke (Marqell Edward Clayton); Doody (Kris Bona), the hero-worshiping youngest of the Burger Boys; Sonny (Max Torrez), the gang’s resident wise guy and self-described lady-killer; and Roger (Jalon Matthews), Rydell class clown nicknamed “Rump” for his habit of “Mooning” on a Saturday night.

The girls include Rizzo (Isa Briones), Rydell’s baddest bad girl, Kenicke’s steady, and the Pink Ladys’ undisputed leader; Frenchy (Aurelia Michael-Holmgrem), Rydell High and Beauty School dropout, who naively assumes she got her nickname by “French inhaling” cigarette smoke; Marty (Janaya Mahealani Jones), the Pink Ladies’ resident glamour girl with a thing for older men like slick radio DJ Vince Fontaine (Quintan Craig); and Jan (Stephanie Bull), easily the most excitable Pink Lady at Rydell High.

Completing the Rydell student body are overachieving cheerleader Patty (Devan Watring), oft hoodwinked nerd Eugene (Austin Owens Kelly) and a few more I’ll call Anyssa (Anyssa Navarro), Kurt (Kurt Kemper), and Virginia (Virginia Trent).

Last but not least, there’s English teacher Miss Lynch (Darius Rose), who keeps things running at Rydell; Cha-Cha Gregorio (Michael-Holmgrem), the dance champ at rival Catholic high school St. Bernadette’s; “Teen Angel” (Rose), who pops into Frenchy’s dreams to serenade her with “Beauty School Dropout”; and born-to-hand-jive pop star Johnny Casino (AJ Rafael).

What’s different this time round is Rydell High’s ethic makeup, a student body that far more closely resembles what Rydell would look like today than the largely lily-white casts we’ve seen umpteen times before.

Credit this refreshingly “now” casting to East West Players artistic director Snehal Desai, who has directed MTW’s Grease with abundant imagination and flair, aided every step of the way by choreographer C. Wright, whose “Born To Hand-Jive” takes a number that has customarily been limited to jiving with the hands and turned it into a show-stopping full-body dance extravaganza that more than earns its abundant cheers.

Chance Theater favorite Peña is girl-next-door perfection as Sandy, her “Hopelessly Devoted To You” giving a certain Miss Newton-John a run for her money, and Ho’okano (Aladdin in the musical’s National Tour) makes for the coolest and dreamiest of Dannys, with Broadway vocals to match.

Briones (of Hamilton/Star Trek: Picard fame) gives Rizzo both power pipes and tough-girl swagger and Clayton continues his rise to SoCal musical theater stardom as macho man Kenicke.

Supporting couples are every bit as engaging, from Jones’s va-va-vivacious Marty and Bona’s delightful goofball of a Doody, to Torrez’s sizzling Sonny and Michael-Holmgren’s bubbly, bubbleheaded Frenchy, to Bona’s boyishly charming Doody and Michael-Holmgren’s adorable Beauty School Dropout Frenchy, to Matthews’ class clown comical Roger and Bull’s cute and cuddly Jan.

Watring’s ebulliently enthusiastic Patty, Kelly’s nerd-to-end-all-nerds Eugene, Craig’s super suave Vince, Rafael’s teen-idol-tastic Johnny, and Michael-Holmgren’s hot-to-cha-cha Cha Cha are absolutely terrific too, as are ensemble multitaskers Kemper, Navarro (Radio Voice), and Trent.

Last but not least, Rose’s Drag Race alter ego “Jackie Cox” gender-bends rib-ticklingly as a still-waters-run-deep Miss Lynch and a Hollywood glam Teen Angel to do Joan Crawford and her many male impersonators proud.

(Laura Leo Kelly and Rachel Kay will be playing Sonny and Frenchy beginning July 14.)

Jan Roper earns top marks as music director as does Julie Ferrin’s for her crystal-clear sound design, with additional design kudos to costume designer Tamara Becker for a vivid evocation of 1950s fashions, Michon Gruber for some nostalgic ‘50s wigs, and Dylan Powell for one spot-on period prop after another.

Lighting designer Wesley Charles Sui Muen Chew adds pizzazz to Cliff Simon’s multipurpose set, with Blake McCarty’s projection design completing the mix.

Kevin Clowes is technical director, Bren Thor is company manager, Steve Calzaretta is production manager, Shay Garber is production stage manager, and Lydia Runge is assistant stage manager.

Blessed by one Broadway-caliber performance after another, Musical Theatre West’s Grease will have you seeing a much-revived audience favorite with brand new eyes. This Grease is indeed the word.

Musical Theatre West, Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center, 6200 Atherton St., Long Beach.
www.musical.org

–Steven Stanley
July 9, 2022
Photos: Caught In The Moment Photography

 

 

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