McCoy Rigby Entertainment pulls out all the stops to serve up a couldn’t-be-better Grease at the La Mirada Theatre For The Performing Arts, astutely cast, adroitly directed, arrestingly designed, and entertaining as all get-out.

The students of Rydell High (Class of 1959) are the same quirky, colorful, beloved bunch that audiences have been cheering for half a century, in particular since John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John first duetted “You’re The One That I Want” back in 1978.

There’s Danny Zuko (Ryan Reyes), undisputed leader of the Burger Palace Boys (and the coolest, hottest hotshot at Rydell), and wholesome girl-next-door transfer student Sandy Dobrowolski (Jenna Lea Rosen), whose recent beach romance with Danny may, it now seems, have simply been a case of “summer loving,” and nothing more.

There’s also Danny’s smart-alecky sidekick Kenicke (Grant Hodges); Doody (Steven-Adam Agdeppa), 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 (Domonique Paton), Rydell’s baddest bad girl, Kenicke’s steady, and the Pink Ladies’ undisputed leader; beauty school dropout Frenchy (Bella Hicks), who naively assumes she got her nickname by “French inhaling” cigarette smoke; glamour girl Marty (Melissa Musial), who’s got a thing for older men like slick radio DJ Vince Fontaine (Todd Adamson); and Jan (Rianny Vasquez), easily the most excitable Pink Lady at Rydell High.

Completing the cast are overachieving cheerleader Patty (Monika Peña) and oft hoodwinked nerd Eugene (James Tolbert); English teacher Miss Lynch (Suzanna Guzmán), who’s doing what she can to keep things running at Rydell; Cha-Cha Gregorio (Taleen Shrikian), the dance champ at rival Catholic high school St. Bernadette’s; “Teen Angel” (Desmond Newson), who pops into Frenchy’s dreams to serenade her with “Beauty School Dropout”; and born-to-hand-jive pop star Johnny Casino (Newson).

What’s different this time round, and excitingly so, is the diversity in casting opted for by director extraordinaire Keri Hayter, one that makes Greases of yore seem embarrassingly lily-white by comparison.

And what a cast this is, beginning with the girl-next-door loveliness and exquisite vocals Rosen gives Sandy and the spunky hunkiness, goofy charm, and acrobatic dance prowess Ryan Reyes gives Danny.

Paton’s Rizzo is as cute as she is tough, with pipes that recall Billie Holiday’s; Hicks makes for the most adorable “Beauty School Dropout” in town; Musial is a bodacious delight as the pseudo-sophisticated Marty; and Vasquez proves the bubbliest and cuddliest of Jans.

As for Danny’s fellow Burger Palace Boys, the dynamic Hodges wows audiences with a powerhouse “Greased Lightning”; Adgeppa’s boyishly winning Doody strums some terrifically tuneful “Magic Changes”’ no one goes “Mooning” more engagingly than Matthews’ drawers-dropping Roger; and Torrez makes for so charismatic a Sonny, you too may find yourself wishing that book-music-&-lyrics-writers Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey had given Sonny his own show-stopping solo.

Peña and Tolbert make go-getter Patty and geeky Eugene far realer than they are usually played in roles that have been beefed up here, and Adamson’s slick, suave, lady-killer of a Vince Fontaine benefits too from the added stage time director Hayter has generously given him.

Last but not least, opera star Guzman plays the dickens out of the wacky Miss Lynch even without singing a note; Newson gives Sam Cooke some tough competition in Teen Angel mode; and Shrikian’s tough cookie of a Cha-Cha makes Rydell’s Pink Ladies (and even Rizzo) seem delicate flowers by comparison.

Not only does the entire cast vocalize to perfection under Ryan O’Connell’s expert musical direction, they dance up a storm to Christopher M. Albrecht’s high-energy choreography, and never more than in a full-body “Born To Hand Jive” that brings down the house.

Last but not least, McCoy Rigby Entertainment and La Mirada Theatre have given this Grease a production design that makes a recent incarnation elsewhere pale by comparison, beginning with Stephen Gifford’s fabulous, brand-new scenic design. (The ‘50s icons that frame it are a particularly eye-catching touch.)

Costumes may be anonymously designed rentals from Maine State Music Theatre, but they are some of the most gorgeous I’ve seen in Grease, and they look even better under Steven Young’s vibrantly saturated lighting design, with ace local designers Josh Bessom (sound), Kaitlin Yagen (wig, hair, makeup), and Kevin Williams (properties) completing an all-around Grade A production design.

Casting is by Julia Flores. Chris Bona, Kristen Daniels, and Adrian Villegas are understudies.

Michael Polak is fight choreographer. Hodges is dance captain. Kevin Clowes is technical director. Jill Gold is production stage manager and Katherine Barrett is assistant stage manager. David Elzer is publicist.

Grease is such a bona fide crowd-pleaser that even though another major production was recently staged just fifteen miles away, it’s a guaranteed sure thing the La Mirada Theatre will be filled to capacity from now till closing night. Big-stage, big-budget, big-talent Greases don’t get any better than this.

La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Boulevard, La Mirada.
www.lamiradatheatre.com

–Steven Stanley
January 21, 2023
Photos: Jason Niedle

Tags: Jim Jacobs, La Mirada Theatre For The Performing Arts, Los Angeles Theater Review, McCoy Rigby Entertainment, Warren Casey