In many ways, Grease is a musical theater anomaly. It takes a simple boy-meets-girl story, sets it in a tough, 1950s high school, and attempts to make all the far-fetched shenanigans believable. The current national tour of the show opened in Milwaukee after playing in almost every city in America since it began 14 months ago. Recent Grease revivals have added has-been talent to fill the role of Teen Angel, a heavenly guide who instructs a wayward girl. This show's star attraction is Taylor Hicks, the 2006 winner of TV's "American Idol."
To his credit, Hicks seems to be having a great time in his one-scene appearance. It's clear that Hicks will never have a second career as a musical comedy star (despite the fact he played the role on Broadway for three months in 2007). But he shows some down-home charisma that seems to charm the audience. Just to make sure his fans get their money's worth, Hicks takes the stage after the show to sing a song from his new CD. It's a blatant promo for the CD, which fans can purchase in the lobby. The song he sings isn't memorable, but at least it gives fans an opportunity to see Hicks one more time.
The tour's more notable addition is songs from the 1978 film that starred John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. These mega-hits include "Grease (is the word)" by Barry Gibb, "Hopelessly Devoted to You" and "You're the One That I Want" by John Farrar. These show-stopping tunes make the original songs pale in comparison, except for the energetic "Greased Lightnin'" (an ode to car fever) and "Summer Nights." "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee" is given short shrift, robbing it of its formerly funny, sarcastic tone.
Most of the top talent that launched this tour has moved on to other shows. Thankfully, replacements Josh Franklin and Lauren Ashley Zakrin, who play Danny and Sandy, are up to the task. They look very sweet together, Danny in his tight black leather jacket and Sandy in her poodle-style skirt and sweater. David Ruffin shows some flair as Kenickie, the second "coolest" dude in town.
Unfortunately, Laura D'Andre never gets a chance to make Rizzo, the female leader of the girls' in-crowd, stand out. More memorable is Kate Morgan Chadwick as Frenchy. This may be due to the fact that her hair changes color in every scene. In any case, this effervescent beauty-school dropout provides some much-needed humor as the ditzy tag-along to the "in" crowd.
The show's staging and dancing, courtesy of director/choreographer Kathleen Marshall, is upbeat but not terrific. The set pieces are cartoonish and cheap-looking by today's standards. It makes Grease look like the bus-and-truck versions that were too frequent in Milwaukee many years ago.
