Boffo Review: Broadway GR’s “Grease” is the Word for Fun

Not everyone in Grand Rapids was attending the sold-out Lady Gaga show at VanAndel Arena on Tuesday night. Several hundred Grand Rapidians of the decidedly more mature set packed inside DeVos Place to relive the days of their youth with Broadway Grand Rapids’ latest offering of Grease, now playing through Sunday, March 6.

The familiar story, for the uninitiated, revolves around the aftermath of a summer fling between greaser Danny Zuko (Matt Nolan) and new-kid-in-school Sandy Dumbrowski (Alyssa Herrera) at Rydell High School in 1959. Mr. Nolan did his best John Travolta impression while sounding like the long lost member of some forgotten 90s boy band while Ms. Herrera’s wane voice and equally stoic acting were no match for Olivia Newton-John–a shortcoming especially noticable during the song “Hopelessly Devoted To You”, which stopped the show cold in the second act.

Also included from the popular 1978 film: the disco-fied title number penned by Barry Gibb, John Travolta’s cold shower number “Sandy“, and “You’re The One That I Want”, which was the only of the four new songs that actually fit snuggly into this stage production based on the 2007 Broadway revival.

While the leads left something to be desired, the rest of the cast saved the show with their boundless energy and skill with the lightning choreography. Kenickie (Patrick Cragin) and Rizzo (Lauren Elaine Taylor) both stole the show with each of their respective numbers. The greaser’s “Greased Lightning” number brimmed with machismo as they transformed the car before our very eyes on stage, while Ms. Taylor convincingly cracked under the weight of her vulnerability during “There Are Worse Things I Could Do”. What is usually supposed to be a show highlight, though, was lackluster and forgetable with Mr. Mekka completely missing an opportunity to lose himself in the 50s camp of the Teen Angel part during the song “Beauty School Dropout”.

Much of the draw of any production of Grease is ususally the stunt casting of Teen Angel, played here by Eddie Mekka, best known for playing Carmine Ragusa (The Big Ragu) on Laverne & Shirley in the 1970s. He deftly warmed up the crowd before the show, reveling in 50s nostalgia as he taught the audience to hand jive, led us in a sing-along to his claim-to-fame’s theme song (including the famous opening lines), and told a few borscht-belt jokes like a pro.

Most of the songs from the original 1971 production are here, but the far better “Alone at the Drive-In” is missing while the clever “It’s Raining on Prom Night” had to be placed in a different context to accomodate the addition of “Hopelessly Devoted To You”. All of these changes, plus the addition of superfluous dance breaks in several songs made for splotchy pacing further impeded by disconnected scenes that changed abruptly using flat backdrops and cartoonish sets. Much of these failings were lost on the abliging audience, however, as they gave the show an extended standing ovation at the end during the obligatory “megamix” reprise of all the major numbers.

If you’ve never seen the show live or you grew up with the iconic film, you’re sure to have a good time. Just don’t go expecting a revelatory Broadway-quality production. The recent 2008 production at Civic Theatre was just as good–and dare I say even better at times–than this touring show.

Grease is now playing at DeVos Place with performances tonight, March 4, at 8:00 p.m.; Saturday, March 5, at 2:00 and 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, March 6 matinees at 1:00 and 6:30 p.m. Tickets are available through TicketMaster or by going to the DeVos Place box office off Monroe.

Have you already seen the show? Tell me just how much of my review is off the mark or how much you agree in the comments below.