Grease The Musical, Diva Productions Review

Reviews

26 Apr

Written by Joseph for Theatre & Tonic

Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first experience of attending the Theatre Royal, Wakefield, (also situated on Drury Lane like its London counterpart) It is a small but cosy regional theatre with comfy seats and a nice, raked stage.

Diva Productions presented a high-energy, high-quality piece of theatre for an up-for-it crowd. The brightly lit and colourful stage was adorned with a large screen, which helped to set the scene throughout. There were odd uses that enabled it to work, however, there were times it was overused and could have been done with more physical technical solutions. Things like the car in “Greased Lightnin” not turning around so we can see her in all her glory. However this was done later on for a particularly impressive drive-in scene.

The vocals were superb. Not a single note dropped and impressive harmonies throughout, it was a joy to listen to, even over the wailing audience members sat behind us in the stalls throughout every single song. I did politely admonish them, however I received a less polite response and their continued wailing, standouts were Michael Markey as Danny and Beth Rosamond as Rizzo.

The choreography also stood out as the best I’d seen in an “amateur” production. This production showed how you don’t need to be professional to put on professional-level dance, executed well.

I feel like this is where the mask began to slip however, although there were definite examples of great characterisation, in Holly Greco as Jan and Ella Bliss as Patty Simcox, Some of the acting fell below the standard in comparison to the rest of the show, which was more noticeable since the other parts were so strong. Now this is not to say that it was not good acting, just not at the same level as other elements. There are clearly characters chosen because their vocal ability was so good, and this may have been at the expense of an authentic 50s American accent.

My main concern however was the amount of material dedicated to mimic the film itself. Which is hard to escape from, especially when audiences enjoy the callbacks, I felt these were the weakest parts, it may only be single lines, but they stuck out like a sore thumb as inauthentic and a bit unoriginal. Especially with the talent on stage, I felt like something more original character-wise would have been a nice touch.

I also found the addition of “We Go Together” odd as an Act 1 finale, however upon research, I have found that this was the original way to do it. The addition of a slowed-down version to the opening, in a sombre and almost funeral-like staging I found strange. It did showcase the vocal talents of the cast with stunning harmonies, but it didn’t feel like I was about to watch Grease.

All in all, a highly enjoyable night at the theatre, which I would recommend seeing if you get a chance, and I would be keen to see future shows that the cast is in as there are some absolute shining stars there. Just let them do the singing please, they're far better at it than we are.