*** “Grease” is a Chicago musical. There are many people who have never seen this as a play, and only know it as the movie where they witnessed John Travolta and Olivia Newton -John as the main characters, Sandy and Danny . It is a musical about High School ( Taft, in Chicago) but over the years and via the film version, has shifted to California. The story is definitely  high school and if you think back to your high school days ( before social media and the internet), you will recall that life was far simpler then.

Many of you know that of late, the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in downtown Arlington Heights has undergone some changes. I am happy to report that the new management people are doing whatever they can to improve the quality of the art they present. Tonight they opened to a full house + crowd and while they have an unusual stage for presenting musicals, they found a clever way to make it work. “Grease” is known to many because of the film version, so some of the songs are a little different, but  the work by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey ( book, music and lyrics) is still a fun experience. The story is about the class of 1959 Rydell High School. As a grad of the 1960 class of Glenbrook ( there was only one back then), I understand a lot of what Jacobs and Casey were expressing and under the clever direction of Dina DiCostanzo and the choreography of Matthew Weidenbener, they pull it off.

The open stage prohibits a set that would bring us the burger place and many of the other areas in which scenes take place , but Joe Johnson’s set has enough flexibility to create the illusions for an audience to think they are at that place. Christina Leineke’s costumes are a mix of actual late 50’s looks mixed in with a few items that became popular in the 70’s ( when this play was written), and the lighting (Levi Wilkins) and sound ( Forrest Gregor) were fitting. There was a tech problem that did stop the opening night performance for several minutes, but handled to perfection and once repaired, the show ran as smooth as silk.

The cast, mostly newcomers to our area, was having fun and that is part of what a “Grease” production has to have. These are high school kids, taking us back from their reunion to the actual semester of that year.  This cast had some fun and for the most part kept us into the show from start to finish, even with that 14 minute stop. A terrific group of performers and the crew. I found Eric Amundson to be a delightful Danny and while Morgan Wolfe ( Sandy) has a wonderful vocal range, I did not feel that Danny would or even could end up with her. Maybe it was just an off night. Marta Bady was a very strong Rizzo and Michaela Shapiro, an adorable Frenchy. Julia Hope Budd as the sexy Marty is quite the dancer and does a great job with “Freddy My Love”.

Kenickie (Peyton Schoenhofer) does a cool “Grease Lightning” with the guys ( I told you, this is different than the film) andLandon Reese Keller is a dynamite Roger. His rendition of “Mooning” is a breath of fresh air to a number that is often cut by theater companies. His coming of age with Jan (Abby Derosa) is fun to watch as well. Many directors often concentrate on the main four characters while DiCostanzo put it all together as a total memory of years gone by.

We al remember the Teen Angel doing “Beauty School Dropout”, and in this production, it is once again a standout number as done by Justin Grey McPike. Terrific work! Hats off to Miss Lynch as played by Kathleen Puls Andrade and also Dan Gold as Vince Fontaine. There are two characters that are very important to the sub-story in “Grease”. They are Eugene (Nathan Kabara) and Patty Simcox (the adorable Catherine Bevensee). They represent the nerd and the cheerleader characters that we all went to school with. They have been ( and probably will be) at every high school since high school began. These two performers hit all the right notes and played their parts just right.

The orchestra , led by Kevin Reeks ( who also handles th ekeyboards) is high above the set. They are: Sophie Creutz (tenor,sax), Samuel Stein (guitar), Noel Streacker (drums) and Andrew King (bass). They fill the theater with their sound and never make it hard to hear the lyrics. By the way, the dance numbers  are powerful, do thank you Matthew Weidenbener for showing us that big numbers can take place on limited stages.

“Grease” will continue thru – Oct 26th with performances as follows: