The stage version is a more episodic story than the film, spreading out the spotlight among the supporting cast of characters as it satirizes the nostalgia surrounding 1950s teenage life. But Danny and Sandy are still the boy and girl around whom the show revolves. Danny Zuko is the cool bad boy who has fallen for the nice new girl at school, Sandy Dumbrowski. But he doesn’t want to lose his cool standing with his cool guy friends by admitting it. Luis Malanche is Danny, and gives one of the more impressive performances of him that you’re going to see. Great personality and sense of humor, and surprising vocal range. And, well, he just looks like Danny Zuko. Kelly Berger stars as Sandy, who transitions well from the good girl “Sandra Dee” (singing ballads like It’s Raining on Prom Night) to the full-fledged Pink Lady in her big All Choked Up rock duet with Danny.

Their friends are led by the character who acts as the counterbalance to sugary Sandy, the very un-goody-two-shoes Rizzo, with Chelsea Groen turning in an exceptional performance that includes her amusingly unenthusiastic dancing to the happy-go-lucky Summer Nights number, and highlighted by her compelling and emotional rendition of There Are Worse Things I Could Do. Danielle Stout makes for a very quirky Frenchy, with her creative quirkiness always working to great effect. You never know what to expect. As Marty, Jaclyn Weeman leads all the Pink Ladies in Freddy My Love. And in her first stage performance, Abby Moskalik is a thoroughly lovable Jan who injects her scenes with a jolt of infectious goofiness and energy. Even when she’s Mooning.

Enter Roger, the King of the Mooners, with Henry Jenson lighting up the night as he imagines himself mooning in various locales, including Jan’s front door. As Doody, RJ Silva has a very likeable charisma as he leads the cast while learning to play the guitar in a terrific staging of Those Magic Changes. Sergio Miller fancies himself a lady killer as Sonny/Dominick, and Jean-Luc Cavnar-Lewandowski leads all the guys in a vibrant Greased Lightnin’ – a tribute to the ultra-cool pink car in which he gets to cruise around the stage.

A few of the other standouts include Gabriela Rodiles as Cha-Cha who scares nerdy Eugene (Ian White) and Taylor Stephens as Sandy’s very aggressive rival for Danny in the form of perky cheerleader Patty Simcox, at one point dismissing Sandy from the picture by giving her cheerleading protégé a baton and saying, “Here, twirl this around.” Kate Habros has a strong feel for Miss Lynch’s uptight personality and humor. Elsewhere, Matt Rubbelke is smooth DJ Vince Fontaine, Regan May is the Raining on Prom Night radio vocalist, and Andrew Forsyth duals as rock singer Johnny Casino and as the “malt shop in the sky” rock angel in Beauty School Dropout (in this incarnation, he proves successful in convincing Frenchy to go back to high school). And the ensemble is terrific – a dynamic group that sing, dance, and amuse through such hits as Summer Nights, Those Magic Changes, and a magnificent Hand Jive scene choreographed by Christina Ulrich.

Performs October 15 - 18, 2008.

Rob Hopper
National Youth Theatre