Grease the Musical: Theatre Review

Grease is one of the most famous musical films. But it originated as a stage musical, so it’s a great show to see on stage. There are quite a few differences to the film! Here’s my Grease the Musical theatre review, with the differences from the film explained.

Overview of Grease the Musical on stage

Grease was originally a musical on stage, but most people know it from the film starring Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta. It’s a famous film, so most people will be familiar with the story. So my Grease the Musical theatre review won’t give you any plot spoilers if you’ve already seen the film!

Grease the Musical, like the film, mainly follows the story of Sandy and Danny. They meet on a beach over the summer and fall in love, and then unexpectedly end up at the same high school together. However, Sandy finds that Danny is a different person when he’s at school surrounded by his friends. The story follows Sandy and Danny as they see whether their relationship can work now they’re both at school. Grease the Musical also follows the stories of some of Danny and Sandy’s friends, including Rizzo and Kenickie.

Seeing Grease the Musical on stage, you can’t help comparing it to the film. I’ve seen the film several times so I know the film well. But Grease the Musical on stage does have quite a lot of differences from the film. And some audience might be disappointed in some of the changes, if they love some of the moments from the film. But it’s still a great show, and definitely worth seeing on stage. Here are some of the main differences between Grease the Musical on stage and Grease the film.

Differences between Grease the Musical on stage and Grease the film

Grease the Musical on stage does follow roughly the same plot as the film. And a lot of the songs are the same. The stage musical includes all of the most famous songs from the film, as well as some more. But there are still quite a few differences from the film. Here are the key differences that I noticed. And if you’ve seen both the film and the theatre show, feel free to add to the comments anything that I’ve missed out!

Sandy isn’t in it as much. Other love stories such as Rizzo feel just as important as Sandy and Danny.

The main difference between Grease the Musical on stage and Grease the film that I noticed was that Sandy wasn’t as much of a main character in the theatre show as she was in the film. In the film, it felt like Sandy and Danny were definitely the main characters. And the other characters were just the sub-plot. However, in the film, Sandy wasn’t in it as much. Danny was still in the show a lot. But Sandy wasn’t – it was almost a surprise when she reappeared for a song. In the theatre show, other love stories such as the romance between Rizzo and Kenickie felt just as important as Sandy and Danny. It felt like Rizzo was on stage more than Sandy, and gave some more memorable performances. I’ll say a bit more later on about my views on this – but it was definitely a change from the film.

They’re called Burger Palace Boys, not T birds

Another of the big differences between Grease the Musical and Grease the film is the name of the boys’ gang. In the film, they’re the T-Birds, with their leather jackets with the logo on. But in Grease the Musical on stage, they’re the Burger Palace Boys. That name didn’t sound quite as cool as T-Birds!

Freddy my love, and also a romance between another Pink Lady and Burger Palace Boy

As well as focussing less on Sandy and Danny, Grease the Musical on stage also focussed on some other romances that weren’t included in the film. Early on in Grease the Musical on stage, there was a song called ‘Freddy my love’. It was sung by one of the Pink Ladies who was engaged to her military boyfriend. It was a lovely song, and was a plot point that the film completely skipped. There was also hints of another romance between another Pink Lady and Burger Palace Boy. Again, Grease the Musical on stage was giving more time to these other characters, and less time to Sandy, compared to the film.

The ending happens in a diner, not a fayre

One of the most iconic moments from Grease the film is the final scene. Sandy comes out, in her new tight-leather look, and they have the ‘You’re the one that I want’ song and dance at the fayre. I really like that scene from the film. However, in Grease the Musical on stage, the final scene happens in a diner. I think it’s the Burger Palace diner – a cheap American restaurant. The final scene definitely felt a bit less impressive in a diner compared to the film!

The ‘Sandra Dee’ song is at a different time – it’s later, in front of Danny and the boys

In Grease the film, the song ‘Look at me I’m Sandra Dee’, sung by Rizzo, is when the girls are in the bedroom trying cigarettes and alcohol. However, in Grease the Musical on stage, this song happens later on in the show. At first, I thought that meant they were skipping the song because the girls’ bedroom scene happened without this song. Instead, this was when the ‘Freddy my love’ song happened. However, Grease the Musical did still have the ‘Look at me I’m Sandra Dee’ song, just later on. Rizzo sang this song in front of all the boys, including Danny. So in Grease the Musical on stage, we got to see Danny’s reaction to this song.

Danny gets in trouble with the police

Grease the Musical on stage also takes the ‘bad boy’ image of Danny a bit further. In Grease the Musical on stage, Danny gets caught up in trouble with the police a few times. There are a few scenes where Danny and the boys are hanging around at night and the police catch them and they try to run from the police. It definitely gives Danny more of a serious bad-boy image than the film.

The beach scene at the beginning has a reprise of ‘Sandy’

In Grease the Musical on stage, the musical opens with a reprise of the song ‘Sandy’ while Sandy and Danny are on the beach. However, this song doesn’t feature in the film. It’s a nice song, and a nice opening – although there aren’t many special effects in the stage musical that make it obvious that Sandy and Danny are meant to be on a beach in the opening scene.

They don’t do the iconic Grease Lightning dance moves

One of the most famous scenes in Grease the film is the song ‘Greased Lightning’, and the dance that goes with it. However, the dance in the film doesn’t include the iconic ‘Greased Lightning’ dance moves in the film. It’s still an amazing song and dance, and one of the highlights of Grease the Musical on stage. But don’t expect it to be the same as the film!

‘Hopeless Devoted to You’ song is after the school dance competition, and Sandy isn’t at the dance competition

Another song that is in a different place in Grease the Musical on stage compared to the film is the famous song ‘Hopelessly devoted to you’. In the film, Sandy sings this outside after an evening with the girls. But in Grease the Musical on stage, this song is straight after the dance competition. Sandy isn’t even at the school dance competition with Danny – which is another big change from the film. Instead, Danny is at the dance with another girl and they do a big dance together. And after they win the dance competition, Sandy appears at the corner of the stage and starts her song.

‘We go together’ song is at the end of the first half and then repeated at the very end

The last of the differences between Grease the Musical and Grease the film is the song ‘We go together’. In the film, this song is just at the end of the film. However, in Grease the Musical on stage, this song is at the end of the first half. And then it’s repeated at the end of the show. It completely makes sense that this song wouldn’t be played in the middle of the film, as there’s no interval in the film. But it’s still a bit confusing to have the song from the end of the film in the middle of Grease the Musical on stage, and then again at the end.

What I liked about Grease the Musical on stage

I really enjoyed seeing Grease the Musical on stage. The highlight for me was the songs and the dances. I love the songs from Grease, so it was great to see them performed live. I thought all the songs were performed well, and all of the cast were great singers.

The dances were amazing as well. The dance to ‘Greased Lightning’ was a real highlight. It was just amazing how the boys were jumping all over the car and not falling over. And they still had enough breathe left to sing the song!

Another great dance was the dance to ‘Born to hand jive’. In the musical, there was a school dance competition and Danny is there with a new dance partner. And their dance is just amazing. All of the dancing at the dance competition is great, but Danny’s dance was particularly good.

The whole show just had lots of great songs and dances. And at the end, there was a medley that the audience could stand up and join in for. So it’s a great evening out!

What I wasn’t so sure about

Even though I really enjoyed the songs and dances, there were still some elements of Grease the Musical that I wasn’t so sure about.

Sandy and Danny – interactions

The main issue I had with Grease the Musical was that we don’t see many interactions between Sandy and Danny. Sandy isn’t in the show that much – a lot less than in the film Grease. So we see a lot of interactions between Danny and other girls. But we don’t see many positive interactions between Danny and Sandy. Their relationship isn’t really developed on stage much at all. So there are some scenes that feel a bit random – such as when Sandy comes on stage and sings the song ‘Hopelessly Devoted To You’.

At this point in the musical, Danny has just won a dance competition with another girl. He’s hardly spoken to Sandy for many scenes, and instead has been flirting and dancing with other girls. And Sandy isn’t even at the dance. But she suddenly appears at the corner of the stage and sings about how she’s devoted to Danny and still loves him. I didn’t really feel like we’d seen anything in the musical that would explain why Sandy would have any feelings at all for Danny. He’d been a bit of a douche, and she hadn’t really been around for most of the show. So that song, although it was a lovely song, felt quite out of context.

Sandy and Danny – the ending

I also have a massive issue with Sandy changing everything about herself for Danny at the end. It’s a fun song at the end, but still would have been nice for Danny to love Sandy just as she is. I had issues with this plot development in the film. But I think it felt even worse in It’s a fun song at the end, but still would have been nice for Danny to love Sandy just as she is. I think it felt even worse in Grease the Musical on stage, because Sandy was in the show less. So we hadn’t seen many positive interactions with Danny. So then she completely changes everything about herself at the end for a guy that she’s barely spoken to for the whole show.

The dialogue

Another part of Grease the Musical that I didn’t love were the dialogue scenes. Although I loved the music and the songs and dances, I found a lot of the dialogue fairly boring. It was also a bit difficult to understand some of the dialogue at times – I think because the cast were trying to do American accents. But even when I could understand every word, I didn’t find any of it very interesting. A lot of the dialogue scenes just felt like filler between the songs. I was just keen for each dialogue scene to be over, so we could get to the next song.

Would I recommend Grease the Musical

I enjoyed Grease the Musical. My Grease the Musical theatre review is positive, so I would recommend it. I loved the songs and the dances. It was a fun evening out at the theatre. As long as you go for the great songs and dances, and don’t think too much about the plot or the dialogue, then it’s a great show. But it is quite different from the film – so see what differences you notice from Grease the film. And make sure you comment below if you noticed any more differences between Grease the Musical on stage and Grease the film!