by dick kerekes dickkerekes@yahoo.com
Grease slid into the Alhambra Dinner Theatre last weekend and will play the next few weeks until May 27th. One of the most successful musicals in American theatre, it is a musical history of the dating rites of teenagers in the l950s during the Eisenhower years.
The Alhambra’s production can save you Grease lovers a lot of money. The show will be revived on Broadway at the end of the summer. With the high price of hotels and air fare, as well as tickets costing around $l00, it could be a costly trip.
The New York producers decided to cast the show by using a network television show to search for the next Sandy and Danny in open auditions. Having watched some of the show, I can tell you that Alhambra director Tod Booth has cast a Danny and Sandy that easily exceeds the talent of the winners of that competition.
In case you have forgotten, the main plot is the relationship of Danny and Sandy. There are the pink ladies: food-loving Jan (Shannon Murray), man-hungry Marty (Michelle Favale) hair-stylist dropout Frenchy (Katie Scott), goodie-goodie Patty (Kirsten Carmody), and the cynical, rebellious Rizzo (Eveyln Gaynor). The Greasers are Kenickie (Jared Miller), Sonny (Ken Sandberg), Roger (Nicholas Barnes) and Dooly (Juan Unzueta). Mr. Unzueta sets the standard for fine singing, early in the show when he creates his own magic singing ‘Those Magic Changes.’
Tony Triano dresses in drag to play the only teacher in the show, Miss Lynch. The old broad is very funny and almost steals the show!
Emily Tello has an excellent voice and makes the transformation from the tidy and timid Sandy to the trashy Sandy determined to get her man, Danny.
David Sattler plays an incredible Danny, handsome and well built (he obviously pumps iron). Sattler’s resume is most impressive and shows why he toured Europe in this role. You name a major musical, and he has played the leading role, including West Side Story, Damn Yankees, Carousel, Beauty and the Beast, and The Who’s Tommy. You are going to love this guy and love to hear him sing.
Grease has many colorful characters, and rounding out the cast are Jay Doppke as Eugene the nerd, Maria DeSimone as the nose-picking Chacha DiGregorio, Bob Cook as disc jockey Vince, and Conrad De’Andrea as the teen angel.
David Dionne’s set has the required neon signs and 50s teen influences.
Kurt McCall’s costumes are a retro fashion show, including the black leather jackets and poodle style skirts.
The 50s were the days of buzzwords like ‘going all the way’ and ‘making out’, while cheap wine and nicotine were the prevalent drugs. Oh, those were the good old days!
As with all Alhambra shows, the vocals are exceptional and all the musical numbers are outstanding. You will truly enjoy songs like “Beauty School Dropout” “Freddy My Love” and “Alone at a Drive In Movie”. Grease is among the top ten longest running musicals and is headed back to Broadway for another run, but you can see a version equally as good and much more intimate at the Alhambra through May 27th.
Call 641-1212 or visit their website at www.alhambradinnertheatre.com. Shows are performed nightly except Monday, with matinees Saturday and Sunday.
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