Touring production respects author’s vision ‘Grease’ is the word

By John Benson

entertainment@vindy.com

When David O’Brien was asked to dir-ect the national touring company of “Grease,” which comes to Powers Auditorium on Sunday, the Broadway veteran had an ace up his sleeve.

“One of the things that I was very fortunate about is to be able to actually have Jim Jacobs, who is the author, on hand,” said O’Brien, calling from New York City. “We actually started working together during the Broadway production, the revival in 2007, where I was a production stage manager. That’s when I started a collaboration with Jim. So much of what I’ve been able to bring to the show has really come through him and his real-life experiences in not only writing it, but the fact it is based loosely on his teenage years.”

“Grease” made its Broadway debut in 1972 where it stayed for eight years and 3,388 performances. For some, “Grease” was first discovered as the successful 1978 feature film — which starred Olivia Newton John and John Travolta — and its sing-along soundtrack featuring No. 1 hits “You’re The One That I Want,” “Summer Nights” and the film’s title song. It turns out Jacobs’ inspiration for the iconic musical is more than just a love story for Sandy Dumbrowski and Danny Zuko.

“It was much grittier,” O’Brien said. “The actual story line originally — and this is way back before the original Broadway production in 1972 — was grittier, because all of these kids really came from a very tough area in northwest Chicago. It was really kind of a tough group of kids that came from working-class families. Throughout the years, a lot of people say ‘Grease’ has become sanitized, and in a sense it was, but it also was a very tense era, so we definitely have put it into the world of musical theater, which is what they did with the original. What our current production brings is more dancing, but we still try to keep the gang as real as possible.”

Naturally, that gang (Rizzo, Kenickie, Frenchy, et al) will be singing all of the hits; however, the touring show marks the first time a Broadway production has featured songs (“Sandy,” “Hopelessly Devoted to You,” “Grease” and “You’re the One That I Want”) that were added for the feature film. O’Brien said the result is pure “Greased Lightning” fun.

“Really, that’s what ‘Grease’ has become,” O’Brien said. “As soon as the music starts, that first downbeat from the song ‘Grease,’ we get a lot of cheers just because a lot of people recognize that from the movie. Also with a song such as ‘Summer Nights,’ people start swaying right away along with it because it’s so recognizable. We’re very fortunate because we kind of have a built-in excitement for the show.”

Adding to the fun, “Laverne & Shirley” actor Eddie Mekka is in the cast as fast-talking disc jockey Vince Fontaine. O’Brien feels this show is nothing more than a walk down memory lane.

“We really do emphasize the score in this show, and what people end up walking out with in this production is just singing the songs,” O’Brien said. “It’s just a feel-good night of good entertainment.”