By Sue Roberts
From the opening overture played by a highly accomplished seven-piece orchestra (directed by very enthusiastic Griff Johnson) perched on a very high platform at the back of the stage, to the literally all singing and dancing finale, we were treated to an evening of great entertainment featuring all those songs we know so well.
All performers put their heart and soul into their singing and dancing with some very impressive choreography courtesy of Arlene Phillips (creator of Hot Gossip and more recently judge on several TV talent shows including Strictly Come Dancing).
Danielle Hope (winner of BBC’s Over The Rainbow) as Sandy was outstanding with an amazing vocal range and although Tom Parker (from boy band The Wanted) as Danny put in a good performance in his first theatrical role, it was evident that his voice was more suited to pop than musical theatre.
Other performers worth a mention are Louisa Lytton (Eastenders, Strictly Come Dancing) as Rizzo, Tom Senior (with a string of theatrical credits under his belt) as Kenickie, who had a particularly powerful voice and Nastasha Mould as the Cha Cha dancer whose high kicks had to be seen to be believed! Musical theatre favourite Darren Day gave a strong performance as the over the top DJ Vince/Teen Angel and proved that he still has the lungs to belt out a song.
The supporting cast were all brilliant and each took their turn in the spotlight showing their individual talents.
Sets were simple but effective with a magnificent full size American Cadillac being on stage in several scenes and the bright, colourful, 1950’s style costumes really brought the whole thing to life
The entire show was full of energy and fun from start to finish, enhanced by the excellent sound quality and mixing of voice and music.
Grease is on at New Theatre, Oxford until Saturday 1st April – so do go along to see it if you can!
Tickets are available from www.atgtickets.com