Review of Grease The Musical at Theatre Royal, Norwich: Electrifying musical features huge ensemble numbers, incredible vocals and captivating choreography

Grease The Musical - Theatre Royal, Norwich

It’s a musical that has stood the test of time - bringing electrifying entertainment to audiences since the 70s.

And Grease The Musical is continuing to do just that as the UK and Ireland tour reaches Norwich this week.

For the few who may not be aware of the plot, Grease follows teens Sandy (Hope Dawe) and Danny (Marley Fenton) who enjoy a summer romance, only to discover that they are attending the same school.

It’s not a straightforward situation though, as Danny isn’t keen to show his true feelings for her in front of his friends. What followed was two hours of absolute joy - with huge ensemble numbers, incredible vocals and captivating choreography.

It may not come as a surprise that the musical is not a carbon copy of the film - the original production of the musical was performed in the US years before the world-famous movie version - but fans of the 1978 blockbuster starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John will notice some differences.

In the musical, Danny and the gang are not ‘T-Birds’ but the Burger Palace Boys (as they were originally before the movie changed the name) and there are some songs that don’t feature in the film.

But worry not - while there are (if you are like me, experiencing the musical for the first time) some less well-known but nevertheless fantastic tracks including ‘Freddy My Love’, ‘Mooning’ and ‘How Big I’m Gonna Be’, these are of course accompanied by the songs we all know and love: ‘Grease Is The Word’, ‘Summer Nights’ and ‘You’re The One That I Want’ to name but a few.

While the lead cast each did a brilliant job - kudos again to Hope Dawe and Marley Fenton, as well as Rebecca Stenhouse as Betty Rizzo, George Michaelides as Kenickie and Joe Gash as Vince Fontaine/Teen Angel - but it was the huge musical numbers where this production truly shone, with Greased Lightning, Beauty School Dropout and the Megamix at the end among the highlights.

The set was one of the most unique and creative I have ever seen - with all the space being used to transport us to 1950s America at Rydell High, which looked like such a fun place to be.

This production would not be at the level it was without the band, the crew and the production team (special shoutout must go to the costume team, they were some amazing outfits!).

Grease The Musical is just as captivating on stage as the big screen version has been for many generations - if you get the chance to see this show, you certainly won’t regret it.

For tickets, or more information, visit norwichtheatre.org

It runs at Norwich Theatre Royal until Saturday.