REVIEW: Grease - Liverpool Empire Theatre

Monday night was press night for Grease the musical. We were encouraged to dust off our leather jackets and to pull on our Bobby socks for the biggest party in Liverpool. I've always enjoyed the film, so was looking forward to seeing the West End musical live on stage, With Tom Parker ex member of Boy Band the Wanted as Danny Zuko, Danielle Hope (Over the Rainbow winner) as Sandy, Darren Day as Teen Angel and Louisa Lytton as Rizzo, the show plays at The Empire for one week only until Saturday 8th April. Directed by David Gilmore, the running time is 2 hours and 20 minutes.

Tom Parker (Danny) Danielle Hope (Sandy) Photo Credit Paul Coltas

Despite a promising start with an incredible overture and an engaging opening scene, the first half of the show seemed to lack something special. I did not completely buy in to the performances. Sandy whilst vocally strong seemed to deliver operatically and it did not ring true with the original character of Sandy as played by the incredible Olivia Newton-John. That said, the duets with Parker and Hope were beautiful. The opening scene of "Grease is the word" was energetic and the costumes fabulous.

This is Tom Parker's first ever theatrical role. He is to be congratulated, however I just did not connect with him and felt that something was missing from his delivery. In his defence, I was comparing him (perhaps unfairly) to the incredible John Travolta from the movie. His vocal ability is good but he seems stiff in his delivery and the fluidity of the performance is impacted.

T Birds - Photo Credit Paul Coltas

Darren Day - Photo Credit - Paul Coltas

The set design is great and you do get a sense of being present at Rydell high school. There is often a lot going on. From pyrotechnics, energetically performed choreography that it is all a bit distracting. More focus should have been placed on the acting rather than the aesthetics I feel.

Full Cast - Photo Credit Paul Coltas

Louisa Lytton's performance as Rizzo was underwhelming, she lacked the feistiness of the character and her delivery lacked the requisite substance for such a strong character in the show.
Darren Day as Vince Fontaine and Teen Angel was an interesting choice of casting. Whilst he performed well in numbers such as "Beauty school drop-out" I was confused by his delivery. He randomly quoted Austin Powers mid-song and Jim Carey's "smokin" catch-phrase. It seemed quite Self-aggrandising and detracted from the scene. This to me was an unnecessary inclusion.

The second half of the show was more engaging and the cast seemed to come into their own. They relaxed into their roles and this was evidenced by the engagement from the audience.

In summary, it wasn't one of my favourite shows but it wasn't one of the worst things I've ever seen. The auditorium seemed to love it and the packed Empire were in rapturous applause at the end, so maybe something evaded me. I really wanted to love this production and get involved with the rest of the audience who were engaged in rapturous applause and singing their hearts out. Go along and make your own mind up. I was grateful for the opportunity to watch the production; however, something just did not resonate with me or electrify my soul as much as I had hoped.The show runs until Saturday 8th April and tickets are available here