Poochu’s Productions brings one of the world’s most popular musicals, ‘Grease,’ on stage, for the Chennai audiences

Ten years ago, theatre artiste and director Denver Anthony Nicholas was all set to stage Grease, one of the world’s most beloved musicals, but the play got shelved because the lead actress had to drop out because of some family emergency. Now, 10 years later, Denver has gone back to 1959, where Rydell High School’s seniors are quite the spectacle. The “Burger Palace Boys,” too cool for school, are stealing hubcaps and acting tough, while the “Pink Ladies,” with their gum-snapping and chain-smoking, look stunning in bobby sox and pedal pushers. The actors playing John Travolta’s character Danny Zuko, and Olivia Newton-John’s Sandy Olsson have changed. Arivuselvan S is the new Danny Zuko and Bhavya Balantrapu, the new Sandy Olsson.

This lively musical, a tribute to the idealism of the 1950s and a satire of teenagers’ perennial urge to be rebellious, is about to unfold. At its core is the romance between Danny Zuko, a hot-rodding gangster, and Sandy Olsson, the sweet new girl in town. They have a secret summer romance, but now, amidst school pressures and social cliques, their love becomes more complicated. Can Danny keep his cool reputation and win Sandy over? “Let me not answer that,” says Denver, laughing, as he adds, “But please come and watch the play. It has been in the pipeline for so long now. It is one of my biggest directorials, and oh well, I have choreographed this musical too!”

The film Grease starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John is actually based on the play (with the same name) and was performed on stage in 1972. Denver lets us in on a little trivia here. This movie version was staged in Tamil Nadu 20 years ago and I debuted as a choreographer for that. After that, in 20 years, nobody from the city has done Grease!" says Denver as he also informs us that his Grease the Musical is from the “original stage version, with a mix of movie (elements) sprinkled in here and there,” and that’s because, Denver explains, “The film only focused on the main characters, but the stage version is written for all 10 of them. So I have 10 lead actors — five female and five male actors.”

Arivuselvan, who steps into the shoes of Travolta, says, “While I have studied Travolta’s character, I have added my bit too. It was like how Denver put it: ‘Let’s see how Arivu as Danny is.’ I must mention here that the carefree attitude that Travolta portrayed on screen was difficult to pull off. That is something I stole from him.”

For Bhavya, who plays Sandy, the role was challenging because Sandy is this soft spoken, so called ‘good girl’, who people were able to relate to at the time the film was made. “But as a character today, she needs to be a little spunky, which I have tried to add,” she says.

The story features energetic performances of hit songs like Greased Lightnin’, We Go Together, and Mooning, evoking the music of Buddy Holly, Little Richard, and Elvis Presley that defined a generation. With Amrita Fredrick as the vocal director for this Poochu’s Productions’s play , the team has been practicing singing since the last five months. “I don’t think a lot of us would have envisioned ourselves as singers if it weren’t for Denver and Poochu’s, and, of course, Amrita. They’re really helping us see new sides to ourselves.”

Tickets start at INR 1,500.

August 17, 7 pm. At The Music

Academy, Royapettah.

Email: rupam@newindianexpress.com

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