PERFORMING ARTS

Grease, Tell Me More, Tell Me More: Stories from the Broadway Phenomenon That Started It All

Chicago Review. Jun. 2022. 352p. ISBN 9781641607582. $30. THEATER
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Fifty years after Grease opened on Broadway, Moore (who directed the original Broadway production), Adrienne Barbeau (who played Rizzo on Broadway), and Ken Waissman (who discovered the show when it was playing in Chicago and produced it for Broadway) offer a fast-paced, heartwarming oral history of this beloved show that spent eight years on Broadway and had eight tours and two London engagements. Waxing nostalgic for a time when they were young and famous, more than 100 individuals from the Broadway casts and crews share fascinating tidbits from casting (those who failed to make the cut include Barry Manilow as music director, and Tom Hanks as male protagonist Danny Zuko) and the perks of being connected to the production, such as celebrating Grease Day at Yankee Stadium, dining with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, and getting in to Studio 54 as VIPs. Interviewees discuss the evolution of the script, the costume and set designs, and the different ways the roles were interpreted by cast members; the book also includes an amazing collection of photographs and drawings.
VERDICT Capturing Grease’s joyful silliness and moving coming-of-age themes, this narrative will delight fans and musical theater history buffs.
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