Posted on: Wednesday, December 29, 2004
STAGE REVIEW
Avalon, delightful songs carry 'Grease'
By Joseph T. Rozmiarek
Special to The Advertiser
"Grease," the Broadway musical built around juvenile nostalgia for a time most adults want to forget — their high school years — is in town for a limited run at Blaisdell Center. Its stereotyped memory takes us back to Rydell High School in the 1950s, when looking cool and sneaking cigarettes were the big concerns.
Image provided by concert publicity Remarkably, the current revival has Avalon back as Teen Angel, singing "Beauty School Dropout" and cashing in on decades of memories and ageless good looks. The opening-night audience cheered his appearance and broke into applause at every break in the melody.
It was just a single number, but Avalon's body of work and smooth delivery warrants his star billing.
While the audience recognized Avalon as a genuine pro and a real star, it also seemed to recognize the rest of the production as on-and-off capable.
• When: 7:30 p.m. today and tomorrow; 4 and 8 p.m. Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2 and 7:30 p.m., Sunday • Where: Blaisdell Concert Hall • Admission: $44 and $64 weeknights and Sunday-night; $54 and $74 others • Information: (877) 750-4400, www.ticketmaster.com; 732-7733, for group sales of 20 or more (10 percent discount applies) A case in point is Tiana Checchia in the lead role of Sandy, singing "Hopelessly Devoted to You," the Newton-John hit written for the movie and added back into the theater version to punch up the opening of Act 2.
Alone on stage and spotlighted against the front curtain, it's a star moment in an otherwise ensemble story line. But we comfortably hear Checchia only when she belts the lyrics and miss the subtler and softer parts of the song. She otherwise accomplishes Sandy's transition from nice girl to tart without incident.
Derek Keeling has the right smooth moves as bad boy Danny Zuko and turns in some excellent physical comedy in the drive-in scene, but doesn't go deep into the dangerous sexual energy that would truly energize the role.
Lauren Tartaglia as tough-talking Rizzo adds presence and punch to the cast.
Audibility aside, the performance seems to sag in Act 1, leaving us wishing they'd cut the dialogue and get on to the next musical number. But choreography eventually ignites the show with a frenzied "Born to Hand Jive" dance contest at the school gym.
The show is thin on plot, but remember that it's a fun spoof and not "West Side Story."
The best songs put across the simple message of youthful energy and yearning: "Summer Nights," "Freddy, My Love," "Greased Lightnin'," and "Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee."
And who could forget lyrics like, "We go together, like ra-ma la-ma la-ma ka dinga kading-a-dong?"
They just don't write 'em like that anymore.
The stage show had a major New York run, and the 1978 movie version starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John broke records. Appearing in only one scene in that movie was Frankie Avalon, teen idol of the 1950s and star of a string of "Beach Party" films in the 1960s.
The Broadway smash "Grease" will be playing at the Blaisdell Concert Hall through Sun-day. Frankie Avalon stars and sings such as "Beauty School Dropout."
There are no other big names in the young cast, whose résumés list mainly touring shows, college and regional productions. None of them are helped by their body microphones, which have us straining too hard to hear lyrics and dialogue.
'GREASE'
