Grease is one of the most famous musicals which has been turned into a movie to ever be created. The play was one of the longest to ever run on Broadway (1971-1980) and even had several re-makes and re-releases. The movie meanwhile grossed over $389 million. The reason that both the movie and the show had a lot to do not only with the stunningly beautiful actresses and sultry, attractive actors who played all of the parts (John Travolta and Olivia Newton? Yowza), but also because of the brave, out there social commentary of the story itself.
Grease itself is set in the gritty suburbs of Chicago back in the 1950s, and follows around a group of high school kids who were then affectionately known as Greasers, primarily kids of a working class background. They were the ones who were big into the rockabilly and rock & roll genres of music. Grease itself deals with issues which were quite taboo subjects back in the 1970s and which still have a stigma attached to them to this very day. The characters discussed and dealt with issues such as teenage pregnancy, gang violence, teenage rebellion, and the clash of the economic classes in the United States.
As a result of the success of the on stage Broadway play, the producers decided to turn the musical into a full length feature film starring the hottest stars at the time. The movie itself had extra dance numbers and songs which were not included in the original Broadway performance and which served as a delightful surprise for viewers. Additionally, the soundtrack associated with the movie became the top selling album in the United States in 1978. We wanted to find out more about Grease, and see where these big name actors are today. What happened behind the scenes? And were the actors as in love in person as they were on set? Well, it turns out that…
[post_page_title]That’s My Name[/post_page_title]
The hit musical film is known for many things including providing memorable nicknames. In fact, everybody had a name on the cast of Grease, and we mean everyone including the backup actors and the dancers. Maybe it was a way to make them feel a part of the core gang or maybe it was a production choice that we’ll never know for sure, but in any case they might not have been as famous as Frenchy or Doody, but still they had names.
