‘Grease’ rerun promises to take audience back to the '50s

How do you remake a popular musical set in the 1950s in 2014? For 9 Works Theatrical's rerun of Grease, it's all about bringing back the rebellious attitude of that post-war era. 

 

The theater company successfully mounted the musical in November last year with Gian Magdangal and Frencheska Farr as the leads. But after winning the PHILSTAGE Gawad Buhay Award for Outstanding Production of an Existing Material for a Musical in 2013, executive producer Santi Santamaria decided that "Grease" deserved a rerun. 

 

So will it be just a repeat of last year's performance? 9 Works assured that this new production of the 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey will give off "new energy" from their new cast members. 

 

"If you remember the Grease from last year, what you will watch this November will be very, very different," Director Robbie Guevara stated during the press launch of the rerun of "Grease" in Makati.

 

This year's Danny Zuko and Sandy Dumbrowski are Guji Lorenzana and Tippy Dos Santos, who are both onscreen and onstage actors. Joining the two and making her comeback on the Philippine stage after 10 years is TV-theater actress Antoinette Taus. 

 

Other "Grease" cast members are Steven Silva (Johnny Casino), Marvin Ong and Vince Lim (Doody), Alex Godinez (Marty), Nelsito Gomez (Sonny LaTierri), Gabriela Pangilinan (Cha-cha DiGregorio), Rafa-Siguion-Reyna (Kenickie), Reb Atadero (Roger), Peachy Atilano (Frenchy), Sarah Facuri (Jan), James Stacey (DJ Vince Fontaine), Harold Cruz (Eugene Florczyk), Sab Jose (Patty Simcox), and Angela Padilla (Miss Lynch). 

 

Just like last year, 9 Works will also bring a new roster of surprise guests to play as Teen Angel who will sing Beauty School Dropout every show. Michael de Mesa, Franco Laurel, Tirso Cruz III, and Tom Rodriguez all played the role in the 2013 production. 

 

Back to the past

 

Musical director Joseph Tolentino told GMA News Online that the music of Grease was not that hard to play. "But the challenge was to make it as authentically 50s as possible," he said.  

 

Tolentino also said that the music of 9 Works' "Grease" rerun aims to bring out the excitement of the rebellious music of the 50s. 

 

"Last year, basically, was how modern musicians would play 'Grease.' This year, we're going for as as raw and as vintage," he added. 

 

Guevara also said the musical won't sound electronic. "This was the 50s so it was very brassy. It was very raw, nothing electronic. That's what we have. But the score—because it is middle-class high school—doesn't call for a big brassy band," he said.

 

He also said that the sound designer Chuck Ledesma will be very careful for the musical not to sound very electronic. He explained, "This time around we have to be conscious about the mic-ing process. There has to be a lot of mixing to make it sound raw. The minute it sounds recorded, the minuted it sounds electronic, we're not in the 50s anymore." 

 

The "Grease" reboot will also feature new choreography that is true to the 50s, as polished by choreographers Arnold Trinidad and Francis Matheu. "They (the cast) were forced to study more on the 50s style," he said.

 

In terms of acting, Guevara talked to the cast members and reminded them that Grease was set in a time where music was not as readily available as today. There were no mp3s and electronic devices then. Listening to music and dancing to it were activities that teenagers in the 1950s, who had just been through the World War II, look forward to.

 

"'Can you imagine what is life back then?' I leave them with that question and then they formulate their own ideas," he explained. 

 

But to Guevara, "Grease" is about having fun with friends who are like family.

He said, "'Grease' is here to remind people how to enjoy life in simplest ways, specifically through your friends and music and dancing." — VC, GMA News