Grease The Musical - News

Happy Birthday Grease

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Grease - Now in its 2nd amazing year!

The smash-hit musical Grease celebrated its second electrifying birthday at The Piccadilly Theatre on 25 July 2009 and is now the longest running show in the venue’s history. To mark these special events, Grease announces the opening of a new booking period with tickets now on sale until September 2010. The producers are also delighted to announce that Ray Quinn has extended his run playing the role of ‘Danny’ and will now be starring in the show until 28 November 2009. In addition, Grease is excited to be involved in a new series for Sky 1 ‘Grease: The School Musical’.

The cast and company of the current West End production of Grease enjoyed the show’s second anniversary and ongoing success between performances on Saturday 25 July, with an onstage celebration and a spectacular Greased Lightnin’ birthday cake.

They were joined for the special occasion by pupils from Wallasey School (in the Wirral), the winning school chosen to stage their own production of Grease for the upcoming series for Sky 1 ‘Grease: The School Musical’ hosted by Duncan James. The students along with Duncan had the opportunity to see the show and meet the stars of the hit West End musical ahead of their extraordinary and exciting challenge, which will see the high school put on their own musical of West End calibre.

Following the success of Hairspray: The School Musical, Sky1’s all-singing, all-dancing series returns for a second run and this time the musical is Grease. Last year’s series saw a group of ordinary secondary school pupils spend their summer holidays working with some the of best names in musical theatre to ultimately make their debuts on the West End stage. Duncan James presents ‘Grease: The School Musical’, coming to Sky1 this August, where another group of secondary school children will embark on a challenging and emotional journey as they prepare to perform the hit show in a professional theatre. Show producer Stacey Haynes, vocal coach Zoe Tyler and Duncan are working closely with the production team of Grease with Ray Quinn taking on a special mentoring role with the students. ‘Grease: The School Musical’ is a Mentorn Media production for Sky1.

Grease returned to the West End on 25 July 2007 (with a press night on 8 August) and since its premiere the feel-good audience favourite has been seen by nearly 750,000 theatregoers at London’s Piccadilly Theatre, where it continues to enjoy huge popularity.

Singer and Dancing on Ice star Ray Quinn swapped his ice skates for his dancing shoes when he joined the cast of Grease on 11 May 2009. Ray stars in the iconic role of ‘Danny’ and his sweetheart ‘Sandy’ is played by real life sweetheart Emma Stephens (Starlight Express, Saturday Night Fever).

Following in the footsteps of screen idol John Travolta, Ray plays leader of the T-Birds gang ‘Danny’ having previously played the role of ‘Doody’. Travolta famously played ‘Danny’ in the iconic 1978 movie but was discovered playing ‘Doody’ in the 1972 North American touring production.

Ray began his acting career in the hugely popular Channel 4 soap Brookside. After his notable appearance on the ITV show The X-Factor in 2006, Ray went on to release his debut and subsequently No 1 platinum selling album ‘Doing It My Way’. He also completed his own sell-out tour of the UK in 2007. Ray recently won the nation’s hearts all over again on the popular ITV show Dancing on Ice. He was crowned champion of the celebrity ice dance contest, after skating his way to glory in the final show on 22 March 2009. The Ice King completed the live UK tour of Dancing on Ice before skating into Grease, where he continues to thrill and charm audiences as ‘Danny’.

Since breaking out on Broadway in 1972, Grease’s place has been firmly established in the cultural Hall of Fame, having seduced the hearts of millions with its back-to-back sizzling tunes. The show features all the unforgettable songs from the hit film including ‘You’re The One That I Want’, ‘Grease Is The Word’, ‘Summer Nights’, ‘Hopelessly Devoted to You’, ‘Sandy’, ‘Greased Lightnin’ and many more.

Voted the “No 1 Greatest Musical”*, Grease has proved that a musical love story, bursting with denim, cheerleaders, slick hairstyles, rock’n’roll, teenage angst and young romance is timeless and universal.

This production originally opened in the West End in 1993 (co-produced with Robert Stigwood) where it enjoyed a fantastic run of 6 years. The last international tour of Grease was a phenomenal success, playing to sell-out audiences and smashing records at many venues. Since 1993, the show has been seen by audiences totalling over 9 million people in the UK alone.

Written by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, directed by David Gilmore (Daisy Pulls It Off, Happy Days, Song & Dance, Footloose) and choreographed by Arlene Phillips (The Sound of Music, Starlight Express, Saturday Night Fever & BBC TV’s Strictly Come Dancing), Grease is produced in the West End by Paul Nicholas and David Ian, by arrangement with Robert Stigwood.