Grease review at The Bristol Hippodrome

Posted on: 2017-06-06

Our rating:

A fabulous night of feel good music that had the audience singing along to their favourite numbers and dancing in the aisles. The most fun I have had in ages; a ticket to see Grease really is the one that you want!


Grease truly is the word, as the much loved musical has taken to the stage at Bristol Hippodrome on the latest leg of its UK tour. Known to audiences worldwide thanks to the 1978 movie that launched the career of John Travolta as well as introducing the world to the leather-clad glory of Olivia Newton-John, this classic musical is a riot of colour, music and fun from start to finish.

***TICKETS AVAILABLE ONLINE HERE***

Set in the 1950s, the action takes place at Rydell High School and tells the story of morally upstanding Sandy Dubrowski and uber-cool heart-throb Danny Zuko, who find themselves thrown together for their last year of school following an intense summer fling. The story follows them, their friends and peers as they navigate the dramas of high school life; the politics, peer pressure, alliances, love and teenage angst that make growing up so very difficult.

Grease at The Bristol Hippodrome

With an upbeat score of early rock and roll numbers, and amidst a whirl of dancing and drama, Grease is a phenomenon that continues to appeal to generation after generation. Crammed full to the brim with the well-loved Jacobs-Casey songs which are so recognisable from the movie- Summer Nights, Greased Lightning and The One That I Want, watching Griff Johnson’s vibrant and slick production is tremendously enjoyable and hugely exciting, yet comfortingly familiar.

 

Tom Parker, formerly of The Wanted, is Danny. He has a pretty decent singing voice and is enthusiastic in his delivery, as well as in the high octane dance numbers. He does struggle at times though, as his voice while good isn’t the strongest. Charismatic and fun, he does a fine job nonetheless.

Tom Parker of The Wanted as Danny Zuko

In the role of Sandy, Danielle Hope, West End star and winner of BBC talent show Over the Rainbow is outstanding. Note perfect and beautifully poised, this is a faultless performance- her transformation from naive goody-goody to sassy vamp worked brilliantly and her emotional rendering of Hopelessly Devoted is superb.

 

The star turn of the show though was Jimmy Osmond, who wowed in his small cameo role as the cheesy yet enigmatic Teen Angel. He was clearly having a ball and so were the audience, as his natural charm, charisma and years in the business shone through. His 5 minutes on the stage whipped the crowd up into a frenzy and earned him the biggest cheers of the night.

 

Sadly not quite as stellar was ex-Eastender, Louisa Lytton’s performance as Rizzo, the wise-cracking leader of the Pink Ladies. For a character who is supposed to be strong and fierce Lytton lacked any real kind of stage presence. Her singing wasn’t particularly strong and any emotional connection she had to her character while delivering dialogue was lost the minute she started to sing.

 

The somewhat hit and miss performances of the leads gave the supporting characters a definite chance to shine. The entire ensemble was brilliant, the Pink Ladies and T-birds imbued with energy and humour. Real highlights of the show were Tom Senior, giving it his all as Kenickie during the Greased Lightning number and Ryan Heenan as Doody who was spot on as the timid, tongue-tied T-bird, who dazzled with his fantastic voice during Those Magic Changes and Rock n Roll Party Queen.

 

This was a fabulous night of feel good music that had the audience singing along to their favourite numbers and dancing in the aisles. The most fun I have had in ages; a ticket to see Grease really is the one that you want!

 

4/5 reviewed by Sarah-Jane Howard

Grease is at The Bristol Hippodrome from 6-10 June 2017. Tickets available here.

Grease at The Bristol Hippodrome



Article by:

Sarah-Jane Howard

Sarah-Jane is an aficionado of film, theatre, culture and the arts. A voracious reader and avid crafter, she can be found volunteering her face painting talents at Bristol Zoo when she's not cementing her reputation as Coalpit Heath’s cake maker extraordinaire. Known to have an opinion on everything she’s never happier than when sharing these with the good folk of Bristol!