Grease
Cork Opera House
****
As directed by Bryan Flynn and presented by the Cork Opera House (aka Rydell High School), Grease is packed full of visual and physical vitality. Throbbing with the energy of committed performances and a seamless flow of dance sequences, the musical, written by Jim Jacobs and the late Warren Casey, is given the sophisticated treatment it demands, both technically and musically.
The story of high-school romances and rivalries in 1950s America, which culminates on prom night, is a challenge of period costuming that is met successfully by Joan Hickson.
Given the number and rapidity of costume changes, her assistants must be the busiest members of the production team, although the selection and management of wigs remains a problem. Another more serious difficulty is the inability among the female cast to adjust their speaking voices to the amplification.
Although singing the occasionally banal lyrics with assurance, the dialogue can become so strident as to be incomprehensible, an unexpected hiccup in a show whose otherwise flawless technical expertise is demonstrated in Paul O’Mahony’s fast-moving set and Michael Hurley’s lighting design.
The most memorable aspect of this production, however, is the quality of the dance sequences, designed by choreographer David O’Connor.
With musical director David Hayes siting his orchestra above rather than below the action, the different numbers explode with excitement.
Rocking out ensemble pieces such as Summer Lovin', We Go Together and You're the One that I Want, the cast also maintains the (admittedly few) characteristics of the individual roles in an unflagging investment in performance.
If there is a downside to this musical, it is its lack of charm, its stereotypes and its dated sexism. The boys, led by Carl Stallwood's Danny, are greased-hair louts addicted to "knockers" or "jugs"; the girls are so dependent on male approval that the pure heroine (Leanne Moore) transforms herself into something between Madonna and Medusa. But charm isn't necessary for this show to work, and it certainly works here.
Until August 4