In June, 1971, writers Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey were given the opportunity to try out their musical glorification of an earlier decade in a small experimental theatre in Chicago. A pair of smart New York producers caught their act and made an on-the-spot deal to adapt the show for New York. On Valentine's Day, 1972, the Fifties came to life on stage at off-Broadway's Eden Theatre, and on June 27th, 1977, the Fifties came to film when the Robert Stigwood/Allan Carr Production of "GREASE" started shooting for Paramount Pictures.
In between, "GREASE" has racked up nearly 2200 performances on Broadway, becoming the longest-running hit currently on the boards, and passing "Oklahoma!" to become the eighth-longest running production in Broadway history. The show has gone on to become an American classic as well as an international smash - with versions turning up in Mexico, Europe, and Australia and with national companies attracting "GREASE" fanatics wherever they go. Precipitating the rampant Fifties craze which has gone on to produce such major successes as "American Graffiti" and television's top-rated "Happy Days" series, "GREASE" coincidentally returned to the Pantages Theatre in L.A. while the film was shooting. The show's popularity would seem to be never-ending.
While fascination with the recent past has now become an American cultural staple, "GREASE" is not just a nostalgic look at a simpler decade; it is peopled with characters of universal appeal - lovable, pop art renditions of identifiable kids. It's an energetic and exciting musical homage to the age of rock 'n' roll, and the music captures audiences much the same way Elvis Presley's tunes did. "GREASE" also happens to be rather perceptive on issues of pride and self-image, but its major appeal is that it's fun.
Producers Robert Stigwood and Allan Carr each have a background in presenting highly commercial properties for the public's entertainment. Carr may be Hollywood's most celebrated personal manager, representing and guiding the careers of some of the most exciting personalities in the world of show business - Ann-Margret, Peter Sellers, Nancy Walker, Marvin Hamlisch, Stockard Channing. He was creative consultant in the marketing and promotion of "Tommy," and is renowned for giving the most glorious parties in Hollywood. Producer Stigwood is the founder of R.S.O. Records, which features such top artists as Eric Clapton and the Bee Gees. He produced "Tommy" and recently had completed "Saturday Night Fever" starring John Travolta, and he masterminded the success of "Jesus Christ Superstar" from records and concerts to theatre and film. Together they would seem to have the ideal flair for presenting "GREASE" on film.
To make "GREASE" shine, Stigwood and Carr assembled a cast and crew to rival that of all other musical productions in film history. John Travolta, America's #1 heartthrob as Vinnie Barbarino on the top-rated "Welcome Back Kotter" series, was everyone's first choice to play the role of Danny Zuko on the screen. Fresh from filming "Saturday Night Fever" (for which he received extraordinary acclaim and awards, including an Academy Award® nomination as Best Actor) for Stigwood, Travolta boasts just the right mixture of animal magnetism and innocence. Sort of a cross between James Dean and Rudy Kazootie.
To complement Travolta's charms, Stigwood and Carr persuaded international recording star Olivia Newton-John to make her American film debut. With more Gold records and worldwide awards than any other contemporary female vocalist, Olivia stars as Sandy, Travolta's beautifully and painfully innocent love interest. Stockard Channing, acclaimed on Broadway in "Two Gentleman of Verona" and on film in "The Fortune," rounds out the starring roles as Rizzo, a tough-talking, very liberated "Pink Lady."
Making special guest appearances in the film is an impressive group of stars reminiscent of the Fifties. Eve Arden plays Rydell High School's Principal McGee; Frankie Avalon is Teen Angel; Joan Blondell is Vi, everyone's heart-of-gold, fast-talking confidante/waitress; Edd Byrnes appears as Vince Fontaine, the slick host of National Bandstand; Sid Caesar is Coach Calhoun; Alice Ghostley appears as automotive repair shop teacher Mrs. Murdock; Dody Goodman is the confused school secretary; and Sha-Na-Na is everyone's favorite Fifties group, Johnny Casino and the Gamblers.
On the other side of the camera, 30 year-old Randal Kleiser is making his feature film directorial debut with "GREASE." A recent graduate of USC, Kleiser first received attention for his prize-winning short, "Peege." He went on to direct several episodes of television's "Family" series, along with the made-for-TV films "All Together Now," and "Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway." His recent "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble," starring John Travolta, was a huge hit with both the critics and the Nielsens, and he came to "GREASE" directly from "The Gathering," starring Maureen Stapleton and Edward Asner, a Christmas, 1977 offering.
Four-time Tony nominee Patricia Birch repeated her role as choreographer for the film version of "GREASE." She also created the musical staging for "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," "Diamond Studs," "The Me Nobody Knows," "Over Here!," "Candide," "A Little Night Music," "Pacific Overtures," "Music Is," and "Happy End." Bill Butler, whose credits include "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," "Jaws," and "The Conversation," was the film's director of photography. And Bronte Woodard ("Meet Me At the Melba" and the soon-to-be-filmed "The Lonely Lady") has written the screenplay of the show for the screen, adaptation by Allan Carr based on the original musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey.
The Broadway score of "GREASE" has been supplemented by a selection of genuine Golden Oldies from the Fabulous Fifties, as well as by original songs contributed by Louis St. Louis, Sha-Na-Na's Scott J. Simon, John Farrar and Barry Gibb.
As for the rest of the cast, those landing the roles competed with literally thousands of applicants. To insure the best possible selections, an unprecedented open call for dancers was held in both New York and Los Angeles, and the successful casting marathon turned out the finest on both coasts. Everyone in "GREASE" must dance, and even the dance extras have been assigned non-speaking roles which they essay throughout the entire film.
"GREASE" was shot at Paramount Studios and on location around Los Angeles. Venice High School has been cast for the exteriors as Rydell High, representing the typical school of the period. Classroom scenes and the dance contest took place at Huntingdon High School, with the carnival/finale filmed at John Marshall High School. Major production numbers. Including a pair of lavish fantasy sequences, were shot at soundstages on the Paramount lot.
It was all on celluloid shortly after Labor Day, providing happy memories for the cast and crew of their "GREASE" Summer of '77. Set for Summer release, 1978, "GREASE" promises to be a return to musical movie-making of a more innocent era, offering film audiences a Valentine to the Fifties and a rama-lama-ding-dong good time.
