Grease – The Musical

One of the most iconic musicals ever produced on Broadway and West End, Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Named after the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as greasers, the musical is set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School and follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of peer pressure, politics, personal core values, and love. The musical was presented through special arrangement with and all authorised performance materials were supplied by Theatrical Rights Worldwide (TRW).

Tell me more, tell me more
Was it love at first sight?
Tell me more, tell me more
Did she put up a fight?

The above lyrics often heard on the radio back in the 90’s – music many of us grew up with and developed a close association with. This was one of the reasons why Kevin and Anuk travelled to Singapore back in 2014 to watch a professional production of Grease which was touring in Asia at that time. The beauty of theatre is also its ability to transform and take the audiences to a place where you want them to be, and with Grease, we thought we will take the audience on a trip down memory lane, to an area where are audience members could remember their younger selves dancing to the tunes of Grease.  

The uniqueness of this production was that it had many new faces joining COLD Theatre 7. From cast members, to production team members, to crew to the technical team – a majority of them were first timers with CT7 and that was an experience in itself. Kevin also teamed up with Nishantha Warnakulasuriya (Music Director) and Umeshi Rajeendra (Choreographer) for the first time. Giving as many opportunities to the artistes was the mantra CT7 rides on and in that spirit, Kevin had two separate casts for each show night. COLD Theatre 7 also introduced a new element by having a live band play during their production, who referred to themselves as The Gamblers. The Gamblers added the additional spark and life to the tunes of Grease and with the energetic, young and electrifying cast, COLD Theatre 7 certainly got the audience toe-tapping.  

Dates	1 – 4 August 2019
Venue	Lionel Wendt Theatre, Colombo 07
Directed by	Kevin Cruze
Music Direction by	Nishantha Warnakulasuriya
Choreographed by	Umeshi Rajeendra

Danny Zuko	Geethika Cooray, Julian Anderson
Sandra ‘Sandy’ Dubrowski	Trudy Herft, Daniella Perera
Betty Rizzo	Vinuri Weerawardena, Agalya Kotigala
Kenickie	Kovindu De Seram, Wayne White
Roger ‘Rump’	Aushadie Wickramasinghe, Thilina Udayaratne
Jan	Ruwandi Perera, Lozaine Pereira
Doody	Isira Edussuriya, Leeth Singhage
Frenchy	Shenelle Perera, Chantal Dassanayake
Dominic ‘Sonny’ LaTierri	Shakib Hisham, Devinda de Silva
Marty	Andrea Melisa, Nimansa Thalduwa
Patricia ‘Patty’ Simcox	Tayhani Kannangara, Kimaya Gunathilake
Eugene Florczyk	Zaahid Aman
Miss Lynch	Dhara Gunawardene
Vince Fontaine	Wayne White, Isira Edussuriya
Johnny Casino	Sankha Bee
Teen Angel	Danu Innasithamby
The Gamblers	Shalinda Halpé, Rukshan Aponso, Shevanka Fernando, Nuran Gomez, Shehan Wijemanne
Senior Cast (Boys)	Anuk De Silva, Shanaka Cooray, Christopher Stephen, Johann Anderson, Mahesh Senaratne, Keith J De Silva
Senior Cast (Girls)	Roshni Gunaratne, Dinesha Senaratne-Cooray, Dilini Perera-Fox, Pavitra De Seram, Piorina Fernando
Ensemble	Devin, Dewmith, Elaine, Joshua, Kavindhi, Kimaya Gunathilake, Maryanne Silva, Melmari Cruse, Milinda, Moses, Nelisa Algama, Nicole, Rumalki Fernando, Ruwandi Perera, Saranga, Sharon A. De Silva, Shehani, Yeshani, Yossheine Diaz, Zydhney Fazal