Kingsbridge Community College students brought Sandy, Danny, Rizzo and the rest of the Rydell High School group to life with their winter production.

The cast took on Grease, one of the highest-grossing musicals of all time, but one not without its challenges. Despite a slightly-dubious message of ‘if you change what you look like a boy will fall in love with you’ (it was released in the 1970s after all) the songs and dance routines are iconic, with some great comedic moments.

Grease deals with some heavy topics, including bullying, sex, relationships and teen pregnancy and has a wide ranging set of locations.

Pushed by time and set constraints, the KCC version missed out a couple of scenes, mainly the drag race scene which could have been difficult in the hall, but the cast created a fantastic interpretation of the classic film.

The part of Sandy, originally played by Olivia Newton-John, was taken up by Jess Hardy - who bears a striking resemblance to Shailene Woodley - and Dan Sinclair took on the role of Danny, with all the swagger and ego that the character requires.

The rest of the Pink Ladies were played by Ellie Trelfa-Stewart (Rizzo), Charlie Matheson (Marty), Libby Rodwell-Lyn (Jan), Lucy Booker (Frenchy) and Chloe Sutton.

The rest of Danny’s T-Birds were played by Tommy Booker (Kenickie), Isaac Flynn (Doody), Jon Cardrick (Sonny), Devon Taylor (Roger) and Johnny Getty.

The rest of the main characters were played by Liberty Quinn (Cha Cha), Bryn Pratt (Johnny Casino), Ella Crossland (Patty), Josef Garlick (Eugene), David Sutton (Vince Fontaine) and Kate Young (Miss Lynch).

The set, first of all, was AMAZING. It transformed with a couple of quick movements from outside to inside, to Frenchie’s bedroom and the diner and back to Rydell High’s dance hall, all within the space of KCC’s main hall, it was of the same quality as anything you would see on major stages.

Greased Lighting, Kenickie’s car, was, as far as I could tell, the whole front end of an actual car, able to be wheeled on and off stage. It was the one part of the set that I was wondering how they would pull off, but they did, and it was spectacular.

The acting throughout, was awesome, from everyone in the cast, and the quality of the singing was fantastic. How they manage to find so many talented people in one school will always amaze me.

Both Jess Hardy and Dan Sinclair were electrifying (get it?) and special props go to Tommy Booker for ‘Greased Lightning’ and to Lucy Booker and Bryn Pratt as Johnny Casino for ‘Beauty School Dropout’ - Bryn’s vocals were so similar to Frankie Avalon the original film I thought they were using a recording for the first couple of seconds.

The band, led by musical director Sharon Mitchell and conductor Peter Johnson, were amazing. Bryn Pratt was on the saxophone, Oliver Naylor on the guitar, Kathy Kenny on the piano, Sharon Mitchell on the keyboard, Andy Tunbridge on bass and Jasper Farren on drums.

Director Martin Lewis kept the whole cast and crew together and the whole team created an incredible stage show. A second cast also performed for some of the shows, including Abbie Wood as Rizzo, Rebekah Jarvis as Marty, Meg Pratt as Jan, Ella Crossland as Cha Cha, Liberty Quinn as Patty and Louis Papenfus as Eugene.

It is always a pleasure to go and watch KCC productions, and this one really was something special. Keep an eye out for the next one, its always worth it!