1978’s Grease starred John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John as Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsen. Everyone knows “Summer Nights” even if they’ve only heard it at a karaoke bar. Along with “Saturday Night Fever”, it’s in the CD, DVD, cassette, videotape and whatever else collections of most everyone over the age of 10. So you may think you know all there is to know about Grease. Well you don’t.
Did you know that the Broadway Musical, Grease, originated in Chicago and, after beginning its Broadway run became the longest running musical in the history of theatre? Grease retained that record until it was broken by A Chorus Line.
Director Randal Kleiser directed Travolta and Kelly Ward, who played Putzie in “Grease”, once before, in the now infamous television movie “The Boy in the Plastic Bubble”. Travolta of course played the title character, afflicted with an immune deficiency that required he spend life in isolation. Ward played one of the bad boys who made fun of the poor bubble boy.
So many of the actors in Grease appeared at some point in the Broadway and traveling road productions of Grease. Travolta played Doody on stage and of course Danny Zuko on screen. Jeff Conaway played Danny on stage and played Kenickie in the film. Barry Pearl was Sonny on stage alongside Travolta’s Doody, and he played Doody in the movie. Actress Jamie Donnelly played the same role on Broadway and in the movie: Jan. Ironically, she’d been let go from the Broadway production before auditioning for the movie.
Other actresses considered for the role of Sandy included The Partridge Family’s Susan Dey. The original choice for bad girl Betty Rizzo was Lucille Ball’s daughter, Lucie Arnaz. However, her mother refused to allow her to screen test. As a result, Stockard Channing was hired only days before filming began.
While Danny had a song when Sandy rejected him, Sandy didn’t have a moment to sing about her problems in the original script. Especially since they had superstar Newton-John, the Producer Allan Carr felt that the moment in the film where Sandy is feeling rejected should include a song. Newton-John’s songwriter, John Farrar, composed the ballad “Hopelessly Devoted to You.” Other songs written for the film rather than taken from the Broadway show include “You’re the One That I Want”, “Grease”, and “Sandy”.
“Heaven Can Wait” starring Warren Beatty filmed next door to “Grease”. “Grease” opened against “Jaws 2″ in June 1978.
Several actors returned to the Grease franchise for Grease 2, including Didi Conn’s Frenchy, Eddie Deezen’s Eugene, Eve Arden’s Principal McGee, Dody Goodman’s Blanche, and Sid Caesar’s Coach Calhoun”.
Director Kleiser directed the semi-autobiographical independent feature It’s My Party in 1996. The film’s laundry list cast included Margaret Cho, Roddy McDowell, George Segal, Gregory Harrison, and Eric Roberts – and Newton-John. Newton-John spoofs the moment in Grease where she tries to smoke with a scene where she coughs while smoking a marijuana cigarette (“joint”) in It’s My Party. Newton-John spoofed her black leather Grease look in another independent film,”Sordid Lives, directed by Del Shores.
Dinah Manoff was Pink Lady Marty in Grease. She went on to portray one of the characters on NBC’s sitcom, Empty Nest, which was a spin-off of The Golden Girls.
Finally, while it is technically not about “Grease”, Michelle Pfeiffer played the leading lady of 1982’s “Grease 2” – it was both her first movie role and the first time she sang onscreen. Whether intentional or not, Pfeiffer biographies often refer to “The Fabulous Baker Boys” as the first role in which Pfeiffer sang.
If you’re ever playing the “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” game, keep in mind Newton-John had a cameo as herself in “She’s Having a Baby” with Kevin Bacon. That gets you to any cast member of Grease in only two steps.
Reference:
- Olivia Newton-John Fan Webiste www.onlyolivia.com
