Viva Lewes Issue #157 October 2019

ON THIS MONTH: MUSICAL
Grease
Sandy’s underlying feist
Few musicals evoke as much joy, in so many,
as Grease. Jacqui Freeman, Director of LOS
Musical Theatre’s upcoming production is one
such fan. “I was maybe eight when it came out,
and I went to see it eight times. I think it was the
only time I went to the cinema and didn’t eat
my orange-flavoured Matchmakers. I got to the
end and I hadn’t touched them because I was so
enraptured. I mean, John Travolta, come on! And
Olivia! There was so much going on.”
Jacqui was originally approached to direct a Bugsy
Malone production, after an LOS committee
member was impressed with the nativity plays
she had directed at a local school. An LOS production
of Les Mis then followed, and some of
the young cast that Jacqui directed then are now
performing in Grease. “They are very supportive
of each other as a cast. They’re young, they’ve
got lots of energy. They all love the songs.
“My big thing with any stage production is that
everybody understands who they are. I’ve been
to see lots of polished productions – amateur and
professional – where the singing, acting, lighting,
everything is great, but you don’t connect with
the characters on stage. So we talk about the
motivation a lot. Why is your character saying
that, what are they feeling?”
This production is an amalgamation of the original
musical and film versions of Grease. “Two
of the five songs from the original are fantastic,
so you’ll hear them: Mooning and Those Magic
Changes.” Mooning as in bum mooning? “The
character that sings it is known as the mooning
king of Rydell High. But he sings the song to
Jan, who he quite likes. So he’s singing about
mooning but really it becomes a fledgling love
song, because he’s mooning over her.”
Jacqui explains that Sandy’s character is more
rounded in the musical than in the film. “There’s
one scene for example where she punches one
of the other characters... she’s got this underlying
feist I think”. Jacqui suggests that Sandy’s
decision to change into “Tell me about it, Stud”
mode can then be interpreted as part of her own
coming of age story, rather than as a gambit to
win Danny over.
I briefly chat to Choreographer Jo Thomas too,
who started at LOS when she was around 11
years old, (performing as Annie no less!) Jo tells
me that Jacqui was impressed with her choreography
on previous LOS productions Oliver! and
Chess, admiring how it “helped tell a story rather
than just ticking a box as a dance”.
The dance numbers are longer than in the film,
so Jo is working hard to keep the momentum up
with vigorous routines. This focus on dynamism
chimes with Jacqui’s mantra for her actors: “If
in doubt, move about.” After seeing LOS’ “energetic,
upbeat and nostalgic show”, she thinks
that the audience too will leave with a bit of a
spring in their step.
Joe Fuller
Lewes Town Hall, 1st to 5th Oct,
losmusicaltheatre.org.uk, 01273 480127
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