Lauren Samuels as Sandy in Grease
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Grease Tours to Palace, Sept

The smash hit musical Grease which ends its West End run next spring is set to tour the UK. Grease returned to London on 25 July 2007 (with a press night on 8th August) and since its premiere the feel-good audience favourite has played over 1,300 performances and has been seen by over 1¼million theatregoers at the Piccadilly Theatre, where it is the longest running show in the venue’s history. Grease will close on 30 April 2011 after nearly four electrifyin’ years in the West End and will immediately begin a national tour opening at the Edinburgh Playhouse on 6 May 2011.  The tour arrives in Manchester in September and casting is yet to be announced.

The show currently stars Matthew Goodgame (Channel 4's Musicality, Chicago) after becoming leader of the T Birds gang when he took over the iconic role of Danny on 27 September 2010 for the remainder of the show’s London run. He stars opposite Lauren Samuels (BBC1 Over the Rainbow finalist) who is making her West End debut as Sandy having joined the cast of Grease at the Piccadilly Theatre this July. The couple follow in the footsteps of screen idols John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John who famously played the roles of ‘Danny’ and ‘Sandy’ in the hit 1978 movie.

The class of Rydell High 2010 also includes Siubhan Harrison (Rizzo), Lucas Rush (Roger), Hayley Gallivan (Jan),  Faye Brookes (Frenchy), Bennett Andrews (Sonny), Robyn Mellor (Marty), Michael Vinsen (Eugene), Susannah Allman (Patty), Kerry Winter (Miss Lynch), Stephanie Powell (Cha Cha) and Jason Capewell (Vince Fontaine). 

Since breaking out on Broadway in 1972, Grease’s place has been firmly established in the cultural Hall of Fame, having seduced the hearts of millions with its back-to-back sizzling tunes. The show features all the unforgettable songs from the hit film including "You’re The One That I Want", "Grease Is The Word", "Summer Nights", "Hopelessly Devoted to You", "Sandy", "Greased Lightnin’" and many more.

Voted the “No1 Greatest Musical”*, Grease has proved that a musical love story, bursting with denim, cheerleaders, slick hairstyles, rock’n’roll, teenage angst and young romance is timeless and universal.

This production originally opened in the West End in 1993 (co-produced with Robert Stigwood) where it enjoyed a fantastic run of 6 years.  The last international tour of Grease was a phenomenal success, playing to sell-out audiences and smashing records at many venues. Since 1993 the show has been seen by audiences totalling over 10 million people in the UK alone. A second production has just played in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Auckland, and opens in Hong Kong in October.

Written by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, directed by David Gilmore (Daisy Pulls It Off, Happy Days, Song & Dance,  Footloose) and choreographed by Arlene Phillips (Starlight Express, Saturday Night Fever, Flashdance The Musical & BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing), Grease is currently produced in the West End by Paul Nicholas and David Ian, by arrangement with Robert Stigwood.

Grease is at the Palace Theatre, Manchester from 16 September - 8 October, 2011.

- by Glenn Meads

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