Secret Cinema’s Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical – review

The closer you get to Battersea Park this summer, the more pink satin jackets and shiny, skintight black trousers you’ll see as Secret Cinema has returned to London for the first time in three years with Grease. While technically a repeat of the film it put on in 2023 in Birmingham, this is a whole new production with a whole new format focused on communal fun and accessibility over secrecy – not that that’s necessarily a bad thing.

Everything kicks off with an initial hour to explore the small outdoor funfair and buy food and drinks. Although there are plenty of helpful role-playing ushers, there is no cast present at this point – perhaps a missed opportunity to have moments of interaction with characters as beloved as Sandy, Danny, Rizzo et al. The show starts properly when audiences are herded into Evolution London, transformed into Rydell High. There’s palpable excitement as audiences see the space for the first time, which has been cleverly designed by Tom Rogers and lit by Howard Hudson so that the various iconic locations surround a large central stage, meaning there are good views from almost everywhere.

Officially billed as Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical, the show is a hybrid of the film and the stage musical and it works beautifully. Instead of Secret Cinema’s traditional free roam followed by a screening, the film happens throughout the night, with a few pauses and cuts. Crucially, all the songs are performed live with a band, which adds hugely to the atmosphere. The cast, primarily musical theatre actors, are phenomenal. Liam Morris brilliantly captures John Travolta’s louche goofiness and Lucy Penrose is superb as spiky, sarcastic Rizzo, but there are simply no weak links in this very talented cast.

The songs are all showstoppers, with wonderful choreography from Jennifer Weber. The moments between numbers do lull at times, although they provide an opportunity to get food and drink without missing much, and there are plenty of walkabouts from the cast and opportunities to join in with set pieces – half the audience is up on the stage for the dance contest. It may be hard for many to put fond memories of Secret Cinemas past to one side with their hidden corners and audience-led storytelling, but it doesn’t feel fair to judge Grease by those shows. Secret Cinema is openly trying something different, and while there are certainly ways to fine-tune the rhythms of this new format, on most levels it really works.

This production of Grease feels in many ways like an elaborate immersive West End musical, a format with broad appeal and it’s impossible to ignore how clearly audiences are having a great time. Not many immersive companies are managing to make money from vast, intricate sets at the moment, and it’s a niche slice of audience who love to hunt for elusive moments of magic. Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical is a joyful, communal experience; there’s less to discover, but that comes with zero FOMO. It’s a hugely accessible, hugely enjoyable show, executed confidently and vibrantly by a very talented cast.