I might add that if you're looking for a popular teen rock musical based on a hit movie, that FOOTLOOSE is a really great alternative to GREASE. We did FOOTLOOSE last spring and it was the biggest hit in the school's history, completely selling out (in a 400 seat theater) an unprecedented SIX performances. I've directed it twice before and both times the show was a huge hit as well.
A lot of the music (Let's Hear it for the Boy, Holding on for a Hero, Almost Paradise, The Girl Gets Around and the title song) is just as poplar and well know as the music in GREASE, a few of the new songs (Mama Says) are show stoppers, and the movie is just as popular with folks of the same generation (the two movies were only a few years apart and you'll find some of your mom's preferred Kevin Bacon to John Travolta back then - lol).
The storyline is actually compassionate and uplifting, essentially about family (a son with no father and a father who has lost his son) and about community. It's got teenage rebellion versus adult authority but in a good way (the adult antagonist is not a cardboard villain, but a misguided adult who listens, changes and eventually even supports our young protagonist and his friends.) The teens express their rebellion in creative rather than destructive ways. It's a statement about the arts and it's ability to heal a community (something that really resonated for us). It captures a lot of the conflict of the Reagan era and is a great teaching tool for students about that time period, the Moral Majority, etc. and opening up discussions about legislating morality and community values. While Ariel presents a similar image to Sandy at the end of GREASE, Ariel's promiscuity is seen as dangerous and a cry for attention (more accurate) and in fact she doesn't change to win a boy, but drops her "act" and is more her real self once she feels loved and supported by her boyfriend and her father. Ariel is almost the complete opposite of Sandy!
The show has a larger dance requirement than GREASE but as the authors point out, the young characters (other than Ren) would have more energy and enthusiasm than skill (this is a town where dancing has been illegal for years). So you really just need one boy who can move well and a lot of kids with energy! There are also several excellent non dancing lead roles.
And finally, the 80s are the new 50s! Kids love the era, the costumes, the hairstyles, the fact that there's a huge country western roadhouse number at the top of the second act was great fun for the students (and we were able to teach everyone some country line dancing) and the music! The title song made it into our prom that year with not only the cast, but the whole school dancing! We liked GREASE in the 80s because it was a throwback to our parents era. FOOTLOOSE is just the same. (The girls had a great time hijacking their mother's old "mom jeans.") Scrunchies, leg warmers and acid washed denim abounded.
FOOTLOOSE is handled through Rogers & Hammerstein Music Library who were lovely to deal with. They offer all the same bells and whistles as MTI and everyone else now (logo packs, accompaniment tracks, etc.). If you were planning on GREASE, consider recasting Danny and Rizzo as Ren and Ariel (same vocal ranges) and Sandy and Kenikie as Rusty and Willard (ditto).
The only hurdles I have found are in casting Chuck Cranston (Ariel's villainous boyfriend) and sometimes in casting the townfolk/ adults. Chuck is a supporting role with a very difficult vocal range. I've lucked out but it's rare to find a high school boy good enough to sing Chuck's song (which is really high!) and macho enough to pull off the character and still willing to play essentially the 4th largest men's role. Try looking outside the box at that kid who doesn't usually do theater but is maybe a bit of a small town rocker. As to the adult characters, the plot dictates that they don't dance. Ever. And while the three parents especially are wonderful roles with great vocal solos and duets, the dance element of the show becomes infectious in rehearsal and everyone really wants to DANCE! The kids playing the "no fun" adults, tend to hate it. I can think of three options. 1. Try sneaking some of your "Bomont adults" into the Roadhouse scene at the top of Act Two. It's supposed to be a different town anyway so the ensemble is all different characters. 2. The show includes a mega-mix curtain call at the end in which everyone can finally dance! 3. Consider casting actual adults (faculty or local community theater actors) as your adults. There's still more than enough great teen roles to go around.
So anyway, there ARE options to GREASE that can engage your students AND make you a lot of money and still contain stronger and more positive values. Also, as far as I know, FOOTLOOSE has a much more standard royalty policy that wont break your bank if you sell out. Good luck!
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John Monteverde
Drama Teacher
Pittsfield High School
Pittsfield, MA
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-27-2018 22:37
From: John Monteverde
Subject: GREASE - Keeping Theatre Educators in the Loop
This might be the time to bring this up. American High Schools (and I mean this with no disrespect to the good people at Samuel French who are just doing their jobs, I'm sure Rosemary is very helpful), but maybe it's time to STOP DOING GREASE?!
I realize it's easy to produce and an audience draw and a lot of the songs are fun, but the show's morals are just trashy, especially in a woke #metoo America. The central message is "if you like a guy, change who you are for him, especially if that means being more promiscuous." The secondary plot message is "don't worry about having unprotected sex, things will work out in the end" while other messages include "it's okay to bully the nerds and overachievers," "cars are basically male fantasy date rape vehicles" and "it's normal and funny for adult men (Vince Fontaine) to hit on high school girls." Those are just some of the stellar moments that come to mind in GREASE.
GREASE was not written for high school students, either for them to produce or for them to see. If you do the original version it's really inappropriate and if you do the "high school version" the show doesn't make a lot of sense (and most of the more troublesome themes are still there, they're just better hidden).
I get that the authors have realized that they are sitting on a musical theater goldmine and want to milk it for as much profit as possible. Why shouldn't they be profiting off the backs of high school theater arts programs? Putting the future of the industry ahead of blind greed is un-American and GREASE is definitely an American musical, (in all the worst senses of the word). Let's move on people! Now that Samuel French has ensured that GREASE is no longer a cash-cow (at least not for you), there are a lot of other wonderful shows out there more worthy of your time and money.
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John Monteverde
Drama Teacher
Pittsfield High School
Pittsfield, MA
Original Message:
Sent: 05-25-2018 09:37
From: Amanda Swann
Subject: GREASE - Keeping Theatre Educators in the Loop
There is a newer experience when requesting the rights for GREASE from Samuel French. I was surprised to find out that it can take up to 2 months to receive approval and stunned to find out the cost. Samuel French now bases your royalty cost on your true seating capacity and will not take into consideration previous ticket sales, or low in-come or at-risk factors. The cost was 3 times more than I have ever paid for rights in 25 years of directing musicals.
Amanda Swann Verdugo Hills High School VAPA Magnet Coordinator and Theatre Educator CA Ed. Theatre Assn., Director of Historical Records and Past-President
Drama Teachers Assn. of Southern CA, Past- President
ESU: English in Action, Los Angeles Treasurer