The hugely popular summer-time musical Grease will turn 45 this year… but before Aberdeen University’s Treading The Boards Musical Society take its version to the Arts Centre stage, they decided to make a few changes.
Just like many other films of its era, Grease is filled with problematic elements.
From the moment when one of the boys (T-Birds) asks the main character Danny if his summer fling ‘put up a fight’ to when another guy admits to spiking a woman’s drink, Grease has a number of scenes that are hard to watch in 2023 – something that TTB’s director Kenneth Lypka realises.
“We couldn’t do too much with the dialogue but we did change a couple of scenes in terms of their tone and hopefully have made them a little less problematic,” he said.
“Things like the car scene in the film (when the main character Danny tries to force himself on Sandy and doesn’t listen when she says no)… you look back at it now with a different viewpoint for the better…
“We tried to approach these scenes slightly differently so that it’s more of a ‘mutual misunderstanding’ than anything else.”
Aberdeen’s Treading The Boards to stage Grease
Kenneth said staging the production – which hasn’t visited Aberdeen in a few years – was a “nice challenge”.
Just like any other amateur/ student theatre production, Kenneth and his team had to work around a low budget.
The director said: “It’s been a challenge to stage the musical – especially the car scene – with a lower budget but I think we managed to pull it off.
“The good thing is that the stage musical is slightly different from the movie – we don’t have to worry about a flying car at the end of the show.
“We also very politely asked the cast to try to find as much as they can themselves and they knocked it out of the park. There will be a few looks in the show that are almost straight from the film that the cast were able to put together themselves.”
But it might just be the things which weren’t part of the film that make the stage production stand out.
“The music in the show is fantastic,” said Kenneth who’s very fond of the stage musical’s original songs.
“There are a few cracking songs that weren’t featured in the film. For instance, Rock ‘n’ Roll Party Queen and Freddy, My Love – they’re a couple of my favourites, they’re definitely hidden gems.”
Directorial debut
Kenneth, who’s been part of TTB for about a decade, first joined the musical society when he was studying music at Aberdeen University. This will be the first time the talented actor, who also works as a trainee pipe designer, will direct a TTB production.
He said: “I was involved with TTB when I was at uni – my first show was The Producers.
“For Grease, we started rehearsing back in September – we held auditions during the Freshers Week last year – and then we started rehearsing immediately afterwards. But there was a long break in the middle when students went home for Christmas.
“Anybody who’s a fan of the songs will enjoy our show. The cast are a very talented bunch. Students and non-students, they’re all great and will give it their all on stage. I’m sure everyone will have a good time.”
Treading The Boards Musical Society’s Grease will be at Aberdeen Arts Centre from Wednesday February 8 to Saturday February 11. Tickets can be booked here.
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