Fun!!!!! Well written, well acted!!!!!!! Enjoyable evening!!!!!

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The play was fabulous and the actors were terrific! We highly recommend this!

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It was an awesome show and it was great to see how the show truly started.

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Very ambitious and well produced show.
The Original Grease is truly a treat, but certainly not for the Kiddos. A very well done musical production that was ambitious in size, spectacle, and talent considering the size of the theatre. Although fitting this show should take place in a converted North Chicago warehouse, the size of the show certainly filled the space and made it feel like the whole place was bursting at the seams at times.
The Set Design, by Walt Spangler, encompassed the entire room, and did an amazing job of giving the Director many different acting areas while not obscuring sightlines. The design encompasses the entire room, leaving the audience feeling less like it is watching the show and more a part of it- which seemed to be the intent all along. These are our stories, experiences we all live through.
Jessie Klug’s lighting design, which involved an extraordinary amount of fixtures for the space was spot on. Great use of color for balance and definition of space was achieved through great selection of which lights to use when. Adding to the emotions of scenes with higher raked angles was textbook lighting design at its finest. Kudos to the Electrics Crew for amassing what was surely as many lights as the dimmers could hold.
Making the show sound even with such big voices and numbers proved a difficult task. At times, the actor’s mics would bleed through each others, and it really seemed like a fight for the Mixer. With a consistent live band in the back (but still close) it made it difficult to sometimes hear every word, especially principals during songs.
The full cast dance numbers in the space forced for tight and precise dancing, and Jim Corti pulled off as much as he could and did an admirable job fitting in as many twirls and cute small moments as possible- but being so intimate meant that every hit(or missed) step would be that much more apparent. Good up close is tough, and Corti and the cast won in every scene.
At times, the cast- filled with the exuberance and young lust-for-life that the script calls for was exemplary. At times, they seemed to be having more fun that the audience and there wasn’t a bad performance in the bunch. Standouts included Jessica Diaz who nailed her performance of tough as nails but fearful and unsure underneath Rizzo. It can be difficult to project the underlying motives of a character to an audience, but she did so with the grace and ease of an actress twice her age.
Tony Clarno’s performance of Kenickie brought some of the shows most compelling moments. His solos captured the heart of the audience and his acting brought a real, visceral, and gritty feel to the show.
The outstanding cast, direction, script work, and savvy technical use of a small space, make it a true Chicago Gem. Enjoy.

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