The perennial Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey musical, Grease, is here again for a limited engagement at the Orpheum Theatre through January 30th. This time, the Phoenix Productions and Magic Arts and Entertainment offer a new cast of energetic singers and dancers. Teen idol Frankie Avalon still "guest stars" as Teen Angel and repeats a cut down version of his nightclub act at the end of the very short musical.

My parents once told me that the only things in life to depend on were death and taxes. I now have a new one - that there will always be a production of Grease somewhere in this world. What started out as a five-hour amateur production in a Chicago trolley barn morphed into a much shorter rock 'n' roll musical Off-Broadway on February 14, 1972 where it ran 128 performances. The presentation proved so popular that it moved uptown to the Broadhurst and then to two more Broadway houses for a 3388 performance run. Grease held the record for the longest running show until A Chorus Line captured the title. My first experience with the musical was at the Broadhurst with the original cast of Barry Bostwick as Danny, Carol Demas as Sandy, Adrienne Barbeau as Rizzo and a young Jeff Conaway as one of the boys. The musical had an extensive tour thoughout the states, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Grease proved so popular with the masses that Paramount filmed the musical in 1978, adding some additional rockin' music to suit the talents of John Travolta, Olivia Newton John and Stockard Channing. (I was at the studio when it was being filmed and worked as a still photographer on the movie for the PR department.) The Weisslers could see a good cash cow, and they revived it in 1994 at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre. Those folks who remember the good times of the Eisenhower administration flocked to the theatre with a shocking pink front to bask in the memories of when they were young. They even brought their kids to see the likes of Rosie O'Donnell, Marcia Lewis, Sam Harris, Megan Mullally and Sutton and Hunter Foster. It ran an amazing 1505 performances.

Grease has been presented by regional, college and high schools in this country and has been performed in every country in the Western World. The production at the Orpheum has played every nook and cranny in this country and has had a constant flow of new singers and dancers trying to make their mark on the musical stage. The current cast of "teenagers" seem a little long in the tooth to be high school students of Rydell High School, but many of them have good voices and they move to the beat like regular '50s rock and rollers.

Grease's plotline needs no explanation but to say it's a satirical look at he dress, manners, morals and music of teenagers at the beginning of the rock era. The main plot is the attraction between greaser Danny Zuko and the virtuous Sandy Dumbrowski. This not a great musical but more of a cartoon of a show and it works, since it admits to being a cartoon in the actors speeches with god awful Brooklyn accents and '50s style stuff. You've got those Pink Ladies with the poodle skirts and hair styles that would do Hairspray justice. Their accentuated speech is sometimes grating, especially when they are chirping together like chickens in a hen house. You wonder if kids were like that in the '50s (yep, probably).

The Burger Palace Boys are a fusion of male machismo, preening and strutting around like roosters in a hen house. However, they all have good voices when called upon to sing, and their dance moves, especially in "Greased Lighnin'" in the first act and "Shakin' at the High School Hop" with the Pink Ladies, are very good. They display great energy and give you the impression of high school kids having a darn good time. You could say that Grease is a combination of a "vanilla" West Side Story and Gidget.

Grease opens with audience participation when radio DJ Vince Fontaine (William Hubscher) invites the paying customers to come up on the stage for an old-fashioned rock 'n' rock dance fest. He awards prizes for the best moves of '50s dance. (On opening night, a young Asian man, who later admitted he was an "ex-dancer," and a girl in her teens walked off with Grease T-Shirts, and a young boy around ten years old chewing gum was great - he must have watched the film a dozen times to get those moves and should have received a prize.) Then the show gets off to a rollicking start.

Derek Keeling plays Danny Zuko as a combination of a romantic hero and a guy like Brando in The Wild Ones. He looks and acts like an amalgamation of Travolta and Henry Winkler as the Fonz. Keeling has a great voice for the '50s melodies, especially in the numbers "Summer Nights" and "Alone at a Drive-In Movie." Tiana Checchia is good as the wholesome Sandy; her singing hits the mark, especially in "Hopelessly Devoted to You" and she harmonizes well with Keeling. However, her change into a Pink Lady at the end makes her look like a two bit hooker on the Las Vegas strip.

Lauren Tartaglia as Rizzo has great vocal chops and good moves, but it looks like she should be one the Donna's girlfriends in Mamma Mia!. This Rizzo must have been in high school for 10 years. "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee," which was always a high point in the musical, seems to be a throw away song when sung by Ms. Tartaglia. Jessie J.P. Johnson does a good take as a beginning guitar player with "Those Magic Changes."

The big production number, "Beauty School Dropout," is sung very well by 60-something Frankie Avalon. This guy still has the voice and the charisma to put the song over. Bambi Noltimier acts and sings well as the dropout.

After the cast takes their curtain call, Avalon provides a fifteen minute version of his nightclub act, which includes the songs he made popular, such as "Venus," "Ginger Bread" and "Diana." His attempts at humor fail, but he still has great charm in handling an audience who wants to go home. He can still master the melodies of these songs and he looks good.

Grease's set is strictly bus and truck scenery with memorabilia of the '50s hanging on the sides and top of the proscenium stage.

Grease runs through January 30 at the Orpheum Theatre at Market and 9th in San Francisco. Tickets can be obtained at 415-512-7770 or at the Orpheum Box Office. The next attraction will be Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! which opens on February 1 and runs through February 13th. Caroline, or Change is currently at the Curran. For more information on these Best of Broadway productions visit their website at www.bestofbroadway-sf.com.

Photo: Stan Barouh

Cheers - and be sure to Check the lineup of great shows this season in the San Francisco area

- Richard Connema