Review: GREASE: THE IMMERSIVE MOVIE MUSICAL, Secret Cinema
Photo credit: Danny Kaan
Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical is a production that combines the art of stage and screen to create an immersive experience where the audience become students at Rydell High, the iconic high school in Grease.
The concept is fantastic and really has the potential to be the number one event of the summer. However, there are several things that need tweaking for this to be the case.
When first entering the venue, you are surrounded by fairground rides, food stalls and a bustling atmosphere creating a festival vibe with immediate excitement for the show to come. Just before the show starts, it is time to enter Rydell High, the indoor part of the venue where most of the show takes place. Inside, the set is even more exciting; there is a Frosty’s Palace, a drive-in, a bandstand, cars and more. The set has clearly been very well thought out, with a strong attention to detail – essential for creating an immersive environment. Tom Rogers’ set design is certainly one of the standout parts of the show.
Another element that really adds to the immersive experience is the front of house staff’s commitment to their roles as Rydell High students. Every single front of house staff member is in character as a student, asking how you are feeling about the start of term or if you’ve missed school over the summer break. Thanks to this, the moment you show your tickets at the entrance, you become a student and are plunged into the world of Grease. A great piece of directing by front of house performance director David Alwyn.
Stephanie Costi as Sandy and Liam Morris as Danny have gorgeous voices. Unfortunately, due to some issues with mics on press night, their voices often got lost. There were a few songs when Danny’s mic was not switched on until he was a couple of lines into the song, and there were several points in the show when all of the actors’ mics were too quiet to be heard in the space. The nature of the show is that audience members are encouraged to roam around and get drinks and food from the inside bars, which results in lots of chatting between audience members. Whilst this creates a fun, relaxed, party-like environment, the actors’ mics were not loud enough to accommodate this type of environment.
Additionally, the lighting does not clearly show where the action is happening. There is a large central stage, and smaller stages dotted around the space. Spotlights are used to show the audience where the actors are performing in that moment, but due to the various other lights in the space from the bars and VIP areas, those spotlights are barely noticeable and it leaves audience members having to spend a couple of minutes trying to work out where the action is happening, by which time the songs have almost finished.
The idea of inviting audience members on stage for parts of the show is, in theory, great, and adds to the immersive nature of the show. However, the cast then get lost among the audience and it becomes very difficult to distinguish actor from audience member, even during some of the more important scenes. The cast are fantastic, clearly giving the show their all. However, the directing does not feel compatible with the space and as a result, although the cast are giving high energy performances, some of the songs fall flat – this is not helped by the ineffective spotlighting.
There are several ‘down’ moments in the show when nothing is happening except the film being shown on the screens. The idea is that these are good moments for audience members to go to the bar or toilet (especially as there is no interval, which appears to have been a last-minute change). Unfortunately, the gaps where nothing is happening except for the film on screen are sometimes too long, taking away what momentum has started to build. This combined with the lighting and directional issues mean that even when the cast are on stage performing, the songs don’t have the impact that they should. The cast also don’t perform any of the scenes, only the songs, which feels like a potential missed opportunity.
Upon arriving last night, we were greeted by a fantastic access host who showed us to our table in the VIP seating area, accessed via a ramp. The VIP area felt very tightly packed; there were three other wheelchair users along with their friends/family and it was very difficult for us all to fit comfortably. The finale happens outside, so near the end of the show – just before the main crowds start exiting – we were escorted outside to a cordoned off area for access customers with a clear view of the finale.
Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical could be THE event of the summer, but it needs some changes implementing first. For fans of Grease who love the idea of a Grease festival environment, this could be worth seeing. However, with some further development, this could be worthy of a recommendation to everyone – regardless of their opinions of Grease itself.
*** Three stars
Reviewed by: Kate Soper
