The Sanitisation of Grease
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- čas přidán 26. 08. 2024
- "Why this musical is automatic, it's systematic, it's highhhhly-sanitised. Why, it's Greased Lightning!"
From 1971 through to today, Grease has become well-known as a staple musical for all ages, with it being a popular choice to be performed at high schools, being still one of the sing-a-long movie experiences, and even still being a popular costume choice for parties due to it's sheer iconicism. Everyone knows someone with a pink lady jacket.
But, would it be as widely-published if it's original Chicago production was the production we knew today? Could we accept a meaner Sandy? The non-existence of famous numbers like 'You're the One that I Want'? Patty the cheerleader somehow being a main character? Well, let's take a look at Grease's history from a dark piece of Chicago's biographical teenage issues through to it becoming a suburban, wholesome and family-friendly piece of commercial theatre.
A great argument for bootlegs - they preserve art history. I know shows get recorded for archives but the public don't get access to that recording unless in person and under specific circumstances. Boots are accessible around the world for free. I am so so grateful for them.
If God forbid we become such a tyrannical society and it comes down to arrests being made or worse for contraband material a bootleg market will still rise! It will become huge until the bastards who make the misery come to pass are crushed. Even the Weimar Republic had a black market I'm sure!
The democratization of art is essential
So, there are bootlegs of the original Chicago version?
@@2degucitas There's at least one bootleg of the 1972 broadway version with all the f bombs and very explicit sex jokes, but I don't know about the kingston mines version. I have to think someone involved at least had a tape recorder with them one night. If a full 1961 audio bootleg of Camelot with Julie Andrews, Gypsy with Ethel Merman, and even a full video recording of the original South Pacific with Mary Martin from 1952 have surfaced over the years, I don't see why the kingston version of grease isn't out there
@@kchrules775 Thanks! My google search begins... Know of any links?
Honestly, the original raunchier version could probably be successful today looking at how stuff like “Euphoria” is incredibly successful.
I agree
I don't know considering that even the sanitized version of the film is coming under attack for being "problematic" in the current generation. It's almost impossible to do anything today that isn't bland and so politically correct as to be inauthentic without offending somebody. For as progressive a society as the narrative says we're becoming the restrictions put on creators and artists are draconian.
@@NelsonStJames but “problematic” stuff is being made all the time. people being critical in the media is the point of countercultural art, isn’t it? no one is stopping the stuff from being made
@@NelsonStJames History repeats itself, who knows 30 yrs from now, Hayes Code will make a come back.
@@NelsonStJames being "politically correct" (see here: not being stereotypical or discriminatory with your art) and being bland are two entirely separate things. It's not like shows nowadays don't portray discrimination, we just don't celebrate it. I honestly don't understand why that would be an issue for anyone other than a bigot.
Personally, I think the Chicago references make the story more interesting.
"West Side Story" maintained its New York references, even when the play was brought to San Francisco in 1959, so I really don't see why the "need" to remove Chicago's references for the 1972 Broadway version of "Grease."
I guess because the landmarks of New York City are more well known than those of Chicago, but still, stupid change.
To elites, the only Broadway that matters is in New York.
I mean, do New Yorkers have to know exactly where the beach is to get it? The logic is so strange to me.
This is just a New Yorker thing... they think they are the center of the universe. I had a group of coworkers who came in from our NYC office and moved to the midwest and they acted like everyone around them were back water hicks when almost all of the things they said they missed so badly were all available in they city they were in ( Indianapolis ). They just didn't like to have to do their homework to find it. It was easier to complain.
I suppose the whole moving the setting to LA made it more bright and cheery. Plus, Summer Nights with the beach references just fit more in Cali.
I was in a catholic school production of Grease a few years back and it was so heavily sanitised. Half of the songs were almost completely changed and Rizzo's false pregnancy and subsequent song There Are Worse Things I Could Do were entirely removed. The entire production felt like it had no soul.
Rather ironic that making something more catholic makes it lose soul, haha
Our high school band director flat out refused to do Grease, citing its impropriety. That was amazing, coming from a guy like him. 😆
Catholic school. Makes sense it was sanitized
Ew. A religious school has no right to do this. Just ruins the show.
@@2degucitas It gets worse. This year they're doing a production of Rock of Ages, a musical that takes place in a night club... I'm only going to see it because two of my friends got lead roles.
THANK YOU!! I have never heard anyone point out that the original concept of Grease was specifically showing that not everyone in the 1950's was wholesome and innocent.
I was quite ill as a young teen and had to be home schooled from 1968 to 1972.
This meant that I watched a lot of daytime TV.
I remember seeing an appearance by some performers from Grease (on maybe the Mike Douglas show) and I loved the idea of a more gritty look at high school in the 50s.
The creators talked about how it was based on their own tough Chicago neighborhood.
The movie however has been so cleaned up that Grease is often a choice for family movie nights.
Also, Happy Days and American Graffiti (a superb film) did not show up until 1974. Apparently some people thought that later incarnations of Grease should follow that style.
Thank you for reminding folks of the not so squeaky clean origins of Grease.
the "wholesome and innocent" thing was a reflection of the movies, tv and educational films of the era
it wasnt based in reality and that was the point of making the original show
it also pointed out the hypocracy of the 70's parents who would say "back in my day...." you mean when dad was finger banging you in the back of grandpa's chevy?
@@thewkovacs316 Seeing movies like "Blackboard Jungle" really puts the "back in my day" rhetoric of the silent generation to rest.
My opinion if you pay for it you should know what your gonna see. None of this bullshit that I didn't know that was in the show or I'm offended by this or that so it can't exist! You paid for it, don't be offended by something you chose to see just because you didn't approve some of the content! Nobody has a right, KNOWONE, to decide what you can watch, buy or experience because they are offended or don't like it! I am absolutely disgusted beyond words with this horrible PC/woke garbage climate, more like movement, as in bowel, that has crept into society from the colleges into the corporate world and various other institutions! Propped up by misguided "educators" and even parents who think socialism would be so much better then a capitalistic system. This goes far beyond bias against liberals. Real classical liberals are closer to being moderate. These are mentally challenged ignoramuses who want to impose their will on the world and can't deal with it's realities! A family member told me when I complained about this problem don't stress about the things you have no control over. Bullshit, it's about numbers, pushback, we can show them we have the control and their nonsense has to stop!
@@thewkovacs316 Also, the whole “Good girl gone bad” transformation was a satire on the way movies of the era would often have the male lead be ‘reformed’ by the end of the movie.
@@thewkovacs316 *hypocrisy
I’m so fascinated by this grittier version of Grease. I’ve always hat a mildly irrational hatred of Grease the movie and it’s songs. Even as a kid, something about the overly cartoonish and corny ways the characters sung thier songs and delivered their lines just got on my nerves in a primal way. I also found the overall cute and clean 50s aesthetic so uninteresting, tacky and lifeless as well. There was just something about it that felt annoying, and I could never figure out why.
What made it funnier was that I hated Grease yet I also loved Hairspray, a similar corny musical with a time period set only ten years after Grease’s. I always wondered why this was until watching this video. While Grease the movie and the productions trying to imitate it were extremely sanitised and safe, removing anything that made the og grease unique or even slightly edgy, Hairspray had a lot of darker or more serious issues it tackled in its story. It integrated social issues of the 60s into its story like race relations and body image issues, even religious abuse with the side plot about sandy’s friend being locked up by her hyper religious mother to prevent her from being with he black boyfriend. These all tied into the themes of change and identity pride that are best exemplified in the big finishing number you can’t stop the beat. Hairspray probably had the best balance between edgy jokes and subject matter and fun sequences and songs.
Grease takes place in 1959 while hairspray takes play in 1962, not to sound rude 😊
That's ironic; John Waters actually liked the movie *Grease* and defended Randal Kleiser's reputation as a director in his book *Crackpot.* He almost directed *Annie.*
@@monicaariad8955that is around the same time *Grease 2* was set, and the revisionism in defense of that movie is sadly unconvincing.
In 1985 my high school did Grease as its senior musical. I was upset that I couldn’t audition because I wasn’t a senior, but I worked the running crew and watched the rehearsals. I remember the director refused to do anything from the movie in the play. I remember him denouncing high schools across the country who were basically trying to stage the movie version of the musical. He followed the Broadway production in every aspect except for the language which had to be cleaned up. For example, the Summer Nights scene, he did not let the members of the chorus participate in it, having it just be the main characters, like in the original Broadway version. I remember the chorus kids being bummed out about that.The only point of reference we kids had was the movie. I remember being fascinated at how different the stage play was. Sandy didn’t go to the prom?! There was no drag race?! There’s no carnival at the end?! They don’t sing “You’re the one that I want”?! I remember people complaining that “Hopelessly devoted to you” had been cut from the show, and having to explain several times that it was never in the show in the show to begin with. Anyhow, ever since that experience, I have hated stage productions of Grease to try to replicate the movie. I wish I could see a revival of the original Chicago production staged exactly as it was in 1971.
gotta say i respect your director for sticking to the script but some of those songs are just SO good. at the time i’m sure it was different but those songs that you said were cut would have audiences hooked nowadays. then again, it’s not about the audience. thanks for sharing your experience that’s so cool :)
I hated the movie songs. Good on your director!
I have similar issues with staged versions of THE SOUND OF MUSIC copying or imitating the movie. I get upset when watching CZcams videos of the musical, expecting it to follow the original script and score by Rodgers and Hammerstein, based on the book by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse -- only to find that Maria sings "I have confidence" and "Something good". Those songs were written specifically for the film, period. That's not all: Maria teaches the children "My favorite things", but sings it in its entirely only with the Mother Abbess at the beginning; "The Lonely Goatherd" is what she sings in order to finally win over the children. Elsa has a bigger role in the staged version (she even sings); and it's ROLF who saves the Von Trapp family at the end ...
@@JLFAN2009 I was in Sound of Music in community theater around 1979. What you're describing is just awful!
@@VesnaVK Was the production faithful to the original stage version? By 'awful', do you mean those versions I'm talking about having seen, where the stage versions incorporated elements from the film? I like both the Broadway and film versions, each in its own way; what I don't like is stage productions deviating from the original script and score. I believe that there are also stage productions of SISTER ACT which imitate the movie ...
as a (much younger) chicagoan who grew up watching the family friendly film, "summer nights" originally being about foster beach absolutely cracks me up. not exactly a place I'd associate with romance, but that was probably the joke.
I had NO idea about the origins and original design of the play. This was fascinating and so informative. So clear that this channel is a labor of love
22:56 That's interesting bc I always took Sandy's transformation as a joke about movies where the female lead is a courtesan, or a singer in a seedy club or something who meets a nice innocent boy who doesn't know about her history and either changes for him or dies tragically or whatever. But today seen absent the context of what it was responding to. There were so many of those movies in the 40s & 50s. So I'm kinda happy I was sort of on the right track with that, but obviously just thinking of different movies than they were.
I always hated it in the movie. Movie Sandy was a girl who almost certainly intended to wait till marriage (or maybe engagement) and didn't seem to have much, uh, desire. Suddenly she changed. Meanwhile Movie Danny fell for her BECAUSE she was different. I have always expected that we would learn that Danny left her after a few years for a sweet wholesome virginal girl just like she was, to marry.
Was that even a movie trope or have you simply been watching too much "Moulin Rouge"?
@@PhilipWester Gigi comes to mind outright. Smiles of a Summer Night definitely has that element but also not. I'd argue Sweet Charity plays into the trope. My Fair lady is a sanitized take on this trope.
@@theoriginalsuzycat This is what I dislike about people screaming that this show is extremely sexist. I'll say that if we go back to that original production (while probably true to the realities) it probably was a bit sexist. However, the fact is the movie makes it very obvious that Danny does a HECK of a lot more to try and change than Sandy does. The stage show however is where she is given a line from Rizzo after "There are Worse Things I Could Do" where she realizes she is kind of a b-word towards others and is more or less worse than Patty. It's only then she decides maybe she has set her standards too high.
@@theoriginalsuzycat Really? In the movie it kinda looks like they both end up acting a bit tough in public, but still have their original personalities in private. Basically she’s making a few superficial changes to her appearance, and that’s about it. I don’t think she’s suddenly had a whole personality shift. It’s pretty clear that Danny is a sweet wholesome guy in private, why would that relationship suddenly change?
It’s interesting because I can’t describe the movie as gritty but it’s pretty UN-wholesome; they’re shooting innuendos (mentions of gangbangs and biting wieners) and dark subjects (getting roofied) out so nonchalantly that it left me feeling like they wanted you to know the 50s was not an innocent time. But that’s just my two cents on the film, idk much about high school productions 😅
In 1972/73, no cast party...or ANY gathering that included us theater kids...was complete without a sing-along performance to the entire cast album. 20 of us saw the tour with Travolta as Doody. And 50 years later, the movie version is LOATHED by one and all. (The title song is a disco tune fer cryin' out loud!)
Loved the 1972 (I think?) Broadway national tour. Loathe the movie. It kills me that something so destructive to a work of art is so popular and beloved.
@@VesnaVK it's transformation not destruction, you don't have to prefer it, but generally things that are popular with the masses are stuff that is accessible to them, people like happy endings and simple plots.
People who "loath" the film are pretty short sighted in the sense that this film propped up the dying musical genre and for a good many people who are into musical as an art form now, only got into because of this film, and its accessibility is key to that.
@@esmeecampbell7396 nothing against the movie or the play, but musicals were only "dying" because of boomer propaganda against them. Boomers took over the movie studios and thought that the solution to bad musicals was none at all instead of better ones.
@@Attmay I don't know of any propaganda against them, there was just continual flops and underperformance of musicals being made compared to previous years, tastes shifted.
What new musicals were being written weren't generally being filmed in the 60s because studios were backing safer hits. Then after an absence, tastes shift again and people want them back again so you get a resurgence with Grease and the 80s film musicals.
People like to complain about Sandy changing herself for Danny, while ignoring that he changed himself for her, too, and decided to do so a lot earlier than she did. By the end of the movie, he's traded his leather jacket for the one he got for lettering in track.
He's also completely surprised by her transformation, something he neither asked for nor expected.
This is fascinating as someone who recently re-watched the movie version for the first time in years. The conclusion I came to was that I wished it was more of an ensemble show, as I felt there was sooo much potential for more character exploration with side cast members like Rizzo, Kenickie, Patty, Marty, etc - instead of focusing so heavily on Danny and Sandy. Now I'm both oddly relieved and disappointed to learn that it originally WAS an ensemble show 😅
Anyway, thanks for sharing such a well-researched and informative video! This was great!
This
Yessss more Rizzo would've been awesome. She was always my favourite
"Grease on Ice" sounds 1) like a parody, and 2) very slippery 🤠🤣
I dont mind having this popular version of Grease as long as the original exists in some way which Im sad it doesnt really. There has to be some footage somewhere that can be used and released or do something like Hamilton and have a big release of the original stage version performed for streaming services. I think people would be really interested in seeing it.
Wow, that old bag of a critic really tried to say Oliva Newton John can't sing. Now that's just a flat out lie, come on she ABSOLUTELY had pipes
If that's what he calls bad singing, I can only think what he would think of Taylor Swift!
I went to a performing arts high school, and the summer before our senior year, the theater director got student input on picking the plays. He was surprised when we dismissed Footloose out of hand, but agreed to do Grease. Our version was closer to the original Broadway version.
when we did grease for my senior year show, we added a couple things from the movie-we replaced “all choked up” with “youre the zone that i want” and kept “hopelessly devoted” and the frankie valli number. it’s so much better than the movie, that clearly wanted to cater to the actors rather than stay true to the original
Hey, another ex-Doody here! I saw an interesting production of Grease in South Africa. It went pretty heavy on slapstick -- I remember one of the T-birds jumping into another's arms when they got startled. It made sense, since they couldn't expect the audience to even have nostalgia for American high school life, let alone something as specific as 1950's Chicago.
Very cool video.
One scene that I found interesting in the 1972 New York version is where "The Burger Palace Boys" (the protagonists who would be renamed the "T-Birds" for the 1978 movie), are getting ready for a rumble with the "Flaming Dukes" (the gang rivals that would be renamed the "Scorpions" for the movie.)
It is Scene Two, and after the dance.
Quote, "Sonny, Kenickie, and Doodie enter with weapons. Doodie with a baseball bat, Sonny with a zip gun, Kenickie with a lead pipe and chain. They wear leather jackets and engineer boots."
Definitely not the 1978 movie!
I cannot picture Michael Tucci's "Sonny" and Barry Pearl's "Doody" engaging in a gang rumble, because of the way the characters were written for the 1978 movie. (James Canning's "Doody," is a different matter altogether, but of course, again, the way the character is written determines how the actor will portray that character.)
In both live versions from Chicago and New York, the protagonists are about to have a ritualized fight with their gang rivals, using weapons that were historically accurate for gang conflicts of that time, including a machine shop-made improvised firearm.
And the reason for the proposed "rumble" is also historically accurate.
They are willing to fight (and potentially maim or murder each other!) over which girl "belongs" to which gang (in the live stage versions, it's "Cha Cha de Gregorio.")
As horrible as that all sounds, in real life, that happened quite frequently, such as the August 1959 gang war between The Sportsmen and Forsyth Street Boys, which resulted in a shooting of a 15-year-old girl by the name of Theresa Gee. That was in New York and in Oakland, California in December of that year, a similar gang related incident resulted in a drive-by shooting committed by 19-year-old Curtis Eugene Pete.
Again, the reason was over which girl "belonged" to which gang, just like the live versions of "Grease," and completely unlike the 1978 movie.
And the year was 1959, the setting of all versions of "Grease."
Jim Jacobs was tapping into reality(!) and drawing his humor from a more darker, but honest, place.
Both the dialogue and the behavior of the protagonists in the live versions isn't quite so "goofy" as portrayed in the 1978 movie.
So yeah, it's totally understandable why Jim Jacobs was banned from the movie lot.
He couldn't stand the goofball changes that were pandering to (mainstream) nostalgia.
At the same time, the filmmakers, in their sanitization, were tapping into the 1970's vibe of "Fifties Nostalgia," the same way that "Fonzie" for ABC TV's "Happy Days" was sanitized, with a bit of fantasy, after the first season. (By Season 2, "Fonzie" could snap his fingers due to his magical "cool" to turn off electrical appliances, while the "T-Birds" in the movie version of "Grease" have a flying car that magically lifts "Danny and Sandy" into the clouds at the end of the movie.)
And Carr, Woodard, Stigwood, and Kleiser made millions for the movie with "Those Magic Changes." (Sorry, couldn't resist.)
Anyway, excellent video.
The way you describe it, it sounds more like *West Side Story* with rock music replacing Leonard Bernstein.
*Happy Days* came from the same studio, Paramount, but they could still get away with using words they couldn't use on ABC. "Greased Lightnin'" got through without being bowdlerized, which it would not have had it actually been made in 1959 when it was set.
I had the good fortune to see Grease when it opened in London in '73 with Richard Gere playing Danny. Really liked the show and was so disappointed when the film came out. I still have my program from the show.
This was a wonderful video and that speech at the end (Miss Lynch?) got me emotional. Grease works best when it's raunchy and un-apologetic about it. I also think there's something satirical about Sandy's "transformation" in the end of the stage show. Does she walk strongly in those heels or does she falter a few times? They're a bunch of kids--none of it should ever be too polished. Thanks for taking the time to make this video essay!
I saw the original Broadway show on national tour. Sandy's transformation was played as a tragedy. It was the death of the character. You could definitely see the hesitation and despair seeing through the corners of her new tough girl persona. I was stunned and shaken. It was not a joyous celebration like in the movie.
I hated the movie for destroying the show.
I was 10. It was a powerful experience and a lesson about peer pressure. She sacrificed herself to be with him, and both of them lost. Sandy lost her natural, effortless connection with her authentic self. Danny lost the chance to develop this new way of being, which had thrilled him so over the summer, when he discovered it through his connection with Sandy. But he couldn't risk losing his place within his friend group.
Hey everyone! Feeling inspired by a recent rewatch of Grease Live, we decided to take a dive into the history behind Grease and how it's changed over the years. Turns out, there was a huge number of changes in order to clean up the dirtier parts of the show and make it more mainstream. Hope you enjoy, please like, subscribe and share with your beauty school dropouts! 💖🕺
Loved this! How about diving into some of the greatest flops ever? For Prettybelle, listen to “I never did imagine” on CZcams and you get to hear Angela Lansbury sing about ‘therapeutic rape’. But the show, writing by the composing team of the current hit Funny Girl, also had songs that sounded like Sondheim did them: ‘Manic Depressives’, ‘I’m in a Tree’, and ‘When I’m Drunk, I’m Beautiful’, but also the huge traditional first act closer ‘I Met A Man’. What a show for Angela fans! And no one has ever heard of it!
I think it's pretty clear the lyrics are ''Grease! Don't it make you want to grab your comb''.
Water?! 😅
Thanks for this! Super informative. I am working on a production of Grease this summer. The script that is licensed out to theaters is still the 1971 version that opens the show with the class reunion. “All Choked Up,” is included in the libretto, but you have to pay extra for “You’re The One Thay I want,” and a few other.
Yes, I just played in the pit orch of this version, and was surprised but pleased at how much of an ensemble show it was. There were so many great performers who all got a chance to shine! We paid for some of the extra songs, mainly so we could end the show with "you're the one that I want".
Being a fan of Bakshi's works I would argue his interpretation of the original, raunchy, version, focused on the dirty lives of teenagers in the city would quite do it justice. That's right up his alley and social commentaries on urban/suburban American life is exactly what the majority of his films are based on. I cannot imagine the musical aspect would translate well, if it even made it in, however, which would make it basically the inverse of the direction the story took over the years instead.
This is really informative. I actually wanted to learn the history of Grease ever since my high school did a production of it. Never got the appeal of the watered down version of it, I was confused by it in so many aspects like if Sandy was always naïve and just decided one day to throw that all away just for some guy (still confuses me) or why (at least in the film) Rizzo "Faked" her pregnancy. (Not gonna happen if you missed your monthly womaning, lady.) But hearing about the original makes so much more sense. Though i am not sure if it can be performed at high schools if the original was allowed to come back. Collage maybe
I never picked up that she faked it!! Back in the days before over the counter pregnancy tests and the pill it was really common to "skip" a period, then have it happen late - as to whether that was what we now call chemical pregnancy, a very early miscarriage, or just normal variation, we never knew. Just that "whoops, false alarm, phew!!!"
Wait what? Her period was late and she was worried she was pregnant. Then at the end she finally has her period, indicating to her relief that she’s not. What happens that implies to you that she faked it?
@@JC-yy8iv that's how interpreted it too
@@JC-yy8iv Something about her character told me that. Just the way she acted. And when we did the musical at my highschool, the actress playing Rizzo informed me of that
@@stargirl2477well, she was wrong. It wasn’t faked. It was a scare due to a late period. She even says it in the movie. She was never faking it.
Wow! Like other commenters, my sanitized highschool production and the movie are all I’ve ever known, so this is super interesting to see!
I’d love to see more of the 2010/2011 version… I wonder if the lost media subreddit could help.
.as a 15 year old i thank my mom and grandma for putting me on wit this, i cant stop watching grease I LOVE IT. GREASE IS THE WORD
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
I'm so mad that I can't find an audio recording of "Kiss It" anywhere. It sounds raw as hell.
I had that same script, the 1972 version. We put it on at our local theatre and it was the most popular show ever done there. Rizzo says hi!
In 1971 I bought a second promenade seat at the St Mark's Theatre for the off Broadway production of Grease that starred Adrienne Barbeau as Rizzo!
I'm brazillian, and just found out about The Rise of the Pink Ladies. Here the movie was the only sucessful Grease content, we usually don't hear about the musical among the masses! So this was a great video to learn about the original story of Grease, since I'm curious to know how the series is meant to connect the characters, or if there is any sort of known "family tree", or "relationship map", to guide us in between play, movie and tv show! Anyway, great video, thank you for the info! ❤🇧🇷
Excellent documentary and research.
The 1978 movie version is so mainstream that there are individuals who will even cite it as "evidence" as to how "our (real-life) gangs actually were," the implication being that street gangs of the 1950's, supposedly, didn't curse (a major aspect of the original stage play), and even, weren't violent, "unlike today," (you did mention that the real life "Rizzo" had a boyfriend on death row!)
The very local references in the 1971 stage musical towards Chicago seems to have very different connotations from the 1978 film, especially if one considers how Chicago gang incidents of the 1950's, such as The Rebels, who made headlines in 1957 for the murder of Alvin Palmer, or the 1955 "accidental" shotgun shooting of 17-year-old Kenneth Sleboda committed by 14-year-old Clement "Cookie" Macis, made headlines. ("The Burger Palace Boys" and "Pink Ladies" of the 1971 stage musical would, albeit in a comical way, be more closer to them, than the goofball "T Birds" and "Pink Ladies" of the 1978 movie.)
Interesting that New York audiences would want a more sanitized version when the stage play went to New York, especially considering that 1950's New York gang incidents were still infamous and fresh in locals' minds.
I've read articles from the early 1970's out of New York papers, interviewing residents about the then-new fad for "Fifties Nostalgia," and some New York residents mentioned to the reporting interviewers how The Capeman murders of 1959 were incongruous with the general nostalgic view of 1950's gangs as "harmless goofballs," which is essentially, what we got in the 1978 movie version of "Grease," and which is the prevailing view of that time period's gangs today, in the mainstream. (It's interesting to me that they mentioned The Capeman, since that subject became the basis for Paul Simon's failed Broadway musical in the late 1990's.)
Anyway, excellent documentary, so thank you.
* If it's okay with you, I will leave a link to this video in a visual presentation that I am working on that compares real-life 1950's gang history, as well as the history of the other 1950's youth cultures that the movie references, to the 1978 movie.
Ironically, individuals who have cited the 1978 movie as "evidence" to "how it was" will also, in the same sentence, say defensively in the movie's "nice and goofy" depictions of 1950's gangs, "It's not a documentary." (Well then, if that's the case, then the movie should be enjoyed as a fantasy, and not be cited as "evidence," with any pretensions of "history.")
It's ironic, because as you pointed out, the 1971 stage play version is sort of a comical musical documentary of how life was like in Chicago in the 1950's for working class, inner-city teenagers.
Def and would like to see that pres!
I remember being fascinated by the film Grease when I was in high school. The 50's was a generation I'd missed, but I really loved the music and the aesthetic. I've never seen the stage version, though I was aware of it because of the cast album, and because the soundtrack to the film included a host of songs that weren't in the film, or only heard incidentally as background music on a jukebox.
There was somebody on TikTok a little while ago who was in a production of Grease which was more of a "memory play" in the perspective of Eugene. It portrayed the burger boys as bullies and was like, scary, apparently.
This was awesome! I recently heard about that original Chicago production and wanted to know more but didn't know where to look. This deep dive was so much fun and exactly what I was hoping for. I always enjoy your videos and am excited to see what's next!
Thank you so much! Glad to highlight this little piece of theatre history!
I describe Grease as a musical about a group of friends who don’t like each other.
My father took me to see it during my sophomore year of high school in my hometown of Seattle, Washington. Vince Fontaine did the pre-opening, where he asked us questions and had us perform tasks and whatnot. Really interesting...
It was cool to hear Alan Paul talk about the original Off-Broadway run with Adrienne Barbeau.
What did they use to sanitize Grease?
A degreaser!
I'm just dropping this fact here.
My school did a production of Greese in 2019 and Danny amd Sandy, on different nights were played by twins.
People always laugh when I metion that lol. They did a lot of there rehearsals together and the sister twin almost had to join in on her brother's night cus the other Sandy was running late and she was of course already there to support her brother. She didn't have to but it was so strange.
Chicagoan here. Born and raised. Performing arts theater major. Never have I ever knew Grease was birth in Chicago.
Honestly, I think Ralph Bakshi would have done a pretty good job. I can't say that I agree with Zuko killing himself at the end, but he would have definitely been willing to keep to the original grittiness and automosphere. It could have been very simular to his movie Heavy traffic.
Oh wow, I saw the original stage show ‘Grease’ around 1977/78 at the Chicago Opera House when I was 17 or 18 years old. Just like the video has pointed out, it was raunchy and VERY Chicago themed. It was loud, sassy and a very good show as I recall. The audience was buzzing as we filed out of the theatre. A few years went by and myself and my High School Drama friends went to the first midnight showing of the movie. I left that viewing thinking: had I seen the wrong version of the show? Why was it was so different than what I had seen at the Opera House. This video explains to me why I had seen something totally different and yes, sanitized from the original stage play. Glad I know the reason now. Wish they kept the flavor of the stage show. Yea, I guess people like the 1979 movie but most everyone doesn’t understand how it lacks the soul & vibe the writers had put into it. Thanks for the history lesson!
We did grease at high school in the eighties. That line about gaps in the line up is so true and very raw. Our sandy made it about three more years. Just found out about another girl today. There honestly aren’t many of us left.
It's always crazy for me to see references to Patricia Birch in anything professional, as I first encountered her in my teen years as the choreographer for local Dallas high school Woodrow Wilson productions, usually of Cole Porter musicals. A family friend was the choir director there for years, and Patricia would fly in from California if she had to just to choreograph these shows for her buddy. At the time much was made of the fact that Patricia was a professional, but I think as a teenager I just assumed they were exaggerating a bit. NOPE!
A raunchy version of Grease where the kids are criminals and Sandy wants to escape her peppy life? That's Johnny Depp's Crybaby.
That's the funniest part about Crybaby is it's satire of grease but if Grease hadn't been rewritten, Crybaby wouldn't need to satirize it.
I always thought of Crybaby more of a satirical parody of films and musicals like Grease.
That's always been one of my least favorite John Waters movies, ironically. Even the director's cut doesn't do it for me.
Fellow Doody checking in. I learned “Those Magic Changes” on guitar, only for the director to put the guitar out of tune without telling me, so learning it was pointless. Good times.
It’s so fascinating to me how something can be so raunchy and sanitized at the same time. With the love that grease has from the public, after seeing it again in 2021, this time a local production, I totally had forgotten about lines like, “it ain’t no sh*t, we’ll be gettin’ lots of t*t.” And no one took notice. I was watching this movie at 5! With it being the mega movie musical it is, I think we tend to forget about the dirtier parts. “Grease! I love John Travolta! That’s the one with the carnival and songs about friendship!” Lol
It kind of makes me think of "Stand By Me" which takes place in 1959. I love how in that movie...the screenwriter refused to hold back on the swearing in the script.
I still find it jarring to hear the actors in the 1978 movie prowling around the streets of Los Angeles with their New York accents still intact. Of course, I'm not sure exactly what Californians sounded like in the '50s. I assume it wasn't the exaggerated "Valspeak" of today, but I'm reasonably certain it was much closer to that than what we heard in the 1978 dialogue.
LOL--I noticed the NY accents also... but then for some reason, Rizzo sings "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee" in a twangy voice, like she's from the South. What's up with _that_ ???
Ironically enough, the riding off into the sky is used in other films to represent death. So Danny does get offed after all.
The flying car was always weird for me. Danny & Sandy flying off into the sunset as a metaphor for their death makes sense.
And now that Olivia Newton-John is dead, that counts as predictive programming.
Growing up...I only saw the movie. Wow. This is fascinating
I think anyone that thinks that Sandy had to change for Danny wasn't paying attention 🙄
Did they also miss that Danny was willing to change? I think the point is both of them had to grow and they both already loved each other for who they were.
Thank you… I argue with cinephiles about this topic often. Danny had to stop being a bully, a horn-dog, and a hater, and actually WANTED to improve his life; all Sandy did was stop being a sheltered conformist*, and people jump all over her case for it ?? I don’t get it. They both chose to step outside their proverbial boxes for eachother. The movie is amazing, albeit sanitized.
We are in accord
Sounds like the original was for the people who actually lived in the 1950s and the movie was for kids. I know I’ve as five years old and it was my favorite movie. A five year old. I mean. That says a lot.
I watched the 2016 Aussie version, in Sydney.
It was fun, and nice to hear an actual Aussie playing the Aussie Sandy.
I thought Sandy was only made to be Australian because Olivia newton john couldn’t do an American accent for the movie
@@i.m1ss.y0u.s0.f4rthey need to normalise doing this in media more, i dont mind hearing varied accents unless it messes w plot (2 sibling characters raised in france and ones inexplicably texan or something)
aussie/american accents are so similar but some specific sounds are so different that you cant quite cover up your real accent. i might just have sensitive ears or actors might just be lacking on their accents but yh
Do you have the bootleg?
@lisdexamphetamine We are NOT similar, Aussies are more similar to british accents.
I knew nothing about the history of Grease until I saw this, I didn't even know it was a stage play at first... and I was born in the 80s... how...
Drama Dorks, you could try a little context...in 1973 the movie “American Graffiti” was a big hit (the first hit from director George Lucas who later directed a little film called “Star Wars.”) “American Graffiti” was not sanitized but wasn’t exactly raunchy either. And it was a big influence on a TV show that appeared in the mid-70s called “Happy Days” a huge hit for years (it didn’t go off the air till the 80s), and about as sanitized a version of the 50s as they could get for prime-time TV when both kids and parents watched. This was all before Grease made it to the screen. (And “Happy Days” had a successful spin-off, “Laverne & Shirley” similarly sanitized and it also appeared mid-70s before Grease was a movie.) The team behind the movie certainly would have wanted the G-rated TV audience to come see this movie (to make a profit), hence their decisions about sanitizing. The gritty 1st version Chicago audience was all adults for one thing, and for another the live audience had just been through the 60s, where lots of taboos (from the 50s) had been publicly and popularly broken. The kids (tweens and early teens for ex.) in 1978 had no memory of the 50s and very little memory of the 60s, so they completely embraced the movie’s more vapid but also more glamorous version of the musical. Sorry if this is TMI... Just think you should include what was going on in American popular culture that related directly to Grease, in a bunch of ways...
So the original Grease was closer to a John Waters movie? Why didn’t we get this version instead?!
My college is doing the original Broadway version of Grease this spring with a few minor edits (omissions of racial slurs and the like.) When I first read the script, it seemed surprisingly raunchy to me compared to the modern image of Grease I was more familiar with, so learning about the even grittier original was pretty interesting!
I’m playing Patty, who I love to death at this point. I was surprised to learn that she had her own song in the original! It’s hilarious and I’d love to perform it, so I’m sad it was ultimately cut lol
They just had a new production in London and São Paulo that has a book closer to that Chicago’s original, but also included the songs Grease, Hopelessly devoted to you, born to hand jive and you’re the one that I want. I saw the production in both places and… well, let’s just say that the sanitization did to it some good in the past 😅😝
What I dislike about the movie is the fact that the added songs (as good as they are, love them sm) none of them sound like it was for a 50s era. Not only that but it was ONLY about Danny and Sandy, not everyone like the stage version
I saw the original in Chicago in 1971. It lived up to its reputation as a wild daring play. Oddly enough, I like the movie version better. It had a story! Did you know that their were many famous people at Taft High School at that time?
I remember being repelled by the sanitization of the movie. You assume too much background knowledge by viewers. I like the story of how the play evolved into something else. Grease coincided with the ultra-sanitized Happy Days TV show also set in the 1950s.
I hated what they did to the movie, but Happy Days never bothered me in that way. I think because it didn't destroy an existing artwork.
@@VesnaVK*Happy Days* was more tolerated for its spinoffs and tangentially associated shows than actually liked, much like *All in the Family* and *Diff'rent Strokes.* That was before $¢0++ B@¡0 infiltrated it.
@@VesnaVKI had more of a problem with *Happy Days* because of $¢0++ B@¡0.
Great video, I didn't know any of this! Looking forward to the next one.
This was an awesome and underrated video essay. So excited to find a new video essayist who focuses on musicals!
we were lucky enough to be able to include Patty's song in our local production
Also take into consideration the TV edit of the movie. That's what I grew up on (taped off the tv)....the first time I saw the regular movie version during the 98' theatrical re-release... "The chicks will creeaaaaaam!" BLEW MY GODDAMN MIND.
I loved the video, grease is my favorite movie! It was cool to learn the history behind it. Loves from Brazil
Como um brasileiro que tbm ama o filme, te agradeço! ❤️
@@TheDramaDorks Tô passada que vc é brasileiro aaaaaaa
@@TheDramaDorks POR ESSA EU NÃO ESPERAVA
This was so interesting! Love the back story to musicals and films done like this, so definitely enjoyed the video :)
I did this show my last year of high school and played Ms Lynch. Initially I was a bit miffed but she’s such a cool character to play 😄
In Estonia, they did "Grease" twice. Once in 2004 by Nukuteater, and in 2015 by Vanemuine. I like the 2004 one more. It had vulgarity and the songs of the side characters. I haven't actually seen neither adaptations, because I wasn't born before 2004 and I wasn't a Grease fan before 2021.
I really like the movie (because I have seen it like hundreds of times). The songs I have heard more in Estonian, but the english ones are ofc classic (Greased lightning, Summer nights, you're the one that i want). Just in case if you're interested, I have all of the songs in Estonian in my channel.
This is a fantastic breakdown. Fantastically written, organized, edited, and your are very charming. I hope your channel grows to reflect your work. Thank you!
I would like to see a production of original version.
I've never felt so robbed in my entire life
I had no idea about any of the Chicago originals! What a fabulous video. Thank you for all these details, I love it! And Movie! Grease is always a guilty pleasure. It’s truly engrained in our DNA now 😂
I remember going to watch the Grease musical with my primary school then having a teacher apologise to the parents after it finished because they didn't realise the musical was much more ruder than the movie was.
And ironically, even the movie is considered too rude for those doing the stage production while sanitizing it even further. This is the flip side of *Annie* whose movie adaptation by John Huston did the opposite and added "adult" elements that weren't there before out of fear of the stigma of the G rating.
I had no idea it was set in Chicago. Now I want to hear Foster Beach. I'm there like every day on my morning walk
I was the sound mixer for my middle school's adaptation of greese, back in like 2014-15 or so.
We added tons of zoomer/meme humor to seem hip... despite still acknowledging the story element that it's supposed to be in the 50s/60s, lmao.
I remember seeing selections from the original “Grease” on a talk show back in the early ‘70s, and it looked far more interesting than the bland product it became in later years.
Thank you for sharing this. I read the original script that was at our local library at the time. I wish that I had bought that. It was interesting. Happy holidays, God Bless You and your loved ones.
I went to high school in shitsville where there was no such thing as theatre, so i never learned about any of the major pop culture musicals, including Grease. I only ever knew about a movie.
R.I.P. Olivia Newton-John
I've been waiting.. (im😂) patiently❤ waiting that is for this video since our last conversation hehe. I was 8 when Grease the musical came out in theaters. My big sister Lisa took me to see it and I feel in love. My Maiden name is Rizzo and I thought it was so neat to have a character named Rizzo in a movie. It started my love of musicals. I so wish I could have seen it on stage. Thank you guys for going thru all the history of Grease. It was so informative. I didn't know most of it. I didn't realize how much I liked learning about the history of different musicals until I found your channel. Keep up the great work you two. Much love my friends ❤
We're so glad you enjoyed, Traci :)! It's so great to have such fond memories attached to certain musicals/theatre. Sometimes, they can feel like little mementos of a certain time like you said... I think Grease is just one of those pieces that has that feeling for a lot of people (us included). We hope you enjoy the next video - which, again delves into the depths of musical theatre history/lore.
@@TheDramaDorks i can't wait guys 💓
Thank you so much for doing this! I perfer the original version so much. I recently had to cover a sanitized version of Grease for one of my jobs and I just don’t understand sanitizing it and the high school version is just so grit and abrupt to me and the dialogue in it just sounds off compared to the original script.
I remember watching Grease after many years and thinking "my god this is filthy. I was allowed to watch this as a kid." 😂
When I was like 7 years old in 1982, this was my favorite movie. I didn't even notice the lyrics to some of the songs until like five years ago.
Played Frenchy in my school production of Grease a while back. I remember my teacher cutting out bits of the already sanitized script lol. I enjoyed the film but I do love the other characters songs in the musical version
I remember when Grease was released in summer of 1978, my sister and I would stand in line - we must have watched it 8 times over a 2 month period. Those were the days when movies were exciting to go to - and wait in parking lot lines, and you didn't mind.
Awesome research, detail, visualisation and showmastering!
I saw grease on ice. I can't remember it because I got sick by the time we got there. 😂 All I rememeber is the sandy dolls they were setting were the cheapest dolls I'd ever seen.
I think it'd be interesting to see the original version once. I don't know if it'd have stood the test of time had it not been adapted for the different productions. Growing up, the film was extremely popular with kids who looked forward to growing into teenagers like Danny and Sandy. I'm not sure it would have had that same aspirational appeal had they stuck to the original version. But then, the original clearly wasn't meant to be seen by kids anyway. I think Grease, along with Happy Days, did a lot for keeping the imagery and music of that era alive for generations to come, even if it's not entirely accurate to the era itself.
Aw, Doodie is my favorite T-bird. Also, look at young Uncle Barry!
I saw the original Broadway version in eighth grade on a field trip from school and couldn’t believe how sanitized the movie was. I thought it was an awful movie yet it was a huge hit.
Thank you so much for including some original songs in here!! Ever since I learned about the original years ago i’ve always wondered what the songs (especially original grease) sounded like
I would love to see a video on Hairspray and the sanitisation of the 1988 movie for the Broadway musical
This was a great video!
Credits song guitar riff made me think of spread eagle across the block by death grips
Jeez, I remember that '94 revival. I think that was the beginning of the Revolving Door Stunt Cast: it seemed like every 15 minutes, they were announcing a new actress as Rizzo. (I think it was also the beginning of the Curse of Brooke Shields.)