THE choice of such a popular musical (do they actually get any more popular than Grease?) can be a double-edged sword. It can ensure large audiences (this is a production that fully deserves to be seen by full houses) but there is also a tendency for the audience to have certain expectations and to compare with the original film and other productions.

In the case of the youthful cast that performed here they should not be concerned as there was plenty to enjoy in all aspects of their performance.

The parts of Sandy (Ruby Davies) and Danny (Lewis Mitchell) were excellently characterised – in particular Sandy’s transformation from mousey new girl in town into the hottest of the Pink Ladies. There memorable musical high points – most notably Alone at a drive-in movie (Danny), a highly-charged There are worse things I could do from Rizzo (Megan Postle) and Those Magic Changes (Harrison Smith as Doody). All of this accompanied by a terrific band situated in the shadows at the back of the stage. The huge amount of preparation that had gone into their choreography was evident throughout and the dance numbers were eye-catching and full of youthful zest.

As I attended on the first night there were some small issues to be ironed out, particularly with regard to sound imbalance and scene changes, but nothing to spoil the energy of the performance.