The musical “Grease” was performed at BISS as a school version. A main

subject of this musical is a love story of Danny and Sandy. This critical review

will tackle characters, symbol, tempo/pace, lighting, music/sound, costume, and

space/set design of the “Grease” musical performance.

Figure 1: Danny

One of the main characters was Danny (See figure 1). He had a problem

with Sandy, the other main character due to his wrong behavior, but he finally

made her his girlfriend. The actor who played Danny had good performance

skills. His voice was clear and loud enough therefore the audience could hear his

voice at all times. His voice also expressed his emotions well. This was shown in

the scene when Danny and Patty were dancing. Patty said Sandy badly to Danny,

and he said “Why? Why did you care?” The audience could be aware of his anger

by he emphasizing ‘why’, and his tone. It was connected to his character, because

he liked Sandy. I enjoyed his performance at the scene “Inside the Burger Palace”

in act 2 the most, because I could feel his loneliness after Sandy was gone from

his singing performance.

Figure 2: Sandy

Another main character was Sandy (See figure 2). Sandy was always

anxious on account of troubles with Danny. However, she became Danny’s

girlfriend at last. The actress who played Sandy had great performance skills.

Even though the audience was hard to hear her voice, she expressed her feelings

well through her voice. She said “Hah?” when Frenchy tried to pierce her ears.

Her voice was strong and her tone indicated she was scared. It related to her

character, because she was outmoded, and was unfamiliar of the accessories. I

enjoyed her performance at the scene “Inside the Burger Palace” in act 2 most. I

could see her difference compared with the beginning in her powerful and tough

motions, which was a slap across the check.

Figure 3: Members of Pink Lady Club’s Costumes

Figure 4: Kenickie’s red sports car

There were various symbols in the musical “Grease” of BISS version. One

of the powerful symbols was a pink jacket of people in Pink Lady club (See figure

3). Pink jackets indicated that members of Pink Lady club were bullies. Pink

jackets were successful choice as a symbol, because they were glitter and luxury.

On the other hand, there was a nice red sports car of Kenickie, which was used as

a good symbol in the musical (See figure 4). This symbolized a great popularity of

Danny and his friends, because the car was gorgeous. It allowed the audience to

understand who the main characters were. All visual symbols make the musical

“Grease” more fantastic performance.

In the scene “Sandy’s Bedroom and School Gym” in act 2, the tempo was

very slow. The start of this scene was a calm song of Frenchy, and the song

expressed the emotion of Sandy. Sandy was anxious, and didn’t know what to do

about the problem with Danny. Then, the atmosphere changed all of a sudden

from the quiet atmosphere. All the characters became pairs, and they were

dancing to the delight song. The music was really fast compared with the start,

and the stage was very messy because of dancing. The director included calm

atmosphere at the beginning, because the director wanted to emphasize dancing

scene. The quiet song with a slow beat gave a tension, and the dancing scene was

emphasized with the completely different atmosphere.

Figure 5: White profile spot

Figure 6: A pink profile spot

The lights in the musical “Grease” of BISS version were effectively used in

a symbolic manner. There was one big white profile spot when Voice 1 talked to

the audience alone at the beginning of the scene “PJ party” (See figure 5). She

told what the stage was going on, and this was important to the audience to

understand musical’s progress. This light worked nicely, because it resulted the

audience’s attention. In addition, pink profile spot was used when everyone sang

merrily (See figure 6). These lightings also worked greatly, because they created

a calm and delight atmosphere to the stage, which was fit to the song. Effective

works of lights and color selection give some strong visual messages to the

audience.

There were various songs in the musical “Grease”. Most of the music had a

merry melody, which gave a cheerful atmosphere to the stage and to the

audience. However, a music called “Alone at a Drive-In” was calm. This song was

used in expressing Danny’s emotion. Danny gave a ring to the Sandy, and tried to

kiss to her. However, Sandy didn’t want a kiss, and she was just gone. Danny felt

lonely at that time, and he sang “Alone at a Drive-In” alone. Lonesome

atmosphere was built through his singing performance. This was a successful

choice to indicate his feeling, because the melody of the music was quiet.

Figure 7: Danny’s friends, Kenickie, Doody, Rog, and Roger’s costumes

Figure 8: Sandy’s costume

The performance of “Grease” used various costumes in a symbolic

manner. The actual musical “Grease” was set in 1950. Danny, and his friends,

Kenickie, Doody, Rog, and Roger wore black leather jackets, white T-shirts, and

blue jeans (See figure 7). Their costumes contributed developing their

characters, because the costumes allowed them look like cool and handsome

boys, who were famous to the girls at school. The color selection of their

costumes was also good, because black indicated toughness of men. In addition,

Sandy’s character was developed by her costumes, which were white cardigan

and long pink skirt with numerous white dots (See figure 8). This was effective,

because the character of Sandy was old-fashioned. The color selection of her

costume was also great, because white color was usually used as a symbol of

purity. These diverse costumes helped the characters of “Grease” express their

characteristics well.

Figure 9: A big photograph prop of BISS

Figure 10: A Tree prop

The set design was successful in This musical “Grease” had the end-on

stage form as the set design. There was an object at the back of the stage, which

was the big prop of BISS’s photograph (See figure 9). This was effective set,

because it indicated the background of the musical, and also the audience could

know who made this musical. A tree prop was also used at the scene

“Schoolyard” (See figure 10). This worked nicely as the stage object, because it

indicated the setting of the scene. I thought putting two blocks on the stage

steady would improve the set design of this musical. There were many scenes

including singing performance. In addition, some scenes were required blocks.

Performers didn’t have to move blocks, and they also could stand on the block

when they were singing.

This performance was based on the love story of two main characters,

Danny and Sandy. At first time, they had a trouble in their love. However, Danny

and Sandy were getting close with many friends at school beside them. Finally,

they fell in love each other. I particularly like the sound part in the musical

“Grease”. The music caught my attention with their cheerful melodies, and they

eventually made me in high spirits. The characters in Grease sang numerous

songs nicely with joyful movements. I really enjoyed watching their singing

performances. I suggested using various types of lights as an improvement of

Grease. I only saw profile spots and fresnels during the musical. In addition, the

colors were usually white and yellow. I was bored about same color of the stage.

Moving colorful gels were able to bring a successful change in the atmosphere of

the stage. Gels could be used at dance party scene and singing performance. I

would recommend Grease to others. This musical gave a lot of fun while

watching, because it included many good performers and jolly music.