I caught Grease, the musical, playing here in Singapore a few days ago and if you do not know what Grease is all about, where have you been?

Anyway, Grease is made popular by the movie of the same name starring John Travolta as Danny Zuko and Olivia Newton-John as Sandy. However, it was actually a Broadway show before it turned into a movie and I have to say that I prefer the movie than the stage version.

For those who do not know what Grease is about: It follows a bunch of teenagers as they went through social issues like peer pressure, love and sex, and teen pregnancy. Danny was back from a vacation where he met Sandy, an Australian, whom he fell in love with. Sandy, meanwhile, moved to the US after the summer and went to Rydell High, where Danny went to as well. Sandy was pulled into a group of girls who called themselves the Pink Ladies. Both of them finally met but Danny had to keep his status as a member of T-Birds and struggled with the feeling he had for Sandy, the token “goody-two-shoes”.

The stage musical is actually interactive and very fun to watch. Throughout the show, we were encouraged to clap our hands and/or sing along to the songs if we know them. At the end, we were encouraged to stand up, dance, clap and sing along to the songs. I also like the choreography here, especially “We Go Together”. I wonder how long it took the cast members to learn the moves to it. It was impressive.

What I do not like about the stage version was that the story was pretty choppy. The movie had a better flow and made a lot more sense than the stage version, especially the transformation of Sandy. The movie had a better motivation and cause for Sandy to do what she did and I love the fact that it was not just Sandy who did it but also Danny. The stage version just had Sandy going through the transformation, doing what she did for love, which I felt was a little one-sided. Yes, on stage, Danny did try out for athletics team but eventually dropped out while the movie version, he stayed on till the end to show Sandy that he could do it.

Another thing that I am a little picky about is when Teen Angel came on stage, using the microphone to sing. The vocal was louder and I find it a little annoying. Thankfully, the speakers didn’t do any static sound that might hurt our ears. At the end, when Danny and Sandy sang “You’re The One That I Want”, the actors were also seen carrying microphones. I just do not know the reason and until now, I find it distracting.

All in all, however, the stage musical was enjoyable and I had a lot of fun despite the annoying situation I was in where there were high school students who are in need of some theatre etiquette lesson and a dude who decided to kick the back of my chair every few minutes.

I would give this show a 3 out of 5. If you have some money to spare and want some rock ‘n’ roll fun, you can catch Grease at Marina Bay Sands till 18 May 2014.