Grease Report by: Bonnie/Dragon Lady

I originally didn't intend to see "Grease" 16 times. When I heard Lucy was
coming to Broadway I bought 4 tickets (opening night, closing night and 2
weekends in between). Then I heard that Actor's Equity was questioning Lucy's
star status and she might not be able to do the play. After that was settled
I read that some theatre type said that none of Lucy's show's had sold out,
thereby questioning Lucy's drawing power. To me it sounded like the theatre
snobs were looking down their noses at the TV star and that made me mad. I
decided to support Lucy by doing what I could to increase her box office; so
I bought some more tickets. During the course of her run someone (a
non-Xenite) asked if I was getting sick of seeing the same play so many
times. One of the nice things about the theatre is that no two performances
are exactly alike. Sometimes the actors are on, sometimes they aren't. The
actors flub lines. Props don't work. The response of the audience impacts
what happens on stage (in fact outside the stage door Lucy said she and the
rest of the cast noticed the mood of the audience and remarked on it to each
other ("Whoa, what's going on here" were her words).

Lucy played Betty Rizzo, leader of the Pink Ladies and Kenickie's girlfriend
(he of the Burger Palace Boys). Although she's secondary, I think she's the
most interesting character. For most of the play she's very tough. She picks
on Patty Simcox (head cheerleader, who's to dense to pick up on the comments
being thrown her way). She also torments Eugene (nerdy, 4 eyed geek). Rizzo
is also very independent. At one point Kenickie tries to make her jealous by
taking another date to the prom, but Rizzo turns the tables on him by going
to the dance with Zuko. Towards the end of the play, however, Rizzo has a
pivotal scene with Sandy during which we see Rizzo's emotional depth. Rizzo
thinks she's pregnant and her friends (the rest of the Pink Ladies and the
Burger Shop Boys) try to offer support. Although she's obviously scared and
very much wants their help she tells them to "flake off and get the hell out
of here". Which they do. Sandy is the last to leave, and as she's doing so
she wishes Rizzo good luck which sparks a confrontation. The songs "There Are
Worse Things I Could Do" (sung by Rizzo) and the reprise of "Look At Me, I'm
Sandra Dee" (sung by Sandy) were the highlights of the show. The two
characters bond by daring to show each other that they aren't quite as tough
as they seem and they care more than they've been letting on. In Rizzo's case
it also seems like she's settling on Kenickie because she's not going to
waste her time waiting by the phone for Mr. Right to call (a call which she
doesn't think will ever come). At the end of the play, all the couples end up
together (Rizzo finds out she isn't pregnant and she reconciles with
Kenickie) and everyone sings the "Grease" finale.

As Rizzo Lucy had 3 solo's ("Greased Lightning"-reprise, "Look At Me, I'm
Sanda Dee" and "There Are Worse Things I Could Do") and sang as part of the
group in 7 other numbers. ("Grease" trivia: Lucy had 5 costumes and 7
changes. Her costumes were: black and white dress, black stretch pants with a
black and white striped blouse, black negligee, black jeans, black leather
bra with balck leather vest and a black velvet prom dress).

It was great seeing Lucy perform on stage, stretching beyond Xena and
singing. If you ever needed proof that Lucy is more than Xena, this was it.
In an ET interview, done when it was announced she would be doing the play,
Lucy indicated she was afraid. In another interview she indicated she lives
in fear. She shouldn't. From what I saw (and I was looking) I think Lucy has
the talent to pull off any role she wants. There were Saturday nights when I
went home after the theatre, watched "Xena" and thought that, aside from a
certain physical resemblance, if I didn't know better there was no way this
could be the same person I just saw in New York. In this play Lucy was
surrounded by actors who had been doing this for a long time (some of whom
originated their roles) and she more than held her own. She shined. Lucy has
stage presence and brought real depth to the role of Rizzo. Specifically, for
me, Lucy's performance/run could be broken down into 3 phases.

I. The beginning. Lucy was obviously nervous at first (in fact her hands
were shaking during her opening night performance). Based on what I saw
later, I would characterize her first couple of performances as workmanlike.
There were shows when she was "on" from the instant the curtain went up.
There were other times when Lucy seemed to be walking through the first part
of the play. But regardless of how the rest of the show was going, when it
came to the scene in the rec room (when Rizzo and Sandy confront each other)
Lucy was always firing on all cylinders. I don't know if that was because
this scene revealed the emotional depth of her character, giving Lucy more
material to work with. Or maybe, because the difficult choreography was over,
Lucy could concentrate on her acting. Whatever the case, you could tell by
the expression on her face as the curtain was going up on the scene that
there were going to be fireworks. And this scene (especially the song "There
Are Worse Things") always got to me and my heart went out to the character
every time. You would think after seeing it several times I would become used
to it. Nope, never happened. That was how good Lucy was. She got me every
time. I was also impressed at how Lucy was handling distractions. For
example, despite flashbulbs going off in her face, and someone wolf whistling
during her big song, Lucy maintained her concentration and her performance
never wavered. During the course of Lucy's run the play underwent some fine
tuning. For example, at the beginning of the play the characters come forward
and introduce themselves. Lucy was in the middle, but the ovation for her
character was so loud and lingering that the introductions of the rest of the
cast were drowned out. By the third show they moved Lucy to the end, making
hers' the last character introduced. After each performance Lucy made
essentially the same curtain speech. She indicated she was enjoying her stay
in New York and appreciated the support of her fellow cast members. She also
sometimes added that there were probably some people in the audience who
didn't understand what all the fuss was about. At the show I took my parents
to (my dad loves "Xena", thinking it very funny) she included those remarks.
As soon as she said it someone in the back yelled "We love you, Xena". We
were in the front row and Lucy looked at my father and said "That's who I
am". My father hit his head in mock recognition and said "Oh, that's who you
are" and Lucy laughed.

II. The middle. The second phase began approximately 2 weeks into the run.
It started when Lucy started smoking during the bathroom scene (prior to that
her cigarette remained unlit). By this time Lucy was relaxed and appeared to
be having fun. She wasn't walking through performances anymore. On the other
hand, she wasn't letter perfect anymore either. She flubbed lines now and
then. She started adding flourishes to her songs. She was obviously more
comfortable with the dance numbers. She and her fellow Pink Ladies
(especially Marissa Jaret Winokur-who played Jan) seemed to really hit it
off. When the spotlight/action wasn't centered on them, they were talking and
seemed to be having a great time. At the beginning of the play (when the
characters were at lunch) Rizzo, Jan and Marty developed a ritual where they
would each put a hand on one of the bowls on Jan's very full lunch tray, and
close their eyes for several seconds (wishing for a good performance?). The
audience always reacted (loudly) to the Xena yell in the 2nd act prom scene.
While the audience was reacting, Lucy started making faces. This always
elicted another (loud) audience response. One night Lucy started laughing
while making the faces and had to put her head down for awhile before she was
able to collect herself. The audience was loving every moment of it. During
another performance after a fight with Sandy, during which she almost lost an
earring, Lucy looked like she wanted to laugh, but she didn't. One night Lucy
slipped coming down the stairs. The audience held its collective breath.
During her curtain speech that evening Lucy said "Break a leg. Break a
pelvis. Anything to entertain you". At the end of several shows Lucy received
flowers. One night someone wasn't satisfied with the usual method of delivery
(handing them to her), opting instead to throw them at Lucy. They hit her in
the arm and she reacted in pure Rizzo fashion. Whenever someone did give her
flowers Lucy always made it a point to make eye contact and say thank you.

III. Homestretch. The last couple of weeks. Fun and games were over. There
were no more flubbed lines. No more laughing. It still looked like she was
having fun, but she was all business now. Her songs and dance numbers were
completely fleshed out. At the end of the first act instead of twirling the
hula hoop, Lucy started jumping through it as if it were a jump rope (and she
made it look easy). I guess variety kept things as interesting as possible.
Lucy started saying quarter more like a New Yorker. (Prior to that her
pronunciation always belied her origins. It sounded like she was saying
"qwata"). Her last couple of performances had a "no holds barred" "go for
broke" feel to them. She was getting down to the wire and she wasn't holding
anything back. During her big scene with Sandy, for example, her eyes would
well with tears. During her last shows the tears flowed. Her last show was
very emotional; especially her song "There Are Worse Things". Marissa (Jan)
was watching Lucy's big scene from the wings and during the song their eyes
locked for several seconds. Lucy was crying. (So were several members of the
audience). "There Are Worse Things" and the reprise of "Look At Me" blend
into each other and, prior to the last couple of shows, the audience always
held their applause until both actresses were done and were heading up the
stairs ending the scene. During her last performances the audience started
applauding after Lucy's portion. At first this drowned out Sandy's part. By
the last show Sandy (and the orchestra) paused during that applause and
waited until it died down to continue.

The rest of the cast were really good. Several of the actors had great voices
(Melissa Dye, who played Sandy for example). The rest of the cast standouts
(in my opinion) were Kevin Anthony in a show stopping portrayal of Teen
Angel. (For those who saw the show, he was the first of three Teen Angels). I
also thoroughly enjoyed Christopher Youngsman who played the klutzy nerd
Eugene to perfection.

Of all the performances I was lucky enough to see Lucy's opening night was my
favorite. While the audience to all her performances were filled with her
fans, there was an air of anticipation and expectation that wasn't duplicated
in any other performance.

Because of the depth and emotional impact I will miss Lucy singing "There Are
Worse Things" the most. The cost of the tickets was worth it for the
opportunity to see her perform that scene and sing that song. In several
interviews Lucy mentioned that doing this show was therapy for her to help
her get over her fear of singing. Well, I, for one, would welcome it if Lucy
extended that therapy into an album.

PINKS!!!
Dragon Lady