OTD: 7th June

On 7th June 1972 the musical "Grease" opened on Broadway – initially at the Broadhurst, moving in November the same year to the Royale, where it ran until January 1980.

For the final weeks of its run the show moved to the larger Majestic and by the time it closed on 13th April 1980, it had been performed 3,388 times – then the longest run in Broadway history.

Named after the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as greasers (Ed. see The Outsiders, the 1983 film adaptation of S E Hinton's coming-of-age novel). The musical, which was written by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, is set in 1959 at the fictional Rydell High School – based on William Howard Taft School in Chicago, Illinois.

It follows the lives of ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of peer pressure, politics, personal core values, and love. The score borrows heavily from the sounds of early rock and roll. In its original production in Chicago, Grease was a raunchy, raw, aggressive, vulgar show. Subsequent productions sanitized it and toned it down.

The original Broadway cast included Barry Bostwick as Danny and Carole Demas as Sandy, with Adrienne Barbeau as Rizzo, Timothy Meyers as Kenickie, Alan Paul, and Walter Bobbie and Marya Small in supporting roles. Replacements later in the run included Jeff Conaway (who had been the original understudy for Danny), Gail Edwards, Marilu Henner, Peter Gallagher, Ilene Graff, Judy Kaye, Patrick Swayze, John Travolta, Jerry Zaks, Rex Smith and Treat Williams. Richard Gere was an understudy for many roles.

Grease was adapted in 1978 as a feature film also named Grease, which removed some plot elements, characters and songs while adding new songs and elaborating on some plot elements only alluded to in the musical. John Travolta and Jeff Conaway, who had appeared in the Broadway production, played the roles of Danny and Kenickie whilst Jamie Donnelly was the only person to reprise her stage character on film – that of Jan, a member of the Pink Ladies.

Released in June 1978, the film was successful both critically and commercially. Its soundtrack album ended 1978 as the second-best selling album of the year and was released as double album in a gatefold album cover.

The song "You're the One That I Want" was a US and UK No. 1 for stars John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. It has sold over 38 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best selling albums of all time, also ranking amongst the biggest selling soundtrack albums of all time.

Besides performers John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, the album also featured songs by rock n roll revival group Sha Na Na as well as the hit song "Grease", a tune written by Barry Gibb (of the Bee Gees) and sung by Frankie Valli (of The Four Seasons) that was an additional U.S. number one.

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