New 'Grease' doesn't get very far

BY LINDA WINER | linda.winer@newsday.com

3:55 PM EDT, August 19, 2007

According to the great philosophers, each era gets the "Grease" it deserves.

In 1971, the original opened in a former trolley barn in Chicago with a budget of $200 and plenty of '60s rebel-raunch in its spoof of '50s high school. By the time John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John made the movie in 1978 -- going-on-Reagan-'80s -- the grit had been homogenized into a big, slick extravaganza under the palm trees of L.A. When Rosie O'Donnell played Rizzo on theme-park Broadway in 1994, all innocence had been coarsened into any other tourist trap with phony pop cachet.

Now we have the reality-show "Grease," its two young leads proudly cast by TV plebiscite in a nation that can't trust the vote count in its presidential elections. "You're the One That I Want," the NBC talent contest that, despite so-so ratings, still reached more people in one episode than the new revival will be able to attract in anything less than 18 sold-out years.

Or so we're told by the forces behind the bullet-proof international money-machine that is "Grease" today. Kathleen Marshall's production, which opened Sunday night at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, has been shined-up and de-sexed for the rich new 'tween market. How anything can be so perky and yet so bland is yet another mystery for the ages.

The winners -- Laura Osnes as the virginal Sandy Dumbrowski, Max Crumm as conflicted bad-boy Danny Zuko -- are both 21 years old. She sings with the sweet pop-lite voice cultivated by Disney heroines and can touch her nose with her leg while wearing Spandex. He can dance and has the haplessly endearing quality of an adolescent beagle. To be heard, however, his singing requires increasingly aggressive help from the sound technicians.

It appears that the rest of the company was cast to keep the youngsters from looking bad in comparison. Although many are new to Broadway, more than a few of these Rydell High students look to be about 40 years old. I'm sure I'm exaggerating here, but not by much.

Marshall, the Tony Award-winning director of "The Pajama Game" and choreographer of "Kiss Me Kate," was one of the judges on the TV show. Clearly, she knew the ones that she wanted. Except for Jenny Powers as Rizzo, the toughie who poignantly believes it's worse to be a tease than a pregnant teen, the cast is a generic blur of pretend-'50s attitude and busy production numbers.

The sets, by Derek McLane, paint a bright pastel fairytale version of drive-ins, pajama parties and a '50s suburban rec-room with perfect pine-paneled ambiance. No urban danger here. These Pink Ladies are the sort of fast girls who put a poster of Ricky Nelson on their bedroom walls. Costumes, by Martin Pakledinaz, avoid the predictable poodle-skirts in favor of crinolines for the boring good girls, pencil-skinny skirts for the naughty ones and cuffed jeans for the guys under the grease.

The production has plugged in the movie's hit songs (Barry Gibb's "Grease," John Farrar's "Hopelessly Devoted to You" and "You're the One That I Want") in with the originals by Jim Jacobs and the late Warren Casey.

The real performance happens above the sanitized stage, where a tough and terrific conductor named Kimberly Grigsby leads the band from a synthesizer while tossing her pony tail and dancing as if she means it. Dare you to watch anybody else.

GREASE. Directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall, with book, music and lyrics by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Brooks Atkinson Theatre, 256 W. 47th St. Tickets: $72.50-$121.50. Call 212-307-4100.