It’s an Everest of expectation: not just because the 1978 film with John Travolta and Olivia Newton John netted nearly $400,000,000, and the soundtrack outsold ‘Saturday Night Fever’, but because it reflects iconic High School preoccupations: the highs and lows, when looks are everything, and being cool and getting laid run a close second. It's a testosterone-fuelled jungle.
David Crewe’s Oxford Operatic Society production took it on the chin - with professionalism and wit, to the delight of the audience of all ages. Pensioners sang along with peascods scarcely into primary school. Musical Director Chris Payne was generous with the finale encores as he twirled his baton hand exuberantly throughout. The orchestra’s sparkling performance was perfectly in keeping with the fancy footwork onstage; Joanne Cook and Sally Chase’s choreography being one of the many pleasures of the night.Nicola Caldwell’s Sandy and Libby Holcroft’s Rizzo excelled at ballads, and their showdown had all the drama of their operatic roots. Bad boy Kenickie (Phil Weller), looked, danced and strutted the part, oozing sexuality from his greased hair downwards, while Danny (Anthony Gibson) was believably more eager to please, taking up track to impress Sandy.
Mike Fernott’s Teen Angel, Matthew Lock’s Vince Fontaine and Amy Malloy’s Frenchy gave entertaining, well defined performances, and the ensemble dance numbers - with a stage so full of performers, you could hardly slip a vinyl sleeve between them - were spectacular. Andrew Stott and Frankie Alexandra’s deliciously awkward ‘Mooning’ earned the biggest applause of the night.The dinner ladies’ were a masterstroke, while Stephen Piper’s Eugene was a neat, turbo-charged vision of un-cool, who almost stole the show.
Dig…