Grease The Musical - Facts & Figures

Facts & Figures

Grease opened on February 14th 1972 at the Eden Theatre, New York.

The film opened in the USA in 1978 and grossed over $400 million.

‘You’re The One That I Want’ reached top of the UK charts for nine weeks in 1978, followed by a seven week stint with ‘Summer Nights’ later the same year.

Richard Gere was unknown in 1973 when he came to London to play Danny Zuko: he had previously been understudying the role on Broadway. Paul Nicholas, now Co-Producer of this production, took over the role from Gere.

In 1973 Elaine Paige took over the role of Sandy playing opposite Paul Nicholas.

Su Pollard and Tracy Ullman both appeared in the 1979 London revival at the Astoria playing Cha-Cha and Frenchy.

Grease re-opened on July 15th 1993 with Craig Maclachlan playing Danny Zuko and Debbie Gibson playing Sandy.

Since the show opened in London in 1993 it has been seen by over 10 million people and has grossed over £165 million in the UK alone.

Other actors who have played Danny include: Shane Richie, Richard Calkin, Luke Goss, Ian Kelsey, Darren Day, Steven Houghton, Craig Urbani, Ben Richards and Jonathan Wilkes.

Other actresses who have played Sandy include Sonia, Samantha Janus, Shona Lindsay, Marissa Dunlop, Irene Warren, Hayley Flaherty, Caroline Sheen, Hayley Evetts, and Suzanne Carley.

There are a total of 142 costume changes in the show. These include 16 leather jackets and 59 wigs.

720 white T- shirts are washed per month.

10 jumbo cans of hairspray and 8 pots of gel are used each week.

There are a total of 465 lights and 4½ miles of electric cable used in the show.

Grease was voted “The No.1 Greatest Musical of all time” in December 2003 by ‘100 Greatest Musicals’ – Channel 4