ANNETTE CARDONA (CHA-CHA),
KELLY WARD (PUTZIE), ME, AND OUR GREAT
DIRECTOR RANDAL KLEISER.
THE GREASE SCREENING AND SING-A-LONG AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL WAS AN UNBELIEVABLY FUN, WARM, HAPPY NIGHT FOR ME. I SAW SEVERAL OF THE OLD CAST, PLUS OUR DIRECTOR, RANDAL KLEISER.
THE SIX OF US - IT WAS ME, BARRY PEARL (DOODY), DIDI CONN (FRENCHIE), ANNETTE, KELLY, AND RANDAL. FIVE OF THE GREASE DANCERS WERE THERE TOO. WE DID SOME SHTICK BEFORE THE SCREENING, TO A HALF-FILLED HOUSE.
BARRY AND DIDI HOSTED A GREASE COSTUME CONTEST AND EVERYBODY SEEMED TO BE ENJOYING THEMSELVES (SOME AWESOME COSTUMES!) BUT THEN IT WAS 8:30 AND THE MOVIE STARTED. BY THIS TIME, THE BOWL WAS PACKED FULL (17 OR 18 THOUSAND FANS). I HAVE SEEN GREASE MAYBE, 20 OR 30 TIMES, BUT I REALLY WATCHED IT THIS TIME, EVEN STUDIED IT.
WHY IS THIS MOVIE SO POPULAR? WHAT IS THE "SECRET" OF GREASE?
GREASE IS KIND OF A COMBINATION OF WEST SIDE STORY AND REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE - UNLIKE THOSE TWO GREAT MOVIES, IT IS FUNNY - BUT LIKE ALL GREAT ART (YES, I DO BELIEVE IT IS ART), GREASE HOLDS DEEPER TRUTHS.THE TEEN ANGST WE’VE ALL BEEN THROUGH. UNREQUITED LOVE. "TRUE" LOVE. FRIENDSHIP. PEER PRESSURE. THE CRUELTY OF TEENAGERS.
THE SONGS REALLY ARE GREAT AND THE CAST ARE ALL IMMENSELY TALENTED.
RANDAL KLEISER, OUR DIRECTOR, DID A VERY SUPERB JOB.
MY ROLE IN GREASE IS, THE SMALLEST ROLE I HAVE EVER HAD IN A FILM, BUT I THINK IT CAN BE LIKENED TO A DOING A GUEST VOICE ON THE SIMPSONS. I REALLY DIDN'T CONTRIBUTE ALL THAT MUCH, BUT I PLAYED A SMALL PART IN SOMETHING REALLY GREAT.
I GOT TO "SHOW MY STUFF" IN MIDNIGHT MADNESS AND MOB BOSS AND THE WHOOPEE BOYS" AND SOME OTHER MOVIES. A FEW GOOD ONES IN THE MIX, POLAR EXPRESS OR WAR GAMES OR I WANNA HOLD YOUR HAND, BUT MAINLY B-MOVIES, KNOWN ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY TO THAT GROUP OF MOVIE NUTS AND MAVENS WHO KNOW ALMOST EVERY FILM EVER MADE.
BUT GREASE STANDS ALONE. I BELIEVE THAT THIS INCREDIBLE FILM GREASE HAS BROUGHT MORE PLEASURE AND JOY TO MORE PEOPLE THAN ANY FILM IN HISTORY (WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE WIZARD OF OZ). THIS IS PARTICULARLY TRUE OF WOMEN, AND MORE ESPECIALLY, OF YOUNG GIRLS.
I WATCHED THIS BEAUTIFUL CROWD OF PEOPLE, MANY DRESSED IN GREASE COSTUMES, BOUNCING, CLAPPING, SINGING WITH JOY AND DELIGHT. I SWEAR TO GOD, THEY WERE DANCING IN THE AISLES - LITERALLY!
I HAVE NEVER SEEN A FILM EFFECT A CROWD LIKE THIS. I REALIZED HOW MUCH I LOVE ALL THE CAST AND ALL THE DANCERS. THE KINDNESS, THE FRIENDSHIP, THESE WONDERFUL, TALENTED PEOPLE SHOWED A SHY, GOOFY, SLIGHTLY IDIOTIC KID ALL THOSE YEARS AGO - THE TWO MONTHS WE SHOT GREASE DURING THE SUMMER OF 1977, WERE, MAYBE, THE HAPPIEST TWO MONTHS OF MY LIFE.
I WAS YOUNG, I WAS A WORKING ACTOR, I WAS IN A FRIGGING MOVIE!!
MAYBE FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME I HAD SOME KIND OF PURPOSE IN MY LIFE.
GREASE - ITS LEGACY, THE EFFECT IT HAS HAD ON MOVIEGOERS ALL OVER THE WORLD, COULDN'T POSSIBLY HAVE BEEN ENVISIONED BY ANY OF US AT THE TIME. I FELT SO EMOTIONAL AS I WATCHED THE FILM - AND THE CROWD!
ALL THE UNHAPPINESS IN THE WORLD, ALL THE PAIN, THE SUFFERING, THE HATE, THE WARS, THE INSANITY, THE CRUELTY - FOR THESE BRIEF FEW HOURS IT ALL VANISHED, IT DISAPPEARED. I SAW THESE PEOPLE IN THE AUDIENCE LAUGHING AND SINGING LIKE CAREFREE KIDS ON THE PLAYGROUND.
ISN'T THIS HOW THE WORLD IS SUPPOSED TO BE? ISN'T THE LATTER STATE "RIGHT"? ISN'T THE FORMER STATE "WRONG"?
