Grease fans can expect a feistier SandyJimmy Harrison as Danny and Cassie Szabo as Sandy with the full cast at rehearsal for Grease in Launceston yesterday.
Fifties pop culture will make a lightning return into Launceston's psyche when Grease opens at the Princess Theatre on March 15.
And with it comes a feistier Sandy Dumbrovski.
``She's definitely not as timid as the Sandy people know from the movie version, warns Cassie Szabo, who plays the role that saw Olivia Newton-John sizzle to stardom on screen in 1978.
Szabo strips back the girl-next-door innocence to deliver a more ``feisty Sandy opposite Jimmy Harrison as Danny Zuko.
``Sandy's more a girl of our time, but the musical still delivers that irresistible mix of adolescent angst and rock-n-roll energy that melted everyone's hearts in the movie, assures Szabo.
Describing the stage musical as grittier, more raw than the movie, Szabo and Harrison are thrilled that the production has been adapted to include the songs that became smash hits for their movie counterparts John Travolta and Newton John.
Although Sandy doesn't get to go to the Prom as Danny's date, in this stage version, presented by Launceston's Encore Theatre Company, Sandy does get to sing Hopelessly Devoted to You, which was written especially for Newton John.
``We've gone back to the original stage musical when it debuted as an amateur production, incredibly, in Chicago in 1971 , says executive producer Belinda King.
``After much negotiation we've also been able adapt the script to include the songs You're The One That I Want, Barry Gibbs's Grease, Sandy, and Hopelessly Devoted to You.
``Grease these days just wouldn't be Grease without these songs,'' says King.