| Grease | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
After many years Grease is back and as rockin and a rollin as ever | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| The history of Grease | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Welcome to the singing and dancing world of "Grease," the most successful movie musical of all time. We are now celebrating its 20th anniversary with the gigantic re-release on March 27 - with Danny, Sandy, Rizzo, Frenchy and all the Rydell High gang seen uncut with new, enhanced color and fabulous new digital sound. "Grease" debuted in 1978 and grossed more than $340 million at box-offices around the world, becoming the biggest grossing movie musical in film history, a record that still stands today. After 20 years, it still ranks as one of the top 10 video titles sold in the U.S. in 1997. So far, over 20 million double soundtrack albums have been sold (more than 1.2 million of those sales came in 1996 and 1997). It has been in the top five on the Billboard pop charts for 244 consecutive weeks as of February 1, 1998. It's no wonder. Who could resist all those infectious songs performed by John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, Frankie Avalon, Sha-Na-Na, Frankie Valli and the rest of the cast? For me, as the adapter of the Broadway show and producer of the film, one of the greatest joys of "Grease" -- both the film and the soundtrack -- is that it has captivated a variety of generations for so many years. Ever since it first opened in 1978, the movie and the music have played continually on TV and radio, at college screenings and karaoke bars, on the family video machine and on car stereos, allowing people of all ages to discover and rediscover the wonderful vibrancy of the actors, the music, the story. Baby boomers and post-baby boomers in their 30s and 40s, people who paid their $3 to see it in 1978, have told me that they can't wait to take their own children to see "Grease" on the big screen. College students still pack campus screenings of the film, and teen-agers cruising the video stores have discovered the film on their own. The young kids, especially those 5 to 12 years old who have heard about "Grease" from their older siblings, have made it their own favorite. They hold Danny and Sandy dress-up parties, and this new audience has their parents and grandparents buy the video and original CD for them. I wish I could claim that my colleagues and I knew exactly what we were unleashing more than two decades ago when we first began planning this film. I always thought it would be successful when I optioned the rights with a vision of making it into a movie, but I never dreamed of this phenomenal success. What we ended up with was a motion picture that has continued to touch the hearts of people of all ages and backgrounds. "Grease" is magical, and I am very grateful to have had a part in bringing that magic to the world. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Favourite links
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||
|
This page has been visited
|