#70: Grease (1994 revival) with Broadway veteran, Patti D'Beck

It's one of the most famous and beloved titles in musical theater. Because of its iconic mismatched lovers storyline and nostalgia evocation of the 1950s, "Grease" has been performed in high schools, colleges and regional theaters across the country for decades. The movie version with Travolta and Newton-John was the highest grossing movie musical of all time when it came out.

With all of that history, there seems like maybe not much else could be said about "Grease" but, thanks to my awesome guest, Patti D'Beck, we find plenty to say about it. Before she was an award-winning director and producer for regional theater, Patti was the assistant choreographer for this revival revival, working closely with Broadway legend, Jeff Calhoun. Even though it ran a long time, the revival had less than half the performances of the original production and, some might argue, it's longevity was goosed by the ongoing parade of stars used as replacements in the cast.

Patti and I delve into all of that, including her unique perspective on stars and their different learning styles. Because of her long and varied career, we also can't avoid a quick detour down a tangent about "A Chorus Line." It's a great episode thanks to Patti, clips of the banging tunes from the show don't hurt!

You'll definitely want to check out the clips to appreciate the "over-the-top" aspects of this production. Go to ChasingPhantom.net for those and see what Patti and her husband, David Leong, are up to at GoldenAges.net.