Grease, Edinburgh Playhouse review***: why the chills didn't multiply for me

I can recall seeing it at a packed Odeon in Edinburgh, while one guy at our school immediately modelled himself on Danny Zuko and strutted the corridors constantly running a comb through his greased-back hair. Sadly, Wester Hailes Education Centre was no substitute for Rydell High - and he was no Travolta.

Fast forward five decades and the film’s soundtrack still has some irresistible gems, and this stage version brings them all to life. Unfortunately, it doesn’t fully capture the buzz of the movie or the sharpness of the characters.

You know the story - uber-cool Danny Zuko has a summer thing with straighter than straight Sandy, dumps her and then discovers she is the new kid at school. They dance round each other until the big finale at the summer fayre.

Hope Dawe impressed as Sandy in her professional debut, nailing her big numbers, while understudy Ben Middleton stepped in as Danny, and maybe needed an extra layer of coolness to make the character really stand out from the rest of the leather-jacket wearing boys, and Danny has to be the boy the gang look up to and want to be.

The performances which caught the eye came from Rebecca Stenhouse as Rizzo - outstanding vocals and real emotion as she dug deep into There Are Worse Things I Could Do, and Joe Gash who brought some much needed personality and vibrancy to his role of DJ Vince Fontaine, and his cameo as the Teen Angel singing to the loveable Frenchy (Alicia Belgarde).

Grease The Musical delivered all the songs the audience loves, but still it felt flat at times, particularly in a slow first half when all the accents rather meshed into one. There was no car race, while Sandy was removed completely from that great dance competition sequence, which didn’t make much sense, and we never got to see the gleaming, souped up version of the car, Greased Lighting,

The second half certainly picked up the pace, but missed an open goal as Sandy revealed her vamped-up look. It should have been a front of stage, stand-out moment - one to ignite an audience dying to get to its feet - but instead it was rather lost in the crowd, as if she’d just changed her sweater.

The singalong at the end was certainly fun, but the chills, alas, they did not multiply …

> Grease The Musical is at the Playhouse Theatre, Edinburgh, until Saturday. Ticket info https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/grease/edinburgh-playhouse/