Grease (1994)

Miss Lynch, the teacher you loved to hate, welcomes us to a reunion of Rydell High’s class of 1959, here in Rydell’s auditorium. The graduates sing the Alma Mater – “We Go Together” – in the style of a Bach chorale, and bang! we’re catapulted into a blast from the past.

The plot kicks into gear during lunchtime on the first day of school. Rizzo, Frenchy, Marty, and Jan, who comprise the wise-cracking, boy-crazy Pink Ladies gang, meet goody-two-shoes newcomer Sandy Dumbrowski, and press her for details of her recent romance. Meanwhile, Danny Zuko, leader of the Burger Palace Boys, pals around with Kenickie, Doody, Roger, and Sonny, boasting of the girl he met (“Summer Nights”). But when they meet again, Danny is way too cool to admit he fell for a square chick like Sandy. He barely says hello.

Doody has been taking guitar lessons, and in “Those Magic Changes” we find out that those magic changes aren’t confined to romance – they’re also about the imagination. Doody sees himself as a rock-and-roll idol.

Eager to fit in during a pajama party at Marty’s, Sandy undergoes classic rites of passage: she smokes a ciggie-butt, guzzles cheap wine, gets an ear pierced. The worldly Marty reveals that she is engaged to a Marine. Though his absence makes her grow fond, his presents make her grow fonder (“Freddy, My Love”).

To the other guys, Kenickie’s new car looks like a hunk of junk, but to him it’s “Greased Lightnin’,” a hot-rodding boudoir on wheels. Rizzo offers a rather more clear-eyed assessment of Kenickie’s wheels (“Greased Lightnin’” – reprise).

During cheerleader tryouts, Sandy and Danny manage a rapprochement. To impress Sandy, he even promises to try out for the track team. Preening, pushy Patty Simcox comes between the two.

Things are going more smoothly for Roger and Jan. He’s the mooning champ of Rydell High – he hangs his bare butt out of car windows and so on. He confesses to Jan that he’s been “Mooning” for her. It’s the thought that counts.

After a spat with Kenickie, Rizzo asks Danny to take her to the dance. She mocks the virginal Sandy with “Look at Me, I’m Sandra Dee.” Sandy shows her mettle when she attacks Rizzo for lampooning her. Still, she’s too hurt by Danny’s seeming indifference to see him any more (“Since I Don’t Have You”). Everyone – except Sandy – heads to the dance (“We Go Together” – reprise).

While her friends dance up a storm to “Shakin’ at the High School Hop,” Sandy bemoans the bitter pill pride has forced her to swallow (“It’s Raining on Prom Night”). Celebrity deejay Vince Fontaine judges the dance contest (“Born to Hand Jive”) which Danny wins partnering Cha-Cha Degregorio, the “best dancer at St. Bernadette’s.”

Frenchy has dropped out of High School in order to become a beautician. But she’s already quit beauty school. What to do? A guardian angel offers soulful advice in “Beauty School Dropout.”

Sandy and Danny finally patch things up at the Twi-Lite Drive-In, but he moves too fast for her. “Just because you give me your ring doesn’t mean we’re gonna go all the way,” she fumes. Feeling sorry for himself, Danny croons, “Alone at a Drive-In Movie.”

During a party in Rizzo’s rec room, Doody and Kenickie sing “Rock-and-Roll Party Queen.” Rizzo is worried that she might be pregnant, but when Sandy expresses sympathy, Rizzo responds with the stinging “There Are Worse Things I Could Do.” Sandy clues Rizzo in to a few things about herself, and the two come to an understanding (“Look at Me, I’m Sandra Dee” – reprise).

At Burger Palace Danny shows up wearing a letter sweater. To please Sandy, he has joined the track team. Sandy enters wearing skin-tight slacks, big earrings, a plunging neckline, and a kitten-with-a-whip hairdo. To please Danny she’s transformed herself into a greaser’s dream date. Rizzo is relieved to learn that she isn’t p.g. after all – false alarm. She and Kenickie reunite. Happily-ever-after time for all (Finale).