Grease Is The Word

Last night Mr. Love and I saw "Grease" at the Wharton Center. Before I tell you about the play, let me tell you about our history with "Grease."

On our very first date, we were talking about our likes and dislikes, and Randy said he loved "Grease." I was very surprised, because not many men admit to liking musicals, especially on a first date. We talked about the music in the movie and how great it was.

Over time, it would come up now and again. Then we started planning our wedding. We wanted an elegant event, and the music we chose matched the feeling we wanted in our ceremony. But one day, I had an idea, and I couldn't believe Randy agreed. We decided that after the ceremony, when we came back down the aisle, we would have "You're The One That I Want" as the song. The rest of the ceremony was formal, classical music, so this would really surprise everyone.

Randy agreed to it as long as we told absolutely no one. We didn't even have it played at the rehearsal. We switched the cd after rehearsal so that song would only be played after our ceremony.

It was great. We could hear people laughing, and I think everyone got a kick out of it. It was a fitting song, and to this day, that song means something to both of us.

OK, now back to the show. It was really good. I wasn't thrilled with Danny. He could sing and dance, for sure, but I always picture Danny as this gorgeous guy that every girl wants. This was not the case last night. He was okay, but I don't see a lot of teenage girls mooning over him.

But the show was good, and the dancing was incredible. The hand jive song was amazing. I don't know how they could keep singing while they were doing that.

The highlight of the show was Taylor Hicks, who played Teen Angel. He was perfect in that role. It was cheesy, but then he's cheesy. They added some verses and changed some lines to make it funnier and to fit him, and it really worked. At one point when he was singing to Frenchy, she said, "I voted for you." Everyone fell out laughing.

We see so many shows, and the actors are always so talented. They sing and dance and act, and they do it night after night after night. It's amazing. But I have to say, when Taylor Hick sang, it was a world of difference between his voice and the voices of the other actors. Taylor is a SINGER. That was clear. The tone of his voice was so different than the rest. It blew everyone away.

After the curtain calls, they all came out and sang more songs. Taylor Hicks was the lead singer, and was great once again. But then they started dancing along with the songs, and oh, boy, we saw Taylor head to the back of the stage. That child cannot dance to save his life. He can do his little Taylor Hicks moves to the beat, but he can't dance a choreographed dance to save his life. It was so funny to watch him.

So we had a great night out, my Mr. Love and me. We are done for the year now, since I think our next show is Legally Blonde in January. Should be a good one.