Grease: stage vs screen

Many people know Grease from the 1978 film with John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, but the Broadway musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey came first, opening in 1972. Director Randal Kleiser's film kept the basic story of Danny and Sandy at Rydell High while changing the setting, the score, and the tone. Here is how the two compare.

Stage

Broadway musical (1972)

Screen

Grease (1978)

1. Four songs written for the film

Several of the best-known Grease songs were not in the original Broadway show. Barry Gibb wrote the title song, Grease, sung by Frankie Valli. John Farrar wrote Hopelessly Devoted to You and You're the One That I Want, and Louis St. Louis and Scott Simon wrote Sandy. The 1993 West End and 2007 Broadway revivals added these four songs, but the 1972 Broadway production did not have them.

2. Urban Chicago becomes the suburbs

The stage show is set in 1959 at Rydell High in Chicago, drawn from Jim Jacobs' memories of William Howard Taft High School. Director Randal Kleiser moved the story to a more suburban setting, inspired by his own teenage years, and the school scenes were shot at high schools in the Los Angeles area.

3. Sandy Dumbrowski becomes Sandy Olsson

On stage, Sandy is Sandy Dumbrowski, an American girl. For the film she became Sandy Olsson from Australia, so Olivia Newton-John could use her own accent. Danny's gang, the Burger Palace Boys on stage, became the T-Birds on screen.

4. New solos for Danny and Sandy

On stage, Danny sings Alone at a Drive-in Movie with the Burger Palace Boys. The film replaces it with a new solo, Sandy. An instrumental version of the old song is on the soundtrack album, but it is not heard in the film. Sandy's stage song It's Raining on Prom Night plays only in the background, and her big new solo is Hopelessly Devoted to You.

5. A new finale duet

The stage show's late duet for Danny and Sandy, All Choked Up, was cut, along with Shakin' at the High School Hop. You're the One That I Want took over as the big duet once Sandy reveals her new look, and it became one of the film's biggest hits.

6. Songs reassigned or dropped

Several numbers that belong to supporting characters on stage were cut or handed to others. Greased Lightnin', Kenickie's song on stage, is sung by Danny in the film. Those Magic Changes, Doody's song on stage, is performed at the school dance by Johnny Casino and the Gamblers, played by the band Sha Na Na. Rock 'n' Roll Party Queen is only background music, and Freddy, My Love and Mooning are on the soundtrack album but not in the film itself. Roger, who sings Mooning on stage, is written out and replaced by Putzie, who does not sing.

7. A flying car finale

The film ends at a school carnival, where Danny and Sandy drive off into the sky in the car Greased Lightnin'. That fantasy finish has no equivalent in the stage show, which ends with the gang singing a reprise of We Go Together.

Grease movie vs musical: FAQs