JAM THEATRICALS Tiana Checchia, as Sandy Dumbrowski, sings with the girls in the lunchroom.

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Solid cast gives
‘Grease’ the go-ahead

"Grease" is the word, and Frankie Avalon is definitely The Man, as the perennially popular parody of early rock 'n' roll and the teen culture of the late 1950s returns to Honolulu for a one-week run.

"Grease" continues at 7:30 p.m. today and tomorrow, 4 and 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Blaisdell Concert Hall. Tickets are $44 to $74. Call 591-2211 or 877-750-4400 or visit www.ticketmaster.com

Avalon, reprising his role as Teen Angel from the definitive 1978 film version of "Grease," received a round of applause from the sold-out opening night crowd on Monday the moment his silhouette appeared during the intro to "Beauty School Dropout." The applause swelled when he was revealed in the flesh to give Frenchy (Bambi Noltimier) a musical lecture on the importance of school.

Avalon played to the crowd for one key moment and just about stopped the show. It seemed he might get a standing ovation as well.

Avalon, who is given top billing, takes over after the final curtain call and, with the rest of the cast deployed on stage behind him, stars in a short post-show concert. He sings three songs from his days as a teen idol and film star -- "Beach Blanket Bingo," "Why" and the chorus from David Seville's 1958 hit, "Witch Doctor" -- before he wraps it all up with "Venus," his biggest hit.

And yes, he drew a standing ovation.

As for "Grease," it has aged well and in surprising ways. Maybe it's the proliferation in recent years of rap and rock songs that address sexual matters in ever cruder and more explicit terms, but this return visit to Rydell High School and the year 1959 seems lighter, brighter and less crude than some previous productions. True, all the smutty repartee and sexual horseplay seem intact -- stuff that would constitute charges of "sexual harassment" and possibly grounds for expulsion from many local public high schools these days. So too are all the definitely non-PC messages about how cool it is for teenagers to smoke, drink, steal auto parts and have sex.

With a solid band behind them, Derek Keeling (Danny Zuko) and Tiana Checchia (Sandy Dumbrowski) make "You're the One That I Want" a glorious anthem to the joy of finding that special someone.

Keeling and Checchia have a strong cast around them. Jesse J.P. Johnson (Doody) is delightfully maladroit as the would-be guitar player who struggles to master the basic chords of classic rock in "Those Magic Changes." Jason Harper (Roger) and Cortney Harper (Jan) imbue "Mooning" with palpable romantic attraction and Joe Carney (Kenickie) brings a demented energy to his showcase number, "Greased Lightnin'."

And then there's Lauren Tartaglia (Rizzo) who gives the production its dark dramatic punch with powerful performances in "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee" and "There are Worse Things I Could Do." Tartaglia proves herself an actor of depth as she creates a Rizzo whose cutting put-downs of Sandy reflect in part Rizzo's regret at having lost her own virginal innocence.

Of course in the end it's Sandy who experiences an epiphany and escapes her innocence with a make-over that includes smoking, chugging wine, pouffing her hair, changing her wardrobe to sexy skin-tight black -- and becoming the woman of Danny Zuko's dreams. Take a lesson, kids!

Kids of all ages -- the demo of the audience opening night appeared to range from age 6 to 96 -- will find more to watch than can be fully appreciated in one viewing.

The staging of some of the big ensemble numbers in particular contains much finely detailed characterization and comic action (for that matter, watch Checchia and Keeling stay in character during Avalon's post-show set).

The high school hop that opens Act Two is a delightful bit of intricately staged mayhem nicely spiced with one-liners and brief character bits. The broad choreography in "Greased Lightnin' " helps sustain a number that could easily drag otherwise, and the use of slapstick during Zuko's encounter with the cheerleaders offers a glimpse into his character as well as an obvious comic moment.

William Hubscher (Vince Fontaine) provides additional comic relief as the stereotypical Top 40 disc jockey with an eye for chicks, Danny Smith adds plenty of graphic sexual humor as the tightly wound Sonny LaTierri and David Schlumpf does a fine job in another secondary comic role as the hapless Eugene Florczyk.

"Grease" fans know that this is the first stage production that has been able to include the three biggest songs from the movie along with all the best-known songs from the original Broadway production. The title song, a movie soundtrack hit for Frankie Valli in 1978, works well as part of the pre-show entertainment, and "You're the One That I Want" caps this production perfectly.

However, "Hopelessly Devoted to You," sung by Checchia in front of a curtain following the big gym scene, feels as though it were just grafted on to appease "Grease" fans, and is the only number in the show in which the action stops to accommodate a song.

The audio mix was bass heavy and the performers' mics soft throughout the first scene on opening night, but the voices came through clearly from "Summer Nights" on through to the finale.