Grease reviews

I've copied these reviews over from the official forum:

Mandys review

I'll just by saying I had a fab time last night,couldn't get any piccies in the theatre,but I have got some of Ray,which I will upload when I can work out how to get them off my camera!!I'll start at the begining,but if I get a bit boring just skim read!!haha

I got in London about 2.45 yesterday,wanted to get there with time to spare,so I could find everything!!There is lots of posters of Ray on the tube,which was good!!The Piccadilly theatre itself really surprised me as it is quite small,and there is only one picture of Ray outside which I though as quite poor!!

I found the stage door quite quickly,so that was good!!At this point I shall say I took a pressie for Ray!!I bought a bear from the bear workshop and called him Quinny,dressed in jeans and leather jacket with a quiff on his head!!(I have pic of Ray,me and Quinny,which will put up later!!).I waited at the stage door for Ray to in for about 2hrs 30mins,but it was worth it,as at about 4.45pm I saw him walking up the road!!I was a bit speechless to start with but Ray was so lovely,I gave him Quinny which he looked at and said wow,he's brilliant!!I then asked if I could have my photo taken with him!!He looked really gorgeous he was wearing a bright blue polo shirt and grey trackie bottoms and he was wearing his hairband!!He even stood there while my mum was trying to find the shutter button on the camera,bless him and he put his arm round my waist so I put my arm round his!!I touched Ray Quinn,amazing!!He said he liked my pink ladies jacket,which I was chuffed about and said I hope I enjoyed the show,then he went inside the gates!!I couldn't believe I'd just met Ray Quinn!!

When we went into the theatre,I was really excited,only drawback though,they are still selling old programmes so Ray isn't in them yet,which is a shame!!I'll get one when I go again!!I was really surprised at how close I was to the stage,row D was really good seats!!

When Ray came out in his leather jacket at the start he looked amazing with his hair all quiffed back!!Ray did get a good cheer when he came out,which was good and the theatre was quite full!!You are not encouraged to scream and shout out any actors name though as this is quite off putting for the actors as they have to stay in character all the time,and standing is not encouraged either as it is unfair to the audience behind you,Westend is alot different to gigs and tours where particiapant is encouraged!!
I have to say Danny Bayne really surprised me as he was quite good and nothing like the reviews i've read!!Nicola Brazil in my opninon was a bit bland,not as good as other Sandys i've seen!!All the other pink ladies were a bit lack lustre as well,except for Alana Phillips who plays Frenchy,but she is only there till 21st June!!All the other actors playing the T bird were good as well!!

Ray now sings two solos Those Magic Changes and Rock and Roll Party Queen(this was a duet,now a solo for Ray!!).Those magic changes was my favourite moment of the show!!Ray is really funny at the beginning!!His guitar lights up and for everyone wanting Ray's hips they don't stop moving from begining to end!!Ray's top note in those magic changes,is amazing it really is the best part of the show!!

I will also say it is worth not always paying attention to the main characters on stage as some of Ray's background acting is really funny and comical and really show off his comic timing!!Ray is at the front of the stage for most of the show and they make use of his dancing and his hips throughout!!

There is no Freddie my love anymore in the bedroom scene,which is a shame,and I think they make too much use of the swings and not enough use of the main actors where dancing is concerned!!In the dance sequence in the second half it is worth looking past Danny and Cha Cha as behind them Ray does a fantastic Jive with Frenchy!!

It finished really early about 9.40 and the interval was only 15mins!!It is a brilliant show though and I throughly recommend everyone going to see it!!

I went round the stage door after I came out the theatre as I had plenty of time!!The actors come out really quickly so it is worth getting out the theatre as quickly as possible!!You are warned not to scream and shout as the stage door is in a residential area,but there is no security guard!!There was about 10 people round the stage door so it wasn't too crowded!!The other cast come ot first and Danny Bayne and Ray Quinn wait till the end!!I managed to get Danny Baynes autograph on my programme which was good he is really friendly as well!!When Ray came out he was friendly to everybody!!I got my photo taken with Ray again and Ray signed a promo picture that I took with me!!He even asked to borrow my pen to sign the rest of the autographs as he didn't have one with him!!It was the best night ever and I can't wait to go again!!

Saz's review

Here's my review, it's fairly detailed, so if you're waiting to see the show and don't want to know much then just read this- Ray was BRILLIANT.

The show is amazing! Though I recommend not getting there too early, the doors to the auditorium open at 7 and if you get there before that they stick you in a tiny room which gets very hot and crowded. There are two programmes, a souvenier programme which is £6 and a normal one which is £3.50. Ray is in the normal one but not the souvenier one.

When they finally let you into the auditorium the set is amazing, it's all pink! And there's a fake 50s radio station on which really create an atmosphere.

The show starts with the live band appearing at the top of the stage, they play an instrumental medley and each of them plays a solo and gets clapped and cheered. I watched the conductor because he was so funny, dancing around.

The first song was just Danny and Sandy on stage, singing Sandy. I didn't really like her, she didn't have much stage prescence. Her voice was good though. When that song finished the whole cast came on and sang Grease is the Word. Ray was right at the front most of the time which was good, especially as I had good seats near the stage.

Next up was summer nights. There's a whole acting scene before the song. I watched Ray and the other t-birds the whole time whilst the pink ladies were acting because they were so funny. Rays character is the one in the group that they all tease so they're always picking on him and his reactions are really good, hes got great comic timing. His character is quite cheeky as well, there are quite a lot of sexual references and swear words in the show, so not the best one for little kids. It's really funny though. The actual song was really good, it's the first chance you get to hear Rays accent which is spot on. It's weird hearing him as anything other than scouse though lol.

Next up was Rays solo, those magic changes, and it was my favourite part of the show. He starts off with him showing off to the t-birds about his guitar playing skills, and they start to walk off because he's rubbish. It's a really funny scene. Then suddenly he starts playing and singing well and all the t-birds turn around and start dancing. Some semi-naked guys in towels suddenly appear and start dancing as well, which was a bit weird! All the girls in the cast start swooning and trying to get his attention while he sings. There's an amazing high note he does which was really impressive, his singing has really progressed. His song got the biggest cheer of the night.

Next up Rizzo sang Look at me, I'm Sandra Dee. The actress playing Rizzo is really good and I'd say she's the best female vocalist in the show.

Greased Lightnin' was up next, which was again a very funny scene. When Danny and Rizzo are talking, watch Doody and the other t-birds in the car, their background acting is really funny.

Rydell Fight Song was next, I haven't got much to say about that, it's just Sandy and Patty fighting about Danny and doing cheerleader practice.

Next up there are two songs on the bleachers. Rays doesn't sing in the first song, which is between two of the smaller characters, but he is acting the whole time. He and Frenchie are on opposite sides of the room and they both keep sneaking glances at each other. Then the whole company sings 'We Go Together'. His dancing, as always, was brilliant, he was easily the best dancer in the show. After the song Doody tries to ask Frenchie out, but chickens out at the last minute, it's dead cute and got a big laugh from the audience.

Then there was an interval, can't remember how long it was though.

The next four songs were all set at the school dance. During it's raning on prom night, make sure you watch Ray. He's standing on the left side and Doody doesn't have a partner and gets caught up in the music, dancing and singing to himself. Rizzo and Kenickie keep trying to stop him but he won't. During Born to Hand Jive Doody and Frenchie dance together, but the teacher decides his dancing is unsuitable (must be those pesky hips lol) so they both get sent off. Frenchie gets mad at him and runs off, and he tries to chase after her, it's so sweet. Later he asks her to dance again, but they can't find each other in the crowd, so they both walk off sadly in different directions, the whole audience went 'awww'.

Just before 'Beauty School Dropout', Doody asks Frenchie if she wants to get a coke with him sometime. She says yes and he stands still silently for like 5 seconds then goes 'really!?' which made everyone laugh. He then walks off and punches the air saying 'yeah!' which got another laugh.

After that is the whole scene at the drive in movie, which too be honest was probably the dullest part of the show, so I don't have much to write about it.

After that it's Rays next solo, Rock and Roll Party Queen. The T-birds and Pink Ladies are having a party and they ask him to sing them a song while they sort out the record player. It's not as big a song as those magic changes, but still enjoyable and it got a big cheer. He makes out he is singing it to Rizzo, but really he keeps looking at Frenchie. It was a bit weird because the actress playing Frenchie was clearly a lot older than him.

Next Rizzo sings there are worse things I could do, and like I said before she's a brilliant singer. After that Sandy sings a reprise of Sandy where she decides to transform herself. She sang it well, but was still fairly dull.

After that it's the final scene where Danny and Sandy sing you're the one that I want. The whole company is in it singing and dancing. Doody and Frenchie do a brilliant jive and are at the front of the stage for most of the time. Then the whole company sings the finale. This goes on for aaaages, but that's ok because it's really good. They sing a reprise of lots of the songs. They also do a total of three bows each, which is quite a lot. Ray got massive applause and cheers each time he bowed.

Then it was finished and the whole audience was buzzing, it's a really good energetic show. Also I knew Ray would be really good, but he really surpassed my expectations, he was amazing.

After that I rushed out to the stage door, there were only four people there including me and my mum. I had to wait about 15 minutes for Ray to come out, and I was sooo nervous. Suddenly I heard a scouse accent trying to encourage the other t-birds to go to the pub with him. He came out and signed an autograph and took a picture with the other girls there, I was so nervous I couldn't say anything lol, I get really shy really quickly. He looked at me and somehow I managed to ask for an autograph and a picture. His friends had gone off to the pub without him and I could tell he was in a hurry to follow them so I said sorry for holding him up, he was so cute and put his arm round my shoulder and said don't worry. He kept asking me if I was alright cos my hand holding the programme was shaking, he must have thought I was a real weirdo lol. He put his arm around my waist while the picture was being taken, my mum couldn't work out how to use the camera and so he went over to help her, which was sweet. Then I said thanks for a great show, i'm definitetly going to come back, and he laughed and said he must be doing his job well then. He's really so sweet, and taller than I thought he would be. He was wearing the famous hairband as well lol. He dashed off then to catch up with his friends, and I couldn't stop smiling for hours, still haven't really.

It was such a brilliant night, I can't wait to see it again!

Jess's review

Hey Peopl!

OMG!! I had the most AMAZING time last night It waa fantastic. I'll try andkeep this as short as possible!

Ok, we got to London about 2:30 and went straight to the theatre just to see where it was. When we were walking up the road to it we passed the stage door entrance and i saw Kirsty standing there with some friends. So, we carried on up to the theatre and were lookig at all the photos on the outside and i was pointing out Ray lol Next thing i knew i turned around and saw him cross the road and start walking towards me, i did panick a little (well quite a bit) i wasnt prepared. Well, he looked in a bit of a hurry but i managed to stop him and just quickly said too him im a HUGe fan of his and cant wait for the show tonight, he replied something on the lines of "sound, thats wicked, i hope you enjoy it, its gonna be a good'un" Then i let him go cuz he was walking proper fast and i think wanted to meet Kirsty. I didnt get a photo or anything signed though cuz i didnt have anything on me to get signed and didnt have a camera. I was so so shocked though and could hardly talk lol

The actualy show... OMG it was amazing and when say amazing i mean amazing lol We had really good seats as well, dead centre and i kept on feeling like they were looking at me all the time lol He was totally in his element up there. Those magic changes was FAB it made everone laugh the way he went it to it singing it rubbish to start off with and then going full blown into with his light up guitar. His voice sounded fantastic throughout. He got a lot of applause and standing ovations, especially at the end when they came on to take a bow ( i did go slightly mad) and his dancing with Frenchie was econd to none. Everything about his performance last night was fantastic. i really couldnt fault him. and i already want to go again!

We didnt go round the stage door afterwards cuz it finshed about 9:45 and our train from Paddington was at 10:05 so we didnt have much time. But just going to see him in it was enough for me

Latest theatre review - a good one for Ray

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/events/article-23524259-details/A+Night+Out+in+London/article.do

aww that review is really good!

Great review,thanks Annie

What makes it more impressive is that it isn't just a fan saying he's good but a proper theatre critic

That's because the theatre critics are starting to realise what we have known for ages!!That Ray Quinn is brilliant

thanks annie, great rweview

here are my two rewiews

very short though

19th July:
So i went to Grease today at 3:00
it was so good my eyes were glued just to ray
he was so amazing
and to top it all i met him too

2nd August:
went to grease again today
there were no day seats left so we sat in the grand circle row b
the seats werent great but there were little binoculars that you could use lol
danny bayne wasnt there today but the man who usually plays kenickie played danny
he was quite good at it, his voice isnt as strong as the usual danny but you know the laugh danny does, well he was good at that, everytime he did it the audience laughed
after the show, i waited for ray
there was quite a big crowd, and i think ray was starting to get a bit irratated with all the pushing and poking, as he was trying to get away lol
i finally got to him and my mum took a picture but she cut off our heads so i asked for another one and i look really bad in it so i wont be putting that up lol
but at least i was held by ray twice lol
and he smelt really nice
he was wearing his grey nike trackie bottoms and just a black t -shirt, no lacoste today lol

Thanks for those, had you posted them somewhere before or are they from memory?

no they were on the other forum lol

Oh right, I hadn't read them. The grease reviews thread on the other forum moves so fast cos of all the random chat that I don't look at it much anymore.

Thanks for these Carre

thats fine Mandy
thanks for your review

Hopefully we'll be getting a couple in the next week or so, from Emily and Gabbi

Gabbi will have SO much to catch up on

Both the forums (this one expecially) and seeing Grease on top

Is Amanda going again today?

Yep she'll be there now

Aw lucky! Hope its not raining too much over there or they might not come out!!

I hope they do, I have a feeling that if Ray doesn't come out Mandy might just go in lol

lol it has stopped raining now but it was pouring about half an hour ago

It isnt the best weather for standing around outside in but I expect she'll find a way in!

yeah lol
i hope she meets him again

How many times has she met him now?