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Grease

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Starring: John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John Director: Randal Kleiser Year of original release: 1978 Genre: Musical romance

Set-up

Grease began life in 1971 as a stage musical. The plot follows the adventures of a group of high-school students in the 1950s as they explore love, music and fast cars. Their exploits take place in and around the fictitious Rydell High School, which soon became one of the most famous high schools in America. Rydell was the Hogwarts of its day.

The musical was first performed inside a disused old tram barn. From there it went on to conquer the stage in London and New York. By the time the show closed on Broadway in 1980, it had had 3,388 performances, becoming the longest-running musical in Broadway history. The music score of both the stage show and the movie echo the early days of the rock 'n' roll era. It recaptures the mood of an exciting new time.

The plot

During the school summer break, American teen Danny Zuko meets Sandy, an Australian visitor. They fall in love. Sandy enrols as a foreign exchange student at Rydell, the high school where Danny is a student. He is a member of a school gang called the T-Birds who think they are the coolest guys on the block. Their rivals are the Pink Ladies, who take Sandy under their wing.

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