Will un-PC Grease be cleaned up before its run in Adelaide?

Grease the Musical isn’t always politically correct by today’s standards - so what can we expect from the Adelaide show?

Immortalised by Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta in Grease, the movie, Sandy and Danny have long been audience favourites.

But in Grease the Musical, two of its edgier characters, Kenickie and Rizzo come close to stealing the show.

They are played by rising stars Keanu Gonzalez and Mackenzie Dunn.

While fans of the film associate Greased Lightnin’ with Travolta, it was originally Kenickie’s big number. The musical stays true to that and Gonzalez owns it.

Keanu Gonzalez, the actor who plays Kenickie. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

“There was something about greasers in general that I thought was just super cool,” he says. “I was just so excited to put on a leather jacket and kind of step into that role.”

While the songs are timeless, critics of Grease have argued that it has not aged well, referring to its toxic masculinity, for example. Asked for his take on this, Gonzalez is against cleaning up Grease.

“It would be disingenuous to not include some things like that, just because if you go to any high school, whether it’s today or in the ’50s, these things exist,” he says. “So the fact that you bring them to light just goes to show that it’s still a conversation worth having.”

Grease The Musical with Mackenzie Dunn and Keanu Gonzalez front and centre. Picture: Jason Edwards

Dunn agrees, saying Grease is a coming of age story in which “every single character … goes through a journey”.

“Annelise, who plays Sandy and Luke Joslin, our director, the three of us had a great conversation about Sandy’s choice to change her look on the outside (from prim and proper to sexy vamp) … that it was always something within her in this version of the show, and that Rizzo brought that out in her, and that she wasn’t changing for a man or changing for the male gaze and that was something that was really important to, I think, all three of us going into this project.”

Dunn is a powerhouse as Rizzo, who many would argue is the most complex character in Grease.

Mackenzie Dunn as Rizzo. Picture: Wayne Taylor

Keanu Gonzalez as Kenickie. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

“I love Rizzo because she has a tough exterior, but in my opinion, a heart of gold and I think that’s what makes her so much fun to play,” Dunn says. “I get to play with so many different aspects of the human experience … and Rizzo also has, in my opinion, the best song in the show (There Are Worse Things I Could Do).”

Grease the Musical is playing Her Majesty’s Theatre from September 28.

Originally published as Will un-PC Grease be cleaned up before its run in Adelaide?