‘Grease’ Onstage at Pittsburgh CLO; The Public Has ‘Marjorie Prime’ (Tues., 6/11/19)

Sometimes ‘Grease’ is a hands-on experience. (photo: Matt Polk)

1) Before Grease was the word, it was a shockingly gritty urban theater piece that mixed raw, raucous humor with frightening depictions of life among the tough kids at a big-city high school. The original Grease—inspired by lead writer Jim Jacobs’s school days in Chicago—was staged by that city’s small Kingston Mines theater company in 1971.The play became an underground sensation. But Jacobs and co-writer Warren Casey were told it had to be modified to reach a wider audience, so they toned down the language and brightened up the script. They wrote new songs, turning Grease from a “play with music” into a full-blown musical. The Grease that we’ve come to know since then is much tamer, but not exactly lame. It has won generations of fans via live productions worldwide. The 1978 movie, with John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, was a box-office winner. Now Pittsburgh CLO invites you to revisit Danny Zuko, the Pink Ladies, and their high-riding classmates at Rydell High in a mainstage Pittsburgh production of Grease. The CLO cast includes Clay Aiken as Teen Angel, Zach Adkins as Danny Zuko, and Kristen Martin as Sandy. Performances continue through June 16. Benedum Center, 237 7th St., Cultural District. (MV)

MARJORIE PRIME by Jordan Harrison. May 30 – June 30, Pittsburgh Public Theater.

He’s sexy but he is simulated: Ben Blazer plays Walter Prime in The Public’s ‘Marjorie Prime.’ (photo courtesy of Pittsburgh Public Theater)

2) Can the dead come back to life? In Jordan Harrison’s play Marjorie Prime, they sort of do, with the aid of futuristic technology. Title character Marjorie is no longer in her prime. She’s over 80, living with her daughter and son-in-law, and drifting into dementia. Yet she is able to enjoy the company of her late husband, thanks to a company that creates life-sized holograms of the deceased. Better still, hubby is brought back in his prime—around age 30 and looking good. The premise sounds like the setup of a gimmicky sci-fi tale, but Marjorie Prime was a finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It’s been described as a powerfully engaging venture into the realms of memory, dreams, and desire. The 2017 film version, though not a box-office hit, was critically acclaimed. See the original live on stage. Pittsburgh Public Theater presents Marjorie Prime, directed by Artistic Director Marya Sea Kaminski. 7 p.m. Continues through June 30. At the O’Reilly Theater, 621 Penn Ave., Cultural District. (MV)

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