Movies

I Got Chills! GREASE Sing-a-Long – Midnights This Weekend at The Moolah

By Tom Stockman | August 30, 2015

“Why, this car is Auto-matic. Its System-matic. Its Hyyyyydro-matic. Why, its Greased Lightning!”

GREASE (the Sing-a-Long version) screens midnights this weekend (^{September 4th and 5th}) at The Moolah Theater (3821 Lindell Blvd, St. Louis, MO). Admission is only $5

In 1978 John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John starred in GREASE, a ’70s version of a’50s musical. It was a huge hit and coming off the heels of his Oscar-nominated turn in SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER the year before, made a megastar of John Travolta (a wattage that was short-lived until his PULP FICTION comeback almost 20 years later).Olivia Newton-John came from Australia and won the hearts of music fans. “You’re The One That I Want” is the hot number from the film. The pair dressed in black. “Tell me about it, stud!” she cooed. GREASE appealed to younger generations. Male/female duos perform ‘Summer Nights’ to karaoke tracks. The film also exaggerated. The cast of GREASE was long out of high school, ranging in age from 19 to 35 (Stockard Channing’s Rizzo). Barry Gibb composed the title song, which oddly enough, is closer to disco than to rock ‘n’ roll.

I never went and saw GREASE even though I was 16 when it came out. It looked, for decades, like a movie I wouldn’t like. Finally, about 5 or 6 years ago, they screened the sing-a-long version at The Galaxy and I saw it there. I found the film full of zeal and energy but at the same time it was kinda cheesy, with lame choreography and a sort of general cheapness to it. But the innocence and color of the 50s had been well-captured and what I found most refreshing was that there were no dark sub-plots – it’s a happy musical and not much more. The fact that this remains one of the most popular film musicals of all time I think is a testament to the songs and to John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John (and I like it when Olivia gets “slutty”). Check it out when the Sing-a-long version (that means the lyrics as burned in as subtitles on the print) plays midnights this weekend (September 4^th and 5^th) at The Moolah Theater (3821 Lindell Blvd, St. Louis, MO). Admission is only $5