Review - Grease - Main Street Theatre Company

Grease ran January 30th - February 1st at the Main Street Theatre Company in Uniontown, PA. Upon entering, the set is stunning- designed to feel perfectly 1950s/60s. There is a checkered proscenium arch that later becomes illuminated with neon (Eric Luchen).

The show opens with the number "Grease", where we instantly meet our team of Pink Ladies and T-Birds. It's immediately clear that the cast of this show packs powerhouse and clean harmonies and vocals. The costumes are Broadway-inspired (Darien O'Neal) and the men's hair and women's wigs are perfectly in era (Candace Orlandi). Another addition to the quality of the show involves the lighting design and use of spotlight strobing (​Zachary Calloway and ZLX Productions). 

The cast of the T-Birds were absolutely perfect together. All 4 of the supporting male leads had fantastic and inspired stage chemistry together. They perfectly encompassed the chummy and immature nature of the T-Birds- constantly ragging on each other, full of deliciously obnoxious energy and crass humor. Even when not delivering lines, these gentleman kept up the young greaser energy while onstage in the dark as the Pink Ladies had their scenes.
The Pink Ladies also echoed this, and had distinct and animated personalities that made them kindred- yet contrasted- to their respective T-Bird duo. 
These two groups work very well together, clearly knowing the script perfectly, as the lines they delivered were quick, back-to-back and snappy without stepping on the others, even in scenes where they aren't speaking to each other, but rather having separate conversations at different parts of the stage.

The song "Summer Nights" was fun and exciting, as we get dual left-right stage choreography from the T-Birds and Pink Ladies, each distinctly unique and on-theme. The ending of this song, vocally, was strong and full, demonstrating the talent of the extended ensemble cast. 

We meet our leading lady, Sandy Dumbrowski, played by Madison Adams. Madison gives us a sweet, shy, and soft-spoken Sandy, which gives great dissimilarity from her personality change in the final scenes. Madison's voice was very reminiscent of Olivia Newton John's, yet much more powerful for her big upcoming songs. Madison's belt is clean and rings through the theatre gracefully. Later, in act II, Madison stuns with "Hopelessly Devoted", a ballad she delivered beautifully and much larger than I've yet seen (with a shocking and impressive opt up at the end!). This song brought the house down. At the end of the show, Madison gives a heavily contrasted Sandy, which really hammers in the changes the character made to compromise with Danny. Madison deserves all the accolades possible for this performance, and she was perfectly cast by director John Wagner-Malia. 

Danny Zuko is played by Quenten Zboyovsky. Quenten puts his all into each song and scene and fully acts while singing, showing a range of emotions, but where Quenten really stood out most was as a dancer, especially during the "Hand Jive". Quenten also delivered an impressive falsetto. 

Though the set only changes very little in this production, you are never taken out of the scene. At the house of one of the Pink Ladies, a simple vanity and bed are added. Marty is played by Abigail Rocks. She stayed perfectly in character while beautifully delivering her solo song, "Freddy, My Love". Abigail gave my favorite performance of the night as she perfectly pegged Marty's sultry but naive energy- truly embodying the character fully. 

Another minor set change takes us into the body shop where an impressive full-sized car is wheeled onstage for the iconic number "Greased Lightening", led by actor Seth Springsteen as Kenickie. Seth has great comedic timing and shows off impressive and diverse vocals and dance talent. The harmonies during this song were fantastic, predominantly led by male voices, and the fast-paced and energetic choreography was entertaining and crowd-pleasing as it, of course, included the original "arm-ography" (John Wagner-Malia). Springsteen's voice was so fine-tuned that it sounded like a professional recording. Altogether this was a truly perfect number. 

Roger (Peter Confrancesco) and Jan (Jordan Zelmore) bring us the hilariously silly "Mooning", where they show their comedic stage chemistry. Peter's belt was strong and impressive, even in such an unserious number, and he never once dropped energy in the show. He perfectly grasped the vintage falsetto a la Frankie Valli. Jordan had the audience in laughs whenever she came on stage. 

Emma Jones brings Betty Rizzo to life, keeping her fellow classmates in check with a sarcastic, monotone vocal delivery of lines and borderline bullying of Sandy. The number "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee" is fun and classic, and "There Are Worse Things I Could Do" is moving and solemn, with Emma demonstrating that she was really feeling the emotions of the song and showing her frustration with how she's perceived. Emma brought Rizzo into the spotlight in the way where she seemed truly mean, but still dedicated to her friends. (I feel that Emma could make a very good villain!)

Act II opens with fun choreography from a troupe of featured dancers. We meet Cha-Cha DiGregorio, played by Sophia Hamilton. Sophia also embodies the spirit of Cha-Cha perfectly- she looks and sounds the part. She is loud, obnoxious, and beautiful. Sophia brought the energy, as well as comedic timing and impressive dance skills. 

Smaller but powerful character Eugene Florczyk is played by actor Ben Rush. Eugene is awkward, dorky, terrified of both women and men, and then out of absolutely nowhere, a fantastic dancer. I was truly in awe. 

Frenchy was another standout performance, given by Katie Grubb. Katie nailed the Frenchy voice from the movie. She has great interaction with actor Christian Sesek as Teen Angel, my second favorite performance of the night. Christian's voice is absolutely insane- he's suave and confident and comes into the scene in an iconic way- through a cloud of smoke center stage. Again, another actor perfectly cast into the role. 



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FINAL SHOUTOUTS 

Doody (Adam Drabish) gives a beautiful rendition of "Those Magic Changes", in addition to highly entertaining comedic timing for his character. 
Ben Rush's convincing fall as Eugene. 
All of the vocal choices of the cast had a convincing vintage quality. 
Emma Jones dancing in character as Rizzo. 
Peter Confranesco's facial reactions when not delivering lines. 
Brennan Wagner-Malia's well-tuned radio voice. 

Next up on the Main Street Theater Company stage has yet to be announced, though there is a hint on the company website. That show will run July 10-12. 

** Feel free to comment any thoughts or corrections, no need to sign up. 

- Xavier, 2026

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