Learn all about the history of 'Grease' with our timeline

As Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical comes to London, brush up on your hand jive and revisit the beloved show's history on stage and screen.

It’s definitely the one that we want! Ever since Grease first entered our lives in the form of the 1971 stage musical, it has been an indelible part of pop culture – from the too-cool-for-school Pink Ladies to Sandy and Danny’s star-crossed romance, set to indelible tunes like “Summer Nights”, “Greased Lightnin’”, and “We Go Together”.

Now we get a new chapter in the Grease story with Secret Cinema’s latest epic experience, Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical, which comes to Evolution London in Battersea Park this summer. It invites us into Rydell High and all the iconic locations from the film, like the American diner and the fairground.

As you brush up on your hand jive and try not to drop out of beauty school, look back over the story’s journey from stage to screen and back again, including several stints in London, with our Grease timeline.

Book Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

1971: Grease premieres on stage

Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey’s rock ‘n’ roll musical spectacular made its debut in front of audiences at Kingston Mines nightclub in Chicago, directed by Guy Barile. The cast included Doug Stevenson as Danny, Leslie Goto as Sandy, Sue Williams as Rizzo, and Marilu Henner as Marty.

This incarnation was rather different to Grease as we know it now. It was set in Chicago (with songs referencing local spots, such as Foster Beach – that number got replaced with “Summer Nights”), and was a much more realistic depiction of working-class teens. That meant swearing, explicitly raunchy sexuality, and violent clashes between gangs from different ethnic communities. Instead of the T-Birds, the greaser gang was called the Burger Palace Boys.

1972: Grease hits Broadway

When producers Ken Waissman and Maxine Fox made a deal to take Grease to New York, they also asked for extensive retooling. Though Chicago audiences had loved it, the producers felt it needed to become a more universal show to work for wider audiences. More songs were added, the romance was foregrounded, and the language was sanitised, leaving to a promising Off Broadway run.

Directed by Tom Moore, Grease opened at the Broadhurst Theatre on Broadway and then moved to the Royale Theatre and finally the Majestic Theatre – playing 3,388 performances in all. The cast was led by Barry Bostwick, Carole Demas and Adrienne Barbeau, with later replacements including Peter Gallagher, Patrick Swayze and John Travolta.

1973: Grease premieres in London

Grease made its West End debut at the New London Theatre in 1973, with Richard Gere starring as Danny alongside Stacey Gregg and Jacquie-Ann Carr. The very American show was a big success on this side of the pond too, with Paul Nicholas and Elaine Paige taking over as Danny and Sandy later in the run, demonstrating Grease’s international and wide-reaching appeal.

1978: Grease the movie hits cinemas

A dynamite cast led by John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John and Stockard Channing turned Grease into a movie-musical phenomenon. The film adaptation, directed by Randal Kleiser, made some changes to the plot and location, and added several incredible songs to the mix, including “Hopelessly Devoted to You”, “Sandy”, and “You’re the One That I Want”. The soundtrack became a bestseller, and the movie was the highest-grossing musical film to date.

1979: Grease is back in London

The show returned to the capital shortly afterwards, playing at the Astoria Theatre for a summer season. Michael Howe, Jacqueline Reddin and Hilary Labow took over the leads, and there were some recognisable names among the company too, such as Su Pollard playing Cha-Cha and Tracey Ullman playing Frenchy.

1982: Grease 2 is released

Although it didn’t match the success of the original movie, there is still a lot of affection for the Grease sequel. It starred Michelle Pfeiffer and Maxwell Caulfield as Rydell High students Stephanie, the new leader of the Pink Ladies, and Michael, a British exchange student (and Sandy’s cousin). Didi Conn reprised her role as Frenchy.

1993: West End revival of Grease

The show’s next major West End revival came in 1993 at the Dominion Theatre and then the Cambridge Theatre, playing for three years altogether. David Gilmore directed this well-received production, starring Craig McLachlan, Debbie Gibson, Shane Ritchie and Sally Ann Triplett. The enthusiastic response led to producers organising the first British national tour, again led by Ritchie – and including several of the songs popularised by the movie.

2007: reality TV show and London revival

Viewers got to choose their Danny and Sandy thanks to ITV’s reality competition show Grease Is the Word: the lucky pair were Danny Bayne and Susan McFadden. They led the latest West End revival at the Piccadilly Theatre – another long-running production, lasting for almost four years, and followed by a UK tour.

2016: Grease Live!

Grease made another foray into TV with a fun live special performance, mixing elements of both the stage musical and the movie. Broadcast on US network Fox, it was directed by Thomas Kail (of Hamilton fame) and starred Aaron Tveit, Julianne Hough, Vanessa Hudgens, Carlos PenaVega, and Jordan Fisher.

2022: Grease plays Australia

Grease has proved massively popular around the world. In 2022 it was staged at the Royale Theatre in Perth, starring John Berry and Elaina O'Connor as the lead pair. It has also played everywhere from Argentina and Canada to Spain, France and Mexico. Clearly its central love story, plus elements such as friendship, adolescence, identity, and of course the catchy songs, work for all audiences.

2025: Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical

Relive those summer nights at Secret Cinema’s latest immersive experience. Instead of just watching the adventures of Danny, Sandy, the T-Birds and the Pink Ladies, you get to enrol at Rydell High. The story happens all around you, including live song performances, plus fun activities at the fairground and classic food and drink at the American diner. Grease is definitely still the word!

Book Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

Photo credit: Manuel Harlan