50 Fun Facts About Grease

What is the name of the fictional Chicago-area school where Grease is set?

The stage show set it in Northwest Chicago and named it after singer Bobby Rydell; the film moved everything to the suburbs.

The school in Grease takes its name from which real 1950s teen idol?

Jim Jacobs based the whole show on his own years at Chicago's Taft High School.

Where did the stage musical Grease have its very first performance, in February 1971?

That original version was raunchy and full of Chicago landmarks; it was toned down and re-scored before it moved to New York.

When Grease's original New York run closed in 1980 after 3,388 shows, what record did it hold?

A Chorus Line overtook it in 1983; it now sits 18th on the all-time list.

Before playing Danny in the film, John Travolta toured in Grease as which T-Bird?

He also recorded the top-10 hit 'Let Her In' in 1976 and had just made Saturday Night Fever with the same producer.

Which Happy Days star turned down the role of Danny Zuko for fear of being typecast as a greaser?

He later said he regretted it; Travolta got the part as part of a three-picture deal with producer Robert Stigwood.

Sandy's character was rewritten as an Australian immigrant for the film. What was the main reason?

Newton-John also negotiated star billing and the right to make Sandy less passive in exchange for a lower fee.

Sandy's film surname, Olsson, was the maiden name of which actress briefly considered for the role?

On stage the character is Sandy Dumbrowski, one of many Polish-American names that vanished in the move to Hollywood.

Stockard Channing was the oldest actor playing a Rydell student. How old was she during filming?

Director Randal Kleiser made the 'students' take a 'crow's feet test' to see if they could pass for teenagers in close-up.

Which song did Stockard Channing lobby hard to keep in the film over producer Allan Carr's objections?

Lorna Luft and Lucie Arnaz had both auditioned for Rizzo before Channing, a client of Carr's, was cast.

Which rock legend was considered for the heavenly role that went to Frankie Avalon, but died first?

Frankie Valli was offered the part too but chose to sing the theme instead, and Donny Osmond was also in the frame before Avalon got it.

Frankie Valli was given a choice between singing the film's title song and playing which character?

He picked the song, reasoning it was the likelier hit, and it went to number one.

Who wrote the film's title song 'Grease', recorded by Frankie Valli?

Director Randal Kleiser had wanted a Charles Fox and Paul Williams composition, but the producers overruled him at the last minute.

Which guitarist from the Sgt. Pepper's film cast was invited to play on the 'Grease' title-song session?

The songwriter also sang backing vocals; the track was cut separately from and later than the rest of the film's music.

Which producer wrote 'Hopelessly Devoted to You' and 'You're the One That I Want'?

Halfway through shooting, Newton-John's contractually guaranteed solo still didn't exist, so her own producer wrote one.

'Hopelessly Devoted to You' was nominated for the Best Original Song Oscar but lost to which disco track?

The winner came from the film Thank God It's Friday; the Grease song was later added to the stage show for the 2007 revival.

How many weeks did 'You're the One That I Want' spend at number one in the UK in the summer of 1978?

It topped the chart months before the film even opened in Britain, and it remains among the UK's 20 best-selling singles ever.

Which Grease song came from the stage musical rather than being written for the film?

It spent seven weeks at number one in the UK, and the soundtrack ended 1978 as America's second-best-selling album behind Saturday Night Fever.

The Grease soundtrack finished 1978 as the second-best-selling album in the US. Which album beat it?

Both soundtracks starred John Travolta and were released by Robert Stigwood's RSO label within seven months of each other.

Which 1950s-revival group plays Johnny Casino & The Gamblers at the school dance?

Their set at Woodstock, going on right before Jimi Hendrix, helped spark the fifties nostalgia craze that made Grease possible.

What was the name of the TV dance show that broadcasts live from the Rydell gym in the film?

Host Vince Fontaine was played by Edd Byrnes, one of several 1950s television veterans cast in adult roles.

Who wins the dance contest at the Rydell dance?

Sonny shoves Sandy off the floor mid-contest, and the T-Birds end the broadcast by mooning the cameras.

Frenchy drops out of Rydell to train for which career?

After a disastrous class she reluctantly returns to finish high school, and the Teen Angel appears to advise her.

Kenickie's beat-up car, which he restores for the drag race, is nicknamed what?

He plans to race it at Thunder Road, but a concussion from his own car door means Danny drives instead.

Danny tries several sports to impress Sandy. Which one does he finally succeed at?

He shocks the T-Birds by turning up to the graduation carnival as a letterman.

What does Sandy do when Danny tries to make out with her at the Pickwick, after accepting his ring?

She has just accepted his ring; the drive-in scenes were shot at Burbank's Pickwick Drive-In, demolished in 1989.

How does the film end for Danny and Sandy at the graduation carnival?

A filmed final kiss was lost through an editing error and survives only in black and white; Kleiser tried and failed to colourise it for the 1998 reissue.

Producer Allan Carr's Pepsi deal meant what for the Frosty Palace scenes?

Carr told Kleiser to reshoot with Pepsi products or remove the rival logos; Kleiser said they just had to hope Pepsi wouldn't complain.

Which adult-film star was signed to play Coach Calhoun before Paramount vetoed the idea?

Sid Caesar took the role instead, one of many 1950s TV veterans in the adult cast alongside Eve Arden and Joan Blondell.

The exterior Rydell scenes, including the bleachers number, were shot at which real Los Angeles campus?

The interiors, including the dance, were filmed across town at Huntington Park High.

Where was the Thunder Road drag race filmed?

The stretch between the First and Seventh Street bridges has hosted countless car chases since.

The opening beach scene at Leo Carrillo State Beach makes an explicit reference to which classic film?

The stage script also name-checks Sal Mineo, Troy Donahue and Annette Funicello in its lyrics.

Grease topped 1978's global box-office chart. Which record did it take from The Sound of Music?

It took $341 million worldwide and later, on its 1998 reissue, overtook The Godfather as Paramount's biggest film.

Grease opened at number two at the US box office. Which film beat it that weekend?

It took the top spot a week later and hit $100 million within 66 days.

The rights to Grease were first bought in 1974 by a producer who planned to make it in what form?

Steve Krantz called it 'a property that lends itself best to the cartoon film form'; his option lapsed and Stigwood and Carr picked it up.

Grease 2, released in 1982, gave which future star her first leading role?

It made $15 million against an $11 million budget, a fraction of the original's $132 million, and co-writer Jim Jacobs disowned it.

Who directed Grease 2, having choreographed both the stage show and the first film?

The sequel was originally titled More Grease and is now regarded as a cult classic.

Which network broadcast the live television production Grease Live! in January 2016?

Julianne Hough played Sandy, Aaron Tveit was Danny, and Vanessa Hudgens went on as Rizzo the day after her father died of cancer.

Who played Frenchy in Grease Live!, which gave the character a new song?

The song was 'All I Need Is an Angel'; the special was shot at Warner Bros. in Burbank using 44 cameras and won five Emmys.

The 2023 prequel series Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies is set in which year?

It ran for one season on Paramount+ before being cancelled and pulled from the service.

Which future star played Sonny as a replacement during the original Broadway run of Grease?

The replacement list also included Patrick Swayze and Treat Williams as Danny and Travolta as Doody.

Who played Danny in the original 1972 Broadway cast of Grease?

Adrienne Barbeau was the first Rizzo, and Jeff Conaway later took over as Danny before playing Kenickie on screen.

Which comic actor was considered for Principal McGee, with a Carmen Miranda outfit scene planned?

Eve Arden got the part; the film gave Elvis-era TV veterans like Sid Caesar and Joan Blondell most of the adult roles.

What was the title of Olivia Newton-John's first album after Grease, echoing Sandy's leather look?

She posed on the cover in all-leather with teased hair, a look lifted straight from the carnival scene.

Jeff Conaway went from Grease into which sitcom as struggling actor Bobby Wheeler?

He had already played Danny on Broadway and made his film debut alongside Robert De Niro in 1971.

Grease was the feature directorial debut of which director?

He moved the setting from urban Chicago to a suburb reflecting his own teen years at Radnor High School near Philadelphia.

The director's original choice of theme song, overruled in favour of Barry Gibb, was written by which pair?

Producers Robert Stigwood and Allan Carr commissioned Gibb's title song at the last minute.

What happened to the closing scene of Danny and Sandy kissing?

It survives only in black and white; Kleiser hopes to have a satisfactory colourised version restored by the film's 50th anniversary in 2028.

Which 2012 film overtook Grease as the highest-grossing live-action musical worldwide?

Grease held the US record until Beauty and the Beast in 2017 and, discounting inflation, is now seventh worldwide.

How much did Grease gross in the United Kingdom, making it the country's highest-grossing film at the time?

It had opened with a record $2.2 million in its first eight days there.