GREASE Celebrates Second Birthday; Quinn Extends Run

The smash-hit musical Grease celebrated its second electrifying birthday at The Piccadilly Theatre on 25 July 2009 and is now the longest running show in the venue's history. To mark these special events, Grease announces the opening of a new booking period with tickets now on sale until September 2010. The producers are also delighted to announce that Ray Quinn has extended his run playing the role of ‘Danny' and will now be starring in the show until 28 November 2009. In addition, Grease is excited to be involved in a new series for Sky1 ‘Grease: The School Musical'.

The cast and company of the current West End production of Grease enjoyed the show's second anniversary and ongoing success between performances on Saturday 25 July, with an onstage celebration and a spectacular Greased Lightnin' birthday cake.

They were joined for the special occasion by pupils from Wallasey School (in the Wirral), the winning school chosen to stage their own production of Grease for the upcoming series for Sky1 ‘Grease: The School Musical' hosted by Duncan James. The students along with Duncan had the opportunity to see the show and meet the stars of the hit West End musical ahead of their extraordinary and exciting challenge, which will see the high school put on their own musical of West End calibre.

Following the success of Hairspray: The School Musical, Sky1's all-singing, all-dancing series returns for a second run and this time the musical is Grease. Last year's series saw a group of ordinary secondary school pupils spend their summer holidays working with some the of best names in musical theatre to ultimately make their debuts on the West End stage. Duncan James presents ‘Grease: The School Musical', coming to Sky1 this August, where another group of secondary school children will embark on a challenging and emotional journey as they prepare to perform the hit show in a professional theatre. Show producer Stacey Haynes, vocal coach Zoe Tyler and Duncan are working closely with the production team of Grease with Ray Quinn taking on a special mentoring role with the students.

Since breaking out on Broadway in 1972, Grease's place has been firmly established in the culturAl Hall of Fame, having seduced the hearts of millions with its back-to-back sizzling tunes. The show features all the unforgettable songs from the hit film including ‘You're The One That I Want', ‘Grease Is The Word', ‘Summer Nights', ‘Hopelessly Devoted to You', ‘Sandy', ‘Greased Lightnin' and many more.

Voted the "No 1 Greatest Musical"*, Grease has proved that a musical love story, bursting with denim, cheerleaders, slick hairstyles, rock'n'roll, teenage angst and young romance is timeless and universal.

This production originally opened in the West End in 1993 (co-produced with Robert Stigwood) where it enjoyed a fantastic run of 6 years. The last international tour of Grease was a phenomenal success, playing to sell-out audiences and smashing records at many venues. Since 1993, the show has been seen by audiences totalling over 9 million people in the UK alone.

Written by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, directed by David Gilmore (Daisy Pulls It Off, Happy Days, Song & Dance, Footloose) and choreographed by Arlene Phillips (The Sound of Music, Starlight Express, Saturday Night Fever & BBC TV's Strictly Come Dancing), Grease is produced in the West End by Paul Nicholas and David Ian, by arrangement with Robert Stigwood.