Russell Grant Guest Stars in New Wimbledon Theatre's GREASE, Now thru Oct 20

Britain's best-loved astrologer and Strictly Come Dancing favourite Russell Grant will guest star in the smash hit musical Grease for its limited week run in Wimbledon. He will don the sparkly suit to play the role of 'Teen Angel' and is set leave audiences hopelessly devoted to his charms when Grease rocks into the New Wimbledon Theatre from today 15 – Saturday 20 October 2012.

Following its electrifyin' four-year London run and for the first time in more than five years, the hit West End show began a new tour last spring. Back by popular demand, Grease premiered at the Edinburgh Playhouse on 6 May 2011 and has since played venues throughout the UK and Ireland. Grease continues to rock 'n' roll around the UK and is currently booking until 29 December 2012.

Danny Bayne (winner of ITV's Grease is the Word, Hairspray) stars as 'Danny' with Carina Gillespie (Grease in the West End, Buddy) as his sweetheart 'Sandy', as the couple follow in the footsteps of John Travolta and Olivia Newton John who famously played the roles in the hit 1978 movie. The cast also includes: Kate Somerset How ('Rizzo'), David O'Reilly ('Roger'), Laura Wilson ('Jan'), Richard Vincent ('Doody'), Josh Dever ('Sonny'), Darren John ('Eugene'), Stuart Reid ('Vince Fontaine') and joining the show from 3 July, Ross William Wild ('Kenickie'), Lauren Hood ('Frenchy'), Scarlett Davies ('Marty'), Charlotte Gooch ('Patty'), Emma Kingston '(Miss Lynch') and Emily Hawgood ('Cha Cha') with other parts played by the ensemble.

Russell Grant found international fame through becoming the Astrologer Royal but before this he had a successful acting career in theatre, television and film (TV's On the Buses, Please Sir! and The Fenn Street Gang, Rodger and Hammerstein's The King and I on tour, Tom Brown's Schooldays in the West End, Hans Anderson at the London Palladium, Pantomimes in Cardiff, Guildford and Blackpool as the 'Dame', Paul Doust's Probably Wanstead at the Brighton Festival, The Rocky Horror Show national tour and Under Milk Wood- for which he won critical acclaim as Director and 'Narrator'). He recently captured the attention of the nation- as an unlikely contender- and fulfilled his professional dream of learning how to dance on BBC's hit series Strictly Come Dancing (Autumn 2011). Returning to his theatrical roots, Russell has just completed a successful season as 'The Wizard' in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Wizard of Oz at the London Palladium.

Danny Bayne won ITV's Grease is the Word (2007) and went on to make his West End debut as 'Danny' in Grease playing the role for over 2 years at the Piccadilly Theatre to sell-out audiences. His other theatre credits include: Top Cat the Musical, Snow White, On Show at the Royal Albert Hall and Popcorn. More recently he co-starred with Julian Clary in Cinderella at the Hawth Theatre Crawley and appeared as 'Corny Collins' in the tour of the hit musical Hairspray. Danny also has a passion for both dance and choreography. Formerly a major world competitor, his dance credits include: British Champion in Freestyle, Hip Hop and 'Rock 'n' Roll' and 3rd place in Latin American at the Italian World Championships. His choreographic credits include: Genie in the House (for Nickelodeon), West End Eurovision (Piccadilly Theatre) and several Hip Hop shows, carnivals and events.

Carina Gillespie trained at the Liverpool Theatre School and made her professional stage debut as 'Maria Elena' in the hugely successful musical Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story. Her further theatre credits include the role of 'Linda' in Bloodbath -The Musical, and 'Princess Tamara' in Jack in the Beanstalk in Ipswich. Carina's other credits include performing as a regular session singer for 'Love to Infinity Records', releasing a debut single (with the new pop-dance band Ezcapade, 2010), appearing as a support act for 'Basshunter' (UK tour 2010) and as a dancer in numerous music videos. More recently Carina made her West End debut as 'Sandy' in Grease at the Piccadilly Theatre.

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