UB Department of Theatre and Dance to Present the Musical "Grease"

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The University at Buffalo Department of Theatre and Dance will present Grease April 19-21 and 26-28 at 7:30 p.m. and April 22 and 29 at 2 p.m. in the Drama Theatre in the Center for the Arts, UB North Campus. The cast of Grease will be comprised of students from the UB Music Theatre and Dance programs.

Grease opened on Broadway in 1972 and received a Tony Award nomination for Best Musical that year. The show went on to become one of the most successful films of all time, starring John Travolta, Olivia Newton John, Didi Conn and Stockard Channing. It has subsequently become one the most produced musicals of all time, and has produced a number of hit singles, including "You're the One That I Want," "Summer Nights" and "Greased Lightning."

Grease is a musical about teens in love set in and around Rydell High School in 1959. When wholesome good girl Sandy and greaser renegade Danny fall in love over the summer, they never expect to see each other again -- but they soon discover that they now attending the same high school. Danny's the leader of the T-Birds, a group of black-jacket greasers, while Sandy hangs with the Pink Ladies, a group of pink-wearing girls. Although it is clear that Danny and Sandy are still in love, societal differences challenge their romance.

Along with the student-comprised cast of GREASE, the production also includes: Greg Natale (director), a member of the UB Theatre and Dance faculty and a well-known Western New York director; Nancy Townsend (music director), a UB clinical assistant professor of music theatre; and Tracy Navarro (choreographer), a dance teacher at UB and owner of Infinity Dance Project Inc.

Tickets for Grease are $24 general admission, and $10 for students and seniors. Tickets are available at the Center for the Arts Box Office (Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.) and all Ticketmaster locations, including ticketmaster.com. To charge tickets, call 1-800-745-3000; in Canada, call 416-870-8000. For more information, call 716-645-2787.