Oh the heady days of high school in 1958! It was our senior year and we were ready to roooool the school!
Arriving at Rydell High – temporarily transported from California to Evolution: Battersea Park – there is a buzz of excitement in the air! We are here for Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical (Grease TIMM) presented by Secret Cinema and TodayTix, and are in a crowd of eager audience members that have arrived early at 6pm, when the doors open. They’re early either to have 90 minutes to enjoy the Rydell Carnival before the show starts, or because they – like us – have the VIP Immersive tickets which give you one hour extra immersive time with the cast before the main event!
There are dozens of Pink Ladies, a bunch of T-Birds, and a few sporty types with Rydell High sports t-shirts! All the cool kids have dressed up, but some of the uncool cats have not bothered – DO DRESS THE PART, with this show you get out of it what you put in, so the more you immerse yourself in the world, the better time you will have!
Some of you might be thinking, ‘Grease by Secret Cinema… didn’t they already do that?’ Yes, in 2023 they did Grease: The Live Experience at the Birmingham NEC (see my review here – my very first one!). But this is a very different event. It’s not a typical Secret Cinema free-roam, mission-based world. ‘Presented by’ means the creative minds behind SC are involved, but you’re not given a character name or loads of personal missions. There are still moments to get involved – especially on VIP immersive tickets – but for the most part it’s a show that moves around you, and you may get to join in if you’re in the right spot at the right moment.
As we are let into the school, it feels like that bit at the end of the film where they all pour into the carnival – slowed only marginally by the obligatory bag check. Our excitement only compounds as we spot the ferris wheel, the chair-o-plane (that one with the swings on long chains that spins around), the authentic looking Shake‑Shack – as seen during the iconic ‘You’re the One That I Want’ dance – and the myriad food stalls and bars.
So what exactly does VIP immersive entail? SPOILER ALERT – skip ahead 3 paragraphs if you don’t want to know. At 6:15 we are invited into the main Rydell building and whisked upstairs for a drink before a series of sessions with some of the secondary cast. That’s worth stressing – you’re not flirting with Rizzo or taking coolness lessons from Kenickie, but you do get plenty of interaction.
We start with a welcome speech from Mrs McGee, the stern principal (Colleen Daley looks the part, though I’d like to see her dish out at least one disapproving glare), then have a sporty chat with Coach Calhoun (Rhys Owen channelling Sid Caesar perfectly during his ‘banner year’ speech). Patty Symcox (Imogen Kingsley-Smith, delightfully perky – ‘the most, to say the least!’) leads a cheerleading session, and Blanche, Mrs McGee’s kooky secretary (Julie Cloke, playing it younger but making it work), takes us through choir practice. Both the cheerleading and singing come with a warning – we’ll need them later when it’s time to join in the songs.
Finally, we get a sneaky peek at the main auditorium and a hand-jive rehearsal for our big on-stage moment later. A schedule in hand tells us exactly when and where to be for the rest of the immersive bits.
Around 7:15pm we rejoin the general admission crowd for a quick bite – seriously, eat beforehand so you don’t miss any of the show. At 7:30, the Paramount logo lights up screens around the fairground as the movie begins. We pile into the main auditorium: bleachers for first-come, first-served seating, and reserved themed VIP tables – Frosty’s Diner close to the action, and the Drive-In a little further back – plus bars, small stages, and the Rydell Auto Shop with the soon-to-be ‘Greased Lightning’ car.
It’s important to note that the ‘VIP Roam and Return’ reserved table tickets are distinct from the ‘VIP Immersive’ tickets.
In the middle, the main stage resembles a school gym, complete with bright court lines. Steps ring the stage, doubling as seating and access points for immersive moments (open to everyone if you’re in the right place). Tom Rogers’s set and Howard Hudson’s lighting design capture the 1950s vibe perfectly.
There are big screens throughout the hall – some hang like billboard ads, others are cleverly integrated into the scenery. As the film plays, scenes unfold live around the space, with songs performed in – pretty close – sync. Performances are also shown on the screens, so you get a great view wherever you are.
And what performances they are. Every number gets its own twist – from the effects-packed ‘Greased Lightning’ to ‘Sandra Dee’ led by the incredible Lucy Penrose as Rizzo, the only returning cast member from 2023. Her ‘There Are Worse Things I Could Do’ captures the emotional weight Stockard Channing gave it in the film while making it her own, ballgown and sparkly red shoes included. It’s one of the show’s most powerful moments.
Something that’s far too often overlooked in British theatre – or treated as box-ticking – is the importance of a diverse cast, especially for a film like Grease, which is about as diverse as the average Trump rally. It’s brilliant to see talented non-white actors in key supporting roles: Gerardine Sacdalan brings warmth and welcome as the often awkward Frenchie, Andilé Mabhena’s Putsie tags along hoping Danny and Kenickie’s ‘cool’ will rub off, Myles Thomas makes a great Donny, Toni Pais sparkles as Marty, Waylon Jacobs is a smooth Vince Fontaine, and many others round out this fabulous ensemble.
Would it be nice to see people of colour in the lead roles? Absolutely. But shows like Harry Potter and the Cursed Child have shown that changing the race of beloved characters can spark public outcry – in my view, a tragic reflection on audiences rather than casting. British theatre still has a way to go, but it’s great to see Secret Cinema championing diversity in their casting, and long may that continue.
Stephanie Costi is brilliant as Sandy, leading ‘Summer Nights’ and belting out ‘Hopelessly Devoted to You’ with such passion and strength that it’s easy to see how she made it to the semi‑finals of ITV’s Mamma Mia! I Have a Dream. Costi is of Greek Cypriot origin, and her olive skin tone had the creative team umming and ahhing over whether to put her in traditional blonde wigs, or darker – more Mediterranean – ones. In the end, they settled on the blonde, and I think that was the right decision, as no matter who is playing the character, her hair is an identifying feature. When I took my family to see Frozen the musical in 2022, Elsa was played by the fabulous Black actress Danielle Fiamanya, but the hair was the same white blonde that you’d expect the character to have, making her instantly recognisable – of course in Frozen the costume also helps.
Liam Morris’s Danny Zuko gives a fabulous and somewhat technically surprising – not gonna spoil it – performance of the ridiculous song ‘Sandy’ where Zuko is lamenting how unfair it is that the girl he has repeatedly humiliated and tried to grope against her will is upset with him! I love Grease, but some of its messages are very much ‘of the time’. The toxic masculinity is strong, with Morris’s Zuko and Liam Buckland’s Kenickie leading the way in swagger and OTT machismo.
In the driving seat for the show is Director Matt Costain, an Olivier Award winning actor, long‑time Secret Cinema creative, and immersive theatre expert who has been creating worlds for audiences to immerse in for well over a decade. He is the person responsible for flying an X‑Wing over the audience in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back – Secret Cinema and some of his creative choices for this show are equally impressive. I hope audiences will be as delighted as I was by the fab special effects and some of the clever ways that the movie is brought to life in front of their eyes.
As you can tell, I loved this show. It may not be a traditional Secret Cinema immersive world, but it is not like a traditional musical either! Grease: TIMM takes what The Bridge Theatre started to do with Guys and Dolls, and pushes it up a notch. Guys and Dolls wasn’t truly immersive, as the action happened around you but you weren’t really part of it, whereas Grease is full of opportunities to get up on stage with the characters and hand‑jive, dance in the KCTV dance‑off, have a slumber party with the ‘Sandra‑Dee’ girls, and of course the set and the funfair just add to the feel that you are really there in Rydell.
So gather your tribe, choose who’s gonna be a jock/pink lady/greaser/cheerleader, get yourselves dressed up and ready to hand‑jive, then get over to Evolution: Battersea Park to live out all your Rydell dreams at Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical.
The show is ‘automatic, it’s systematic, it’s hydromatic, why it’s Greased Lightning!’
Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical is at Evolution: Battersea Park until September 7th 2025
Book your tickets at Grease The Immersive Movie Musical
Words by Nick Barr
Featured photo by Danny With A Camera
