It’s been a while since we last had Secret Cinema in London – over three years, in fact. This production of Grease isn’t new for the company – it’s a revival of the experience they ran in Birmingham in 2023 – although the format has changed substantially. While previous Secret Cinema events have comprised of an immersive experience followed by a sit-down screening of the film, with Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical the experience doesn’t stop when the film begins.
We’re getting ahead of ourselves: the show begins about an hour before the film starts. In Battersea Park we’re invited into the faithfully recreated world from the movie – we’re greeted by a giant Rydell High School sign on arrival, and enter into a fairground reminiscent of the final scene from the film. If you want to partake of any fairground attractions there is an additional cost, but they’re quite enjoyable – we took the ferris wheel for a spin, which gave us a nice view of everyone arriving and enjoying the experience below us. There are plentiful food and drink options available too.
After an hour, we’re invited into Rydell High and once through the school foyer we arrived into the main hall – a true visual spectacle. The ambition, the scale, the sheer size of this operation is hugely impressive, and it all looks terrific. Our review tickets were for the Frosty Palace VIP seating section, which recreates the diner scene from the movie (you can even order ice cream sundaes here if you wish); there is another VIP seating section called the Drive In which really looks the part. For those with standard tickets there are some free seating areas around the venue and plenty of standing room too.
We can’t imagine people will want to sit down for the whole show, as there’s so much to see and do: there’s a lot here to explore and we’re actively encouraged to join a conga line that snakes around the dancefloor in front of the bandstand, or join in with the Hand Jive during the high school prom scene. While the action unfolds all around the school hall, the film is played on giant screens above. The musical numbers are performed by actors backed by a terrific live band: Stephanie Costi and Liam Morris really look and sound the part as Sandy and Danny, although Lucy Penrose reminds us that Rizzo is the most interesting and exciting character from the movie.
There are a few minor issues – we thought the overall sound levels were quite low. Given that the audience is actively encouraged to continue with the immersive experience once the film starts, there is quite a lot of background noise, which makes some of the dialogue a bit difficult to hear. We also thought there was a bit of a lull here and there when switching between the film and the live action musical numbers (although we guess this affords opportunities for people to buy food and drink without missing anything important, if they wish). Perhaps these problems will be fixed over the course of the run.
We had a great night with Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical – the new blended approach that Secret Cinema have taken with this production generally works well, and the scale and ambition of what they’ve achieved is genuinely impressive: it makes for quite the memorable evening. We’d say it’s a pretty perfect way to while away one of these summer nights.
GAY TIMES gives Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical – 4/5
More information can be found here.
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