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    Theatre Review: Grease the Musical

    Theatre Review: Grease the Musical

    Written by: Zoha Rizwan
    Posted on: March 23, 2016 | | 中文

    The talented cast of 'Grease'

    Karachi has experienced a breath of fresh air filled with entertainment in the form of internationally renowned Broadway show ‘Grease’. The musical has been produced by ‘Made for Stage Productions’ and marks ten remarkable years of the company, with all-time popular shows such as Chicago and Mamma Mia under its belt. MFS is the proud acquirer of staging rights for this popular Broadway, initially launched in January 2014 to a full house. To mark the 10th anniversary of MFS productions, CEO and Creative Director Nida Butt wanted to showcase one of her favorite works of all time – and thus ‘Grease’ made its return to the Karachi Arts Council.

    Many among the Pakistani audience are familiar with the 1978 movie ‘Grease’, a teen comedy hit starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John as Danny Zuko and Sandy Dumbrowski, respectively. The play contains quite a few songs and numbers not originally performed in the movie, such as ‘Freddie, My love’ and ‘Mooning’. However, Nida’s play is a faithful rendition of the ‘70s ‘Grease’ Broadway musical.

    Theatre Review: Grease the Musical

    Danny (Ahmed Ali), Sandy (Seerat Jafri), Frenchy (Shahana Khan) and Vince Fontaine (Asad Gojar)

    The story is set in the 1950s and revolves around Danny Zuko (Ahmed Ali, who also played Danny in 2014 when ‘Grease’ was launched for the first time) and Sandy Dumbrowski (Seerat Jafri), and follows the sweet love story of their senior year at the Rydell High School. In a broader context, the musical is not only about love and strong comic one-liners, but also brings to the surface issues of teen pregnancy, drug abuse, smoking, drinking and peer pressure – youth problems that were common even back in the ‘50s.

    Theatre Review: Grease the Musical

    The 'Pink Ladies'

    Danny and Sandy meet in the summer and think they would never meet again, as Sandy’s father is adamant on sending her to a Convent. But with a twist of fate, she ends up in Danny’s school, Rydell High. Sandy – who tends to avoid smoking and drinking – finds it difficult to make friends with the school’s most popular girl gang, the ‘Pink Ladies’. Rizzo (Natasha Humera Eja) is the uncontested leader of the Pink Ladies and is known for her frivolous adventures with boys. The boys also have their own group named ‘T-Birds’. The story thus revolves around the lives of these ten teenagers, and how they juggle love and friendship under the immense power of peer pressure. It is a tale of two – Danny and Sandy – trying to change themselves for each other: Danny, from a “cool dude” to a serious guy, and Sandy, from a simple girl to a college bombshell.

    Theatre Review: Grease the Musical

    The Brilliant Natasha Humera Eja as Rizzo

    No one could have played Danny better than Ahmed, with his “Travolta” walk and humorous cough. However, Natasha Ejaz as Rizzo was the most powerful performer of the evening. In 2014, Rizzo was played by the brilliant Sanam Saeed, and there was tremendous pressure on Nastasha to do justice to the character, which she definitely pulled off. A singer-songwriter herself, Natasha with her seductive gait, lanky English accent and melodious voice, was the most brilliant performer of the night. Her solo on There Are Worse Things I Could Do left the audience awestruck, the Arts Council booming with her powerful voice. Seerat Jafri also showed amazing acting skills as Sandy with her peevish and fearful expressions. The orchestra deserves credit too, for recreating the same musical magic.

    The Director of the play was Nida Butt herself, with Faraz Lodhi as the Co-Choreographer. The rest of the cast – Hamza Tariq Jamil, Mohammad Ali Hashmi, Zarnab Rashid, Zubair Tariw, Shahana Khan, Iman Shahid, Amtul Baweja, Natalia Gul, Shahrukh Kazim, Natalia Karanji, Asad Gojar and Syed Osama Sami – all contributed to an enlivening and thoroughly entertaining performance. The show continues till 11th April, 2016.

    Clips from the play


    As the new year begins, let us also start anew. I’m delighted to extend, on behalf of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and in my own name, new year’s greeting and sincere wishes to YOULIN magazine’s staff and readers.

    Only in hard times can courage and perseverance be manifested. Only with courage can we live to the fullest. 2020 was an extraordinary year. Confronted by the COVID-19 pandemic, China and Pakistan supported each other and took on the challenge in solidarity. The ironclad China-Pakistan friendship grew stronger as time went by. The China Pakistan Economic Corridor projects advanced steadily in difficult times, become a standard-bearer project of the Belt and Road Initiative in balancing pandemic prevention and project achievement. The handling capacity of the Gwadar Port has continued to rise and Afghanistan transit trade through the port has officially been launched. The Karakoram Highway Phase II upgrade project is fully open to traffic. The Lahore Orange Line project has been put into operation. The construction of Matiari-Lahore HVDC project was fully completed. A batch of green and clean energy projects, such as the Kohala and Azad Pattan hydropower plants have been substantially promoted. Development agreement for the Rashakai SEZ has been signed. The China-Pakistan Community of Shared Future has become closer and closer.

    Reviewing the past and looking to the future, we are confident to write a brilliant new chapter. The year 2021 is the 100th birthday of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan. The 100-year journey of CPC surges forward with great momentum and China-Pakistan relationship has flourished in the past 70 years. Standing at a new historic point, China is willing to work together with Pakistan to further implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, connect the CPEC cooperation with the vision of the “Naya Pakistan”, promote the long-term development of the China-Pakistan All-weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership with love, dedication and commitment. Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan said, “We are going through fire. The sunshine has yet to come.” Yes, Pakistan’s best days are ahead, China will stand with Pakistan firmly all the way.

    YOULIN magazine is dedicated to promoting cultural exchanges between China and Pakistan and is a window for Pakistani friends to learn about China, especially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It is hoped that with the joint efforts of China and Pakistan, YOULIN can listen more to the voices of readers in China and Pakistan, better play its role as a bridge to promote more effectively people-to-people bond.

    Last but not least, I would like to wish all the staff and readers of YOULIN a warm and prosper year in 2021.

    Nong Rong Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of
    The People’s Republic of China to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
    January 2021