Tom Tom Lists: 10 Fun Facts About the Musical Grease

Though Grease is the most successful movie musical of all time, there are many things that went on behind the scenes that most viewers don’t know about.

This spring, the Antioch Community High School theatre department is putting on the musical Grease. Many students are already very excited.

“It’s a really great storyline,” said sophomore Madison Shepard. “In the end, they realized they loved each other for who they really are.”

Even though tryouts are a ways away, here are 10 fun facts about Grease.

  1. In the film version of “Look at Me I’m Sandra Dee,” they changed the lyrics and got a freaky coincidence.  For the film version they created the lyric “Elvis, Elvis, let me be! Keep that pelvis far from me!” Unfortunately, Elvis Presley died the day that they filmed that scene on August 16, 1977.
  2. All of the actors in the film were too old for high school. Stockard Channing was 33, Jeff Conway was 26 and John Travolta was 23.
  3. Olivia John-Newton’s pants were so tight during the filming of “You’re the One I Want” that her zipper broke. She needed to be sewn into her pants every morning.
  4. The movie takes place in 1958, twenty years after its original release in 1978.
  5. Danny’s windbreaker in the beginning on the film is a nod to James Dean. It’s similar to the red windbreaker worn by Jim Stark in Rebel Without a Cause.
  6. Carrie Fisher could have been cast as Sandy. The Star Wars actress was considered, and director Randal Kleiser watched Star Wars clips to see if she would be a good fit.
  7. The song “Hopelessly Devoted to You” was almost not in the movie. The song was written and filmed after the movie had already wrapped up because the director thought that Sandy needed an epic ballad.
  8. The Beach Boys almost made an appearance in the movie. The beach rock quartet was originally imagined singing the song “Greased Lightnin’”.
  9. The cast chewed around 100,000 pieces of bubble gum during the shoot.
  10. Grease was the highest grossing movie of the 20th century. Produced in 1978, this was the highest grossing movie musical movie until Mamma Mia! in 2008.