John Travolta Fought Tooth And Nail To Hire Olivia Newton-John For Grease
The original "Grease" stage musical first debuted at the Kingston Mines night club in Chicago in 1971. The book was by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, who also wrote the music and lyrics with John Farrar. Set in the 1950s, "Grease" was a winking, somewhat bawdy anti-nostalgia piece about high school greasers and car nuts falling in love after a significant summer vacation. It banked on the images of squeaky-clean 1950s teeny-bopper movies, but inserted sexuality, a teen pregnancy, gang violence, and themes of class. The main characters were Danny the greaser and Sandy the square. They had a romantic fling in the summer, but may be too embarrassed to date one another during the school year. Their relationship is reconciled when Sandy adopts the clothes and mannerisms of the greasers. "Grease" moved to Broadway in 1972 and played all the way through 1980, making it the longest-running Broadway show at the time.
In 1978, director Randall Kleiser adapted "Grease" to film, and it was a smash hit almost immediately. Through various re-releases over the last 45 years, "Grease" has managed to score over $387 million in box office receipts. The songs have become audition standards, and many still jibe with the film's strange balance of camp and dramatic story of teen sexuality. The Chicago high school Rydell High was filmed at Venice High School in Southern California.
John Travolta played Danny, further cementing the actor's status as a superstar, and Sandy was played by the pop sensation Olivia Newton-John. A lot of the success of "Grease" hinges on the charm of its leads.
In a 2016 interview with Vanity Fair, Travolta recalls that he needed to personally push to get Newton-John on the cast. Before that, Marie Osmond was in consideration.
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According to Vanity Fair, other actresses in consideration included Susan Dey from "The Partridge Family," and Barbara Raffin from "The Sentinel" and "God Told Me To." It seemed important to the casting agents that their Sandy be able to sing.
"Grease" was not Olivia Newton-John's first movie. By 1978, she had already starred in an Australian musical film called "Funny Things Happen Down Under," and a near-forgotten sci-fi musical called "Toomorow." Neither of those films were notable hits, however, and producer Allan Carr was reluctant to give her another chance. Additionally, Newton-John wasn't currently keen on making more movies as her music career was doing fine. In her words: "I was very anxious about making another film, because my music career was going well, and I did not want to mess it up by doing another movie that wasn't good." Even Producer Randal Kleiser was unconvinced as to her ability to play Sandy, feeling that she wouldn't be able to provide the appropriate level of lasciviousness.
It was Travolta who insisted on Newton-John. He loved her singing voice, and knew that she was a major musical superstar.
"She had a brilliant voice, and I didn't think there could be any more correct person for Sandy in the universe. [Casting her would be like] putting Taylor Swift in that role today. ... I never let up on it. I insisted that she be met and that we cast her."
Travolta seemed to have the right instincts, as Newton-John's star only rose as a result of "Grease."
Other concerns
According to the Vanity Fair article, however, Newton-John had additional concerns other than merely becoming involved in film again. For one, she was Australian, and wasn't 100% confident she could accurately do an American accent. Carr actually altered the film's script to turn Sandy into an Australian character. Newton-John was also a little wary of the fact that she'd be playing a teenager at 29. Travolta was already 23, and their mismatched ages, she feared, would make their coupling look weird.
Newton-John screen tested with Travolta, and the chemistry, it seems, was perfect. The age gap wouldn't be an issue. As for making a 29-year-old look a decade younger, cinematographer Bill Butler was careful to shoot with soft lenses. Newton-John wasn't even the oldest member of the cast. He co-star Stockard Channing was already 33.
Four new songs were added to the soundtrack, including the title tune written by Barry Gibb and performed by Frankie Valli. Joh Farrar, who has written some of Newton-John's bigger hits at the time added the songs "Hopelessly Devoted to You" and the banger "You're the One That I Want," one of the more memorable songs from the film. The story remained a little problematic — there is a subplot about pregnancy that resolves perhaps a little too smoothly — but many audiences were willing to groove along to the '50s-esque rock soundtrack and enjoy the nostalgia from 20 years prior. To this day, "Grease" makes the rounds in theaters as a sing-along and as a midnight show. Even "Grease 2" has become something of a cult favorite. A prequel called "Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies" is due out soon.
Travolta is largely to thank.