Grease - 1996 National Tour

[Candleshoe2]

Posted: 2/3/07 at 9:56pm

Back when I was really young, my parents took me to see the National Touring Company of "Grease". I believe it was in 1996, and it used the Broadway Revival staging. I can remember having a souvenir program, but if I did, I must have lost it a long time ago. Anyway, if anyone could fill me in on the cast that I could have seen, that would be great! I've always wondered if I saw any people that are a little more well known nowadays! Thanks!

Also, if anyone happen to have the souvenir program from the National Tour, I'd love to see some scans of it! Thanks again!

[little_fall_of_rain]

Posted: 2/3/07 at 10:01pm

I saw it in 1997 at the Golden Gate in SF, and the only cast members they had listed were Sally Struthers and MacKenzie Phillips, if that helps

[Candleshoe2]

Posted: 2/3/07 at 10:12pm

From what I can remember reading, I don't think either of those two were in the show when I saw it. All I remember was that all of the advertising was based around a photo of Rizzo in a somewhat skimpy leather outfit. Maybe that will jog someone's memory! Thanks!

[ljay889]

Posted: 2/3/07 at 10:17pm

Didn't Brooke Shields play Rizzo on the tour before she replaced Rosie?

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 2/3/07 at 10:24pm

ok... so the tour i saw like 10 years ago had Charo as the principal chick and Erik Estrada as Vince Fontaine... was that the Grease national tour or just some random tour i saw of Grease... oh and i saw the tour in san diego...

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 2/3/07 at 10:28pm

Why wouldn't it suprise me that Charo was in it?

[Keelay]

Posted: 2/3/07 at 10:40pm

Deborah Gibson played Rizzo until sometime in March. I'm not sure who replaced her.

http://deborah-gibson.net/theater.shtml

I also know that at some point between '95 and '96, Sutton Foster was playing Sandy.

Hope that helps.
Updated On: 2/3/07 at 10:40 PM

[MrBundles]

Posted: 2/4/07 at 2:18am

Debbie Gibson was also Sandy in the West End

[MrBundles]

Posted: 2/4/07 at 2:22am

here you go candleshoe-This is from my souvenir brochure. I believe I also saw it in 96.

[BtMartin25]

Posted: 2/4/07 at 8:53am

Wasn't Sutton Foster somehow involved in this?

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 2/4/07 at 11:07am

...in the Nat'l Tour...at some point between '95 and '96, Sutton Foster was playing Sandy.

[Candleshoe2]

Posted: 2/4/07 at 11:09am

Thanks everyone! That really helps narrow it down a bit more! I'll still be on the lookout for more! Thanks!

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 2/4/07 at 2:38pm

I have to say broadway productions of Grease and the touring productions seem to be pretty poor from what i have seen.

I think the London production and the UK touring production is a hell of a lot better and tighter.

[Candleshoe2]

Posted: 8/18/07 at 4:31pm

Bumping, because I finally found acopy of a souvenir program from the National Tour of 'Grease' I saw in 1995/1996. I was lucky enough to find a souvenir program on eBay, and when I recieved it, it looked a lot more familiar than the pictures above. Based on the info inside, it seems that Troika produced it, which led me to believe that I saw a non-equity tour. I guess that this was different than the tour based off of the Brodway revival. Does anyone know if there was a non-equity tour going on around the same time as the other tour? If anyone has any info on this tour, I'd be very interested!

Since there is no cast info, I thought I'd post some photos from the program to see if anyone could identify the cast! Thanks!

[FranzRelax]

Posted: 8/18/07 at 4:33pm

Anyone have pictures of Rosie as Rizzo they can post?

[morosco]

Posted: 8/18/07 at 8:12pm

[BrdwyThtr]

Posted: 8/18/07 at 8:33pm

I saw the same tour you're inquiring about and often wondered what production it was based on.

[Kev]

Posted: 8/18/07 at 11:37pm

Candleshoe2,

That is indeed the Troika Entertainment Non-Equity version that went out on the road when the Equity revival tour closed. It was still a new version compared to the original, but was not based on the Weissler revival. I have the same program scanned above, and the original tour leads were Randy Bobish (Danny), Nicole Greenwood (Sandy), and Christine Hudman (an amazing Rizzo.) They were succeeded by Nicholas Rolfing, Kent Sheridan, Todd Dubail as Danny, and Anne Laughlin, Lori Ann Strunk, Sandy Rustin as Sandy, and Joanne Tatem as Rizzo. This is also the same tour that had Charo and Erik Estrada at one point; Frankie Avalon and Chubby Checker also played stints with the tour. It was a very proftable tour, and later went Equity with Eddie Mekka and Cindy Williams.

(yes, I've seen all the Grease tours one too many times.)

[Candleshoe2]

Posted: 8/18/07 at 11:50pm

Thanks so much for the info! That helped A LOT!

[gobybubble]

Posted: 8/19/07 at 12:10am

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=110120383986&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=001


That was a playbill from the 1996 tour, so hopefully that will help you. It has some of the cast listed, but not everyone.

[FranzRelax]

Posted: 8/19/07 at 12:13am

^ That's from the Equity based on the Weissler revival.

[bethyd]

Posted: 8/22/07 at 1:20pm

I also saw the Troika non-equity production (May 1997), and have that same program. However, I dug out the Playbill and I saw:

Nicholas Rohlfing was Danny, Anne Laughlin was Sandy, Christine Hudman was Rizzo, Gary Stevens was Kenicke, but most amusingly Kendra Kassebaum was Patty Simcox!

Updated On: 8/22/07 at 01:20 PM

[AaronBK]

Posted: 4/13/21 at 8:00pm

I was Marty in this tour😊

[David10086]

Posted: 4/14/21 at 10:24am

I remember back in 1995 when this tour came to my city (Providence RI) and Ricky Paul Goldin was in the cast. He came in to my store the week he was here, and was a complete A**hole. I think he was known as being a young soap opera hunk, but he acted like he was an A-list Hollywood actor. None of my staff nor my customers paid attention to him, which seemed to make him an even bigger A-hole. 

I will admit he was a handsome young guy, with a bangin' body. But his personality had much to be desired. 

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 4/14/21 at 1:56pm

I saw the Equity tour with Adrian Zmed as Danny and Mackenzie Phillips as Rizzo. I thought the tour was a dud. So boring. I remember loving Sutton Foster and thinking Adrian looked haggard next to her. Kinda creepy. Mackenzie couldn't sing. Also, I remember Sally Struthers was a force of nature. It was after seeing her in Grease that my respect for her grew immensely. A lot of people rag on her, but she is an old school show person. She shows up and works her a@# off. She opened the show by herself in the audience. She had them in the palm of her hand. That's a pro. She also came out at the top of Act II alone. Same deal. You can't teach that.