A Lucy Lawless Musical Theatre Subsite - GREASE!

Report by Mike (Sal_Fan)

Greetings, fellow Xenites, HerKuleans, and various other ancient Greek groupies. Here I am, on the road again, in NYC, with fellow HardCore Nutballs, taking a few quiet moments to try to understand why anyone in his sane mind would travel all across the country to see our favorite Warrior Princess. Well, since I'm not sane, the question really doesn't apply to me<G>. So, instead, let me tell you about SAL_FAN's soujourn into the City.

I arrived at the Marriott Marquis in midtown Manhattan on the afternoon of Monday, Sep

1. Soon thereafter, my roommates, CarlD and Wendy, arrived. We shared some Xenabilia, then met in the lobby to go out to dinner. There we met with Brette, Rachelle, Mistopholees, Marsha, Becki, and Mainlander, We had an enjoyable dinner.

Right across the street from the restaurant was a poster of Lucy dressed as Rizzo. We took a bunch of pictures, and in the process, met up with MDych, Debbie, and Barb. We took a bunch of pictures. Fortunately, Wendy had an awesome video camera, which allowed instant playback-- included in her great footage was Becki's great Xena yell.

We walked around Times Square, where they had a huge (20 ft?) picture of Lucy-cum-Rizzo on a billboard, along with other members of the cast of Grease.

Then we went to the "Jekyll and Hyde" Bar-- I guess the best way to describe it was, "You had to be there."

It was done up a la Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, and other horror folks. Misto got into a fight with the butler-- and won! The bar then held a "pro" vs "anti" Xena contest.

We won, of course! (Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi!)

The next morning, the group I was with ran into Kimba and her brother, Gerry. (If Becki says I called her room and woke her up, inflicting her wrath, tell her you have no idea what she is talking about!<G>) After saying hello to Kimba and Gerry, we-- CarlD, Wendy, MDych, Debbie, Barb, and I-- took a two hour Circle Line boat tour around
Manhattan. The guide was most informative and entertaining.

Then a bunch of us met for supper at Hot Tomatoes-- a kind of "gourmet American" restaurant. Among those present were: Wendy, CarlD, DragonLady, Sharon (and her daughter, I believe), Shannon, witchhazel (and "Mr. Witchhazel"<G>), Rinah, Michele, Marilyn and her mother (Mom, you got a really wonderful daughter), Alaska,
MDych, Barb, Rachelle, TOM SIMPSON (YIPPEE!<G>), Betsy Book, Debbie, Becki, Mainlander, and moi<G>.

Please forgive me if I left anybody out. I had meat loaf and "Mrs. SAL_FAN's" left over pasta. (Oh, in case anybody was wondering, DragonLady and I got married at supper<G>-- I think we got divorced later that evening, though :( ).

Then a group of us decided to arrive at the theater (or, should I say, "theatre"<G>), in style. So we hired a limo! Let me think: there was Becki, Kimba, Mainlander, MDych, Barb, Rachelle, Debbie, Wendy, CarlD, and me. Oh, yeah, the driver's name was Mohammed; he picked up his wife, Bogam (sp?), while on the way to the theater. They're from Pakstan and have two children. Mohammed has been working as a limousine driver for 6 months-- I recommend him, in case anyone else is thinking of hiring a limo.<G>

Then came the moment everyone was waiting for-- the show started and I shut up!<G>

**DISCLAIMER/WARNING: For those of you who don't want to hear details about the play "Grease," please don't read any further (Yeah, well, what the Hades am I writing this report for, then!<G>)

Before the play proper started, the character who played Vince Fontaine hosted a dance contest with audience members. Rose was a finalist in the contest. Those of you who attended the NYC Xenafest in March may remember Rose. At the NYC Xenafest, Mistopholees donated her own copy of Lucy Lawless' autographed photo, when the
autograph that was supposed to be used in the raffle had been damaged in the mail. When Rose won this raffle, she returned the autograph to Mistopholees. Wasn't that a most selfess, wonderful thing to do?

After the dance contest, Vince sang a "love song" to Becki, who was sitting in the front row. She was most gracious and funny, and really looked the guy over. I understand that wedding plans are in the works <BEG> (Ah, Becki, in case you're wondering, by the time you get to read this, I'll be in the witness protection program <G>).

Then the play started. In a word, it was FANTASTIC! Lucy was ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS! She played to the audience, and used those wonderful facial features of hers. The set was simple, interesting and innovative. The chemistry among the cast members was wonderful-- they functioned as a well-oiled machine. The ensemble
numbers were, well, awesome. The casting of Miss Lynch was nothing short of ingenious.

Jan was a delight, and Sonny and Doody were scene-stealers. Eugene was a pleasure.  Sandy was beautiful, as was her singing. Teen Angel was a hoot! And, of course, Zuko was brilliant.

Well, I'm sure you're all wondering about Lucy. She was magnifique! If she was nervous, she was masterful at hiding it. Her voice was phenomenal, both in range and in quality. She even emitted a brief "Ay-yi-yi!" in one of her scenes, to the audience's absolute delight. If I could make only one constructive criticism, it was that her love scenes with Kenickie seemed to need a little work. Now, in the interest of doing what I can to help out everyone's favorite Warrior Princess, I hereby volunteer to fill in as Kenickie's understudy for the purpose of helping Lucy with those love scenes
<BEG>.

And to top things off, Rob Tapert sat among us fans in the audience. He spoke with fans and signed autographs during intermission.

The cast were playful, and involved the audience in their fun. We felt almost a part of the action. The audience was most respectful of the Lucy and the cast-- I didn't hear any Xena yells from the audience.

Obviously, I give this play the highest rating possibe. At the end, the cast received a massive standing ovation. "Zuko" then introduced Lucy as the newest member of the cast. She was absolutely overwhelmed with her reception, and her
appreciation-- and love-- for her fans showed.

Hundreds of people waited to get Lucy's autograph, and I understand she signed many, many autographs.

Many of us went to the Meow Mix and/or Jekyll and Hide Bars afterwards.

Well, it's 2:30 in the morning and I'm exhausted.

Battle on, Xena!

Respectfully, in parts (and irreverently in others, of course<G>), submitted

SAL_FAN

PS. Not too many reputations were deliberately slandered in this report<G>

PPS. Would someone please forward this to the Salmoneus list (I don't have the addy handy), and any other related lists as desired? Thank you.