The Off-Broadway Theatre Review: LightningCloud’s Bear Grease at St. Luke’s Theatre
By Acton
There’s an electrifying moment in Act 2 of Lightning Cloud‘s Bear Grease (co-creator and director Crystle Lightning, co-creator Henry Cloud Andrade) when Danny (Bryce Morin) performs a song called “Hopeless Roundie“, and you can feel the audience hold its breath as he drums and sings “Grease” lyrics (of all things) with an incredibly powerful voice. It’s unlike anything I’ve seen on a stage in a while, but it’s also unlike the rest of the show, which I wish took more chances to challenge the audience with its take on American pop nostalgia.
Set in a colonization-free North America where Indigenous people successfully fought off the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria in 1492, Bear Grease is a musical revue combining on-stage musical performances with filmed comedy skits and video montages. You get the feeling that no idea was turned down in this big grab bag of material, which begins with four songs (well performed but free of any context), a couple of filmed introductions (also well done, particularly the animated dupe of opening credits to “Grease” the movie), and additional introductory remarks before getting into the story, which is followed by more ending sequences and concluding remarks.
Beyond the very cool “Hopeless Roundie“, highlights include the radiant opening number, as Rezzo (Tammy Rae Lamouche) and the Pink Aunties (Allyssa Trujillo, Melody McArthur, Nipîy Iskwew, Haley Robinson) strut out in shimmering green velvet (costumes by Nipîy Iskwew) to perform “Be My Baby“, each serving up character and attitude. Danny and the Thunderbirds (Rodney McLeod, Justin Giehm, Raven Bright, Mike Harris) are also fun as they perform more classic tunes from the late 1950s.
The cast is obviously talented, and the concept of an Indigenous perspective on the very white, ‘50s fantasy of “Grease” is promising, but there’s way too much going on here between the straight up musical performances, in-character sequences from “Grease” with new lyrics reflecting the Indigenous characterizations, metacommentary on putting a show together and taking it to NYC, backstage comedy in the Kevin Smith vein, and more. “Hopeless Roundie“, though, is a magic moment.
