Prologue Lyrics – Grease

Featuring: Jack Bashkow, John Scarpulla, John Clancy, Michael Blanco, Jim Hershman, Kimberly Grigsby, Max Crumm & Laura Osnes Producers: David Lai & David Leonard (Producer) Writers: Jim Jacobs & Warren Casey Released on: August 21, 2007

GREASE - what the musical is and how it begins

Prologue overview

Grease doesn’t tiptoe in - it declares its world in the first sixty seconds. Onstage, you hear a solemn school hymn for Rydell High, then the kids hijack it with a rowdy parody. In the movie universe, you first meet two teenagers on a beach promising the story isn’t over yet, then an animated title sequence blasts the theme “Grease.” Grease Live blends the two impulses: a quick beach goodbye, then a kinetic backlot tour while the title song rolls. Different pathways, same destination - teen ritual meeting pop fantasy.

How it opens in each major version

Original stage script and 1972 Broadway run. Lights up on a Class of ’59 reunion. Miss Lynch leads a straight-laced “Alma Mater,” with Patty and Eugene in tow. The scene flips to the Burger Palace Boys and Pink Ladies crashing in with a cafeteria-truth “Alma Mater (Parody).” The audience learns the show’s rulebook fast: institutions speak first, the kids answer louder.

1978 film. Live-action prologue at the beach - two teenagers promise their summer isn’t “over.” Then a cartoon credit sequence and the Frankie Valli title track set a funk-pop sheen on a 50s setting. The film delays school pride until later because cinema can open wide and romantic before it goes to homeroom.

1990s and later stage revivals. Some revivals import movie DNA to the top - placing “Grease” or other film songs near the beginning - while others keep the original hymn-to-parody handshake. Licensing packages vary, so producers choose which opening flavor they’re legally cleared to use.

Grease Live (2016). A hybrid prologue: beach farewell, then a single-shot sprint across sets as Jessie J sings the title song through rain and umbrellas. It announces the live-TV conceit and the backlot as a character, not just a location.

Key facts that shape the opening

• Chicago roots. Grease started in 1971 in Chicago with sharper language and local flavor before New York sanding smoothed it for Broadway.
• Broadway premiere path. Opened at the Eden Theatre on February 14, 1972, then moved to the Broadhurst, Royale, and Majestic - closing in 1980 with 3,388 performances.
• Tony attention. Eligible in 1972 and counted multiple nominations, including choreography and design.
• Why the hymn first? Onstage “Alma Mater” frames the kids as rebels inside a ceremony - the parody flips the power dynamic and tells you the show’s comic grammar.
• Why the film opens on a beach? Movies can start intimate and then explode outward; the title song rebrands the 50s setting with contemporary gloss before school bells ring.
• Licensing reality. Standard stage licenses don’t automatically include the film-only songs (like “Grease” or “You’re the One That I Want”), so many productions begin without the movie’s title track unless separate rights are secured.

Questions and answers

What literally happens first onstage in the classic script?

A reunion scene with Miss Lynch leading a straight “Alma Mater,” immediately undercut by a student parody that hands the show to the kids.

Does the film use the school hymn at the top?

No. It starts with a beach epilogue to summer and then an animated title sequence scored by the new theme song “Grease.”

Why do some stage revivals start with the title song?

Because later productions sometimes fold in film material; where permitted, the pop single at the top gives the audience the movie they remember before snapping back to stage mechanics.

Is the School Version allowed to open with movie songs?

Not by default - film-only songs generally require separate permission, and the published school script is trimmed and cleaned for student use.

What’s the storytelling job of the opening two minutes?

Define the rules - authority speaks, youth answers - and set rhythm. Whether hymn-then-parody or beach-then-title-song, the opening declares rebellion wrapped in ritual.

Awards and chart milestones tied to the opening

The original Broadway production scored multiple Tony Award nominations in 1972, and across eight years chalked up 3,388 performances - a long-run landmark of its era. In the film world, the opening title song “Grease” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late August 1978 and held for two weeks, proof that the movie’s opening statement doubled as a pop radio event.

How to stage the opening cleanly

Pace. Treat the hymn like a processional - steady, centered vowels - and the parody like a locker-door slam. Let the tempo jump be the joke, not the volume.

Blocking. Keep Miss Lynch, Patty, and Eugene in a clean triangle downstage center for the hymn. For the takeover, spill the kids from the sides and aisles so the audience feels the “we’re here now” energy.

Sound palette. Start with winds or organ and tight unisons, then flip to rhythm section, handclaps, and stacked “la-la”s. The contrast sells the premise more than any single gag.

Grease Live-style option. If you’re allowed to borrow film cues, a quick pre-show tableau of a beach goodbye followed by a running, camera-following title tune can set a modern, meta tone - just ensure rights and tech capacity.

Openings that rhyme with Grease

West Side Story - Prologue. No words, just turf lines drawn in choreography. Where Grease announces rules with a hymn and parody, West Side Story carves them in movement. Both make you “read the room” before a plot is spoken.

Bye Bye Birdie - The Telephone Hour. Teen chatter as architecture. Like Grease’s students seizing the mic from the school song, Birdie’s kids turn community gossip into form - the network is the star.

Hairspray - Good Morning Baltimore. A love letter to a city and a sound. In contrast to Grease’s institutional prelude, Hairspray opens from a teenager’s bedroom outwards, but both lock the tone immediately and invite the audience to dance with the narrative.