West End's Grease Stars Announced

ITV's Grease is the Word, the British television talent search, concluded last Saturday with Danny Bayne and Susan McFadden declared the winners.

Bayne and McFadden will thereby star in the up-coming West End revival of Grease, which opens on August 8, 2007 (previews begin July 25) at the West End's Piccadilly Theatre.

"After open auditions attracted thousands, eight couples underwent musical theatre boot camp and weeks of live, publicly voted contests in which they competed both as couples and as individuals," explains WhatsOnStage.com.

Danny Bayne, age 19 from Kent, impressed the judges with his first audition and was said to "have it all."  Susan McFadden, age 24, is stepping out of the shadow of her brother, Brian (formerly from the UK pop-group Westlife).  Bayne and McFadden were originally paired with each other at the top of the series... and now will be sharing the stage again!

Grease features a book, music and lyrics by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey; with favorite songs like "We Go Together," "You're the One That I Want," "Greased Lightnin'," and "Summer Nights."

The first stage version of Grease originally ran in the West end for six years at the Dominion and later at the Cambridge Theatre.  The production returned briefly at the Dominion in 2001 and at the Victoria Palace in 2002 and 2003, plus a UK tour since 1993.

The West End has found a successful pattern of casting stars of musicals with reality shows after Connie Fisher stepped into The Sound of Music last year.  This weekend Lee Mead was announced the winner of Any Dream Will Do, the BBC reality TV to cast the star of Andrew Lloyd Webber's up-coming revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.