This longtime Music Theatre Wichita director spent years avoiding ‘Grease.’ Not anymore

Wayne Bryan had a longtime aversion to “Grease.”

During his 34-year tenure as producing artistic director of Music Theatre Wichita, Bryan was at the helm of more than 150 productions, but had never scheduled “Grease,” one of the top 10-most-performed musicals of all time worldwide.

Bryan loved the music and the idea of the musical that was both an homage and a satire of the 1950s.

He just didn’t like the transformation of the character of Sandy in the musical’s finale.

“I had always questioned whether or not a theater like ours, that is supposed to be teaching young people how to navigate the world and hold up their standards, was the best place to do a show where the leading lady seemingly compromises her values at the end, bowing to peer pressure, in order to capture a man and be validated,” Bryan said.

Bryan held tight to his decision, even though he was begged by patrons to stage the show, which debuted 50 years ago in Chicago before an initial eight-year Broadway run.

Once the movie version of “Grease” hit the jackpot in 1978, “there were companies doing the show all over the place,” he said, and several tours of the musical passed through town.

“I never felt in my early days here that the Wichita audience felt deprived of not seeing ‘Grease,’” he said.

But Bryan changed his mind after reading an essay by Scott Miller, a theater producer and author, that “Grease” was more of a product of its time than Bryan imagined. It’s set in a time, Bryan said, where women of the ‘50s were “brainwashed by Hollywood and Madison Avenue.”

“They really put forward this notion that women were divinely intended to be in the kitchen, tending to the babies, getting the best coffee for their husbands, folding that perfect napkin, and holding his highball when he came home from work,” Bryan said.

“When I looked at ‘Grease’ that way, it felt very contemporary and very worth looking at.”

So when Bryan cast performers for “Grease” at MTW – his 166th show as a producer and 52nd as a director – they all received a copy of Miller’s essay.

“Grease” opens Wednesday night for six shows at the Capitol Federal Amphitheater in Andover.

Cast members say they appreciate Bryan’s perspective on the show.

“I feel like Wayne has given us an awesome opportunity to create these characters from the ground up,” said Jake David Smith, who plays Danny Zuko. “Wayne has done so much research and given us that fantastic world we now play in.

“We also get to take scenes in a whole new direction, where Sandy’s in the driver’s seat and I’m just along for the ride,” he added.

Zan Berube, who plays Sandy, said the characters are being treated “with a newfound joy and youthful glow.”

“Sandy should never have to change or chase a man,” Berube said. “In the end she realizes she needs to be confident in herself and have someone who can go on that journey with her.”

Maura Gill, who plays Rizzo, said “Grease” was her favorite movie since childhood, and she appreciates the evolution in thinking.

“It can be viewed as a feminist musical, really, the way Sandy ends up leaning on the girls (in the cast),” she said.

Several major changes were made in the transition of “Grease” from stage to screen. Bryan said several supporting players in the movie had much more depth to their characters in the Broadway version.

Three songs created for the movie – “You’re the One That I Want,” “Hopelessly Devoted to You” and “Sandy” – were added to the MTW version. The title song, however, will remain in the movie. Bryan said the song “Grease,” written by Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees, was “more like a ‘70s disco song” and wasn’t attached to any of the characters.

“We’re trying to evoke the ‘50s in a conscientious way,” Bryan said.

Choreographer Sara Edwards, returning to MTW after being a performer in the 2002 and ’04 seasons, said she wanted to incorporate the best dance moves from all of the versions of “Grease” through the years.

“You get to look at every movie and production and live (TV) production and go shopping for spots along the way,” she said. “You’re not inventing the wheel, you’re reinventing the wheel.”

Bryan said he enjoyed directing in the open air at the Andover amphitheater – MTW’s newfound home for much of the 2021 season, after leaving the Century II concert hall because of COVID concerns. Video screens, sometimes with closeups of the performers and sometimes with animation, will enhance the performance, he said.

“It’s really, really fun and something different than we would have done in the concert hall,” Bryan said. “The feeling of it is that you’re sitting on the grass for a 1950s rock concert. If you feel like standing up and dancing, you can.”

“Grease” by Music Theatre Wichita

When: 8 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday, Sept. 15-19; 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 19

Where: Capitol Federal Amphitheater, Andover

Tickets: $45, from mtwichita.com or 265-3107