With a touring production of the West End revival of Grease currently hand-jiving the week away in the New Theatre, I can hear you saying tell me more. Let’s kick off with a summary of the plot, shall we? High school playboy and greaser Danny Zuko (Marley Fenton) and studious good girl Sandy Dumbrowski (Hope Dawe) have a summer fling. Come Autumn, Danny is shocked to discover Sandy has transferred to his school, Rydell High. Meanwhile, Sandy is hurt by Danny’s dismissal and attempts to befriend greaser girl gang The Pink Ladies, led by the razor-tongued and promiscuous Rizzo. As Sandy and Danny fight their feelings for each other, complications ensue.

But this summary, especially in the longer stage version, barely scratches the surface of the subplots Grease encompasses, from gang skirmishes, to teenage pregnancy, to joining the track team to impress a girl, to street racing, to a live national competition at Rydell’s high school dance. It’s got a Greek chorus in the form of a washed up radio personality called Vince Fontaine, and an entirely bonkers scene with a teen-idol-turned-guardian-angel who dispenses brutally honest advice. It’s essentially an entire season of Glee squished into a couple of hours and placed at the cusp of the ‘60s…

So how do all these moving parts cohere into a satisfying plot line? They don’t, entirely. While having extra songs was a treat (thanks to the quality vocals across the board) the narrative did not have the focus or propulsive feel of the film, and Sandy and Danny’s romance, arguably the emotional crux of the story, became somewhat lost among the many dramas. The scenes themselves were paced well, but felt more like interconnected vignettes than a story building upon itself.

Grease has always been an addictive, intriguing mix of caricature and realism - Rizzo’s pregnancy scare and anti-slut shaming retort ‘There Are Worse Things I Could Do’ were arguably ahead of their time. The play, written in 1971, was perhaps already looking at a fictionalized and caricatured 1959 America, and in the half century since then, the setting seems to have only become more fantastical and anachronistic. This isn’t a criticism - its singularity is delightful - but it does point to the show needing to ground itself in a central storyline in order for viewers to truly invest in the world. Downplaying Zuko’s change into a Letterman to impress Sandy, for instance, makes Sandy’s own transformation into the wearer of the iconic black jumpsuit feel less feminist or balanced.

There was also a slight disagreement as well between the grittier production, which attempted to infuse the story with a bit of realism in its set design and use of the coarser original script, and the crass, cartoonish direction style, particularly of the side characters. Besides Zuko and Kenickie (a standout performance from Ben Nicholas), the Burger Palace Boys (aka the T-Birds in the film) are largely comic relief, their impression of teenagers restricted to either humping or punching everything in sight. I should clarify this does not seem like a fault of the actors, but rather a deliberate directorial decision. A similarly over-the-top direction can be found in Vince Fontaine (Joe Gash), the DJ who narrates the production from a booth mounted above the stage. His drawling pronouncements of every word he said had a pantomime quality that quickly begins to grate (by contrast, in playing Teen Angel, Gash was far more magnetic and compelling).

There were many bright spots, however. The places where this production absolutely hit it out of the park include the truly remarkable choreography from Arlene Phillips, which extends far beyond the dance-off scene and infuses the production with freewheeling energy. The choreo for ‘Grease Lightning’, involving handkerchiefs and highly impressive footwork, is spellbinding. The songs are also as catchy as you’d remember them being, and the cast’s voices harmonize beautifully. As Sandy, newcomer Hope Dawe is a revelation, possessing a soaring voice and bringing both Sandy’s strength of will and ingénue essence to life. As with film counterpart, Alicia Belgarde as Frenchy punches above her weight in a relatively small role, and the creative choices (from costumes to lighting) for “Beauty School Dropout” were hugely stylish and entertaining.

Ultimately, this production does not make a compelling case for the continued relevance of Grease, and is unlikely to inspire hopeless devotion. It does, however, shine a spotlight on some terrific talent, feature enough great songs to keep you dancing in your seat, and bring a candy-coloured escapist fun that is a nice counter to the wet Autumn weather. If that’s what you’re looking for, then this may be the one that you want.