Review: "Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies"

    “Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies,” good or terrible? Trust me, if anyone would know, it’s me. When I was 8 and came home from school, I put my “Grease” VHS tape in and once it finished I hit rewind and did it over again. I think I broke a record for watching it three times a day that year. In my opinion, the new show, GOOD! Great? Not necessarily but it is still a fun watch.


    “Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies” was released to the public on April 6 on Paramount Plus. I had seen the commercial months prior to the release almost everywhere I looked, Tiktok, TV, and even Facebook. They did a great job getting the show in people's heads.


    As a lover of musical theater and especially the original “Grease" film, I was excited to see what the new show had in store. “Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies” takes place four years before the events of the movie and focuses on the formation of the group, the Pink Ladies. The show highlights the struggles, desires, and dreams of these girls and gives them the chance to shine in their own right.


    One of the things I love about this show is how it portrays the characters as multidimensional and complex individuals. Each of the Pink Ladies goes through their own journey that allows the audience to connect with them on a deeper level.


    The main character, Jane Facciano (Marisa Davila), is trying to navigate her family's expectations while finding her own voice as she is running for student body president, Cynthia Zdunowski (Ari Notartomaso) who says she is too tomboy to be with the girls and too girly to be with the boys, Nancy Nakagawa (Tricia Fukuhara) who has her own unique style and passions, and lastly, Olivia Valdovinos (Cheyenne Isabel Wells) who has been busy dodging rumors for over a year, every single character has a story worth telling.


    The start of the show follows Jane, the prior new girl who isn’t that popular, and quarterback Buddy. They had a summer of romance and decided to go steady. However, high school has other plans. Rumors started flying around after Jane and Buddy are caught kissing in his car and it all goes downhill from there.


    The couple has a falling out, Jane decides to run against him for president, fighting for the underdogs of the school. We are then seeing the formation of the Pink Ladies and how they are running their campaign to make a change.


    The storyline is strong and intriguing; the more I watch the more I want the next episode to come out. Another thing I love is that Frenchy’s room and the Frosty Palace are featured and they have all the details just right. The wallpaper and setup of Jane’s room is almost exactly like Frenchy's room in “Grease” Which makes sense because Frenchy would have probably taken over her older sister's room when she went to college. The Frosty Place has the same sky blue and white interior that it had in the movie as well, when it comes to the places that are featured in both the show and the movie, they nailed the details down. That is something that is important when creating a prequel or sequel, get the details correct! We will notice!

    Something I am not the biggest fan of is the constant singing. I am a theatre kid at heart but not every line has to be sung. They get better the more episodes you watch but the first one was chock full of songs and it was quite overwhelming. Many of the songs aren’t the vibe that was captured in the original movie. They are practically all ballads and I find myself fast-forwarding through most of them.


    Writing in Variety, Amber Dowling said, “You don’t have to be a musical theater fan to love when a character breaks scene in order to sing about their inner conflicts. But it isn’t for everyone, either. Then there’s the pacing of it all — both in terms of balancing story and the musical numbers themselves. When you’re pumping out two or three musical numbers per hour-long episode, not all of the songs will be hits. Yet the last thing you want is for viewers to fast-forward parts of your show.”


    Though the music can be overwhelming the thing I love the most was the COSTUMES! Everything about the style in the 50s I adore.

    They captured everything so perfectly and it was so fun to see all the styles of outfits and even the decor in the houses. They were able to capture that time decade so perfectly. Sometimes I paused the show just to look at the details on the screen, it was like a game of iSpy.


    If you asked me if I recommend this show, I would say absolutely, but expect an abundance of music and keep an open mind, there are things that are more this decade prevalent than they were back then. There is an example of a gay relationship, which was still happening back then but not as talked about on television or acknowledged period. Lastly, I’d say not to expect the same exact feeling as you did for the movie. As I mentioned previously, they are more progressive with the show than the movie was so if you aren’t comfortable with that maybe rethink giving the show a watch. If you are like me and enjoy it being more inclusive then definitely give it a chance, I know I enjoy it.



At a Glance:

Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies

Starring: Marisa Davila, Cheyenne Isabel Wells, Tricia Fukuhara, Ari Notartomaso

Summary: The Forming of Grease’s Classic Pink Ladies.

Rated: TV-14

Showing at: Paramount +

Distributor: Paramount

Rating: ***