Photo Preview of Grease

The beloved musical that features 1950s’ high school romance and rock ‘n’ roll will cruise across the Starlight stage like Greased Lightnin’ for six performances, opening on Friday night, Sept.8 and continuing through Sunday, Sept. 14.

Rehearsals for Grease, Starlight’s only locally produced musical of the 2017 Broadway season, began Aug. 28 under the experienced tutelage of director Philip Wm. McKinley (Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark), choreographer Paula Lynn and music director Anthony Edwards. The talented 45-person cast includes several professional actors from Kansas City as well as principals and ensemble cast members hailing from New York, Chicago and Las Vegas, a numberof whom have Kansas City roots.

Taking on the lead roles in Grease are Timothy Michael Quinn as Danny and Heidi Webster as Sandy. Both are making their Starlight debuts. Originally from the Chicago area but now based in New York, Quinn previously performed as Danny in a production directed by West End director/choreographer Gary Lloyd. His other recent credits include Damn Yankees, Jesus Christ Superstar, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Cuff Me: The 50 Shades of Grey Parody. Webster most recently starred in Steve Wynn’s Showstoppers in Las Vegas where she resides. She began her career singing with Holland America Cruise Lines and Tokyo Disneyland.

At the helm of Grease’s creative team, McKinley returns to Kansas City to direct his 11th musical at Starlight. With this show, he ties the directorial record of Jack Allison, who was a fixture at Starlight from the mid-1980s through the early ‘90s. McKinley’s most recent Starlight directing credits are Disney’s Mary Poppins (2015) and The Sound of Music (2014). He previously directed Grease at Starlight in 1999 and has helmed The Wizard of Oz three times at Starlight, most recently in 2007. McKinley brings strong Broadway credits to Starlight. He was charged with taking over as director of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark after Julie Taymor’s exit.Under his direction, the musical spectacular earned a box-office record of nearly $3 million in one week. He also directed The Boy From Oz starring Hugh Jackman, Thawk and the Off-Broadway hit Zombie Prom.

Tickets for Grease at Starlight Theatre are on sale now starting at $14. Tickets are available online, by calling 816.363.STAR (7827) or at the Starlight box office at 4600 Starlight Road, Kansas City, MO 64132. All performances begin at 8 p.m.