Grease lightning strikes twice at Cork Opera House

The choice of summer blockbuster musical at Cork Opera House would seem to have been an inspired one.

Everybody knows you can’t fill houses during the holiday months, but on this occasion everybody was wrong. With virtually every performance a sell-out, and the queues still there as the final curtain fell, the management had to do some quick thinking — and now Grease returns for one more run, from Aug 13 to 17.

It’s not surprising, really, that it’s been such a success. Grease is a fun-filled, colourful flashback to the 1950s era, when style meant oiled-back hair and a leather jacket, bouffant hairdos and full skirts. Throw in the bittersweet taste of summer love and high school memories, tie it all together with a golden chain of period pop hits, and you’re on to a winner.