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I knew what I was walking into when I bought tickets to “Grease,” playing into October at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres. It’s a musical rooted in 1950s nostalgia, filled with catchy songs and leather jackets, but also with themes that don’t exactly age well. I expected outdated lyrics like “did she put up a fight” or “she was good if you know what I mean.” I was prepared for some problematic moments.
What I wasn’t prepared for was how uncomfortably far this production leaned into those moments — and how much the audience laughed along.
By the time I walked out, I had seen enough.
Within the first half of the show, one of the male characters grabbed Rizzo’s breast without warning or consent. The audience laughed. Later, a group of boys ganged up on a friend and forcibly pulled his pants down. More laughter. Then came the drive-in scene, where Danny pressures Sandy into intimacy. She says no — twice — before he turns to the audience, smirks and says, “Come on, no one’s looking,” with a raised eyebrow. Again, audience members didn’t shift uncomfortably or fall silent. They laughed.
This wasn’t an attempt at a fresh take on “Grease.” It was a production that played its most troubling aspects straight, as if we were still living in an era when boys snapping girls’ bra straps was considered flirtation.
This isn’t the first time I’ve had concerns with a Chanhassen production. A few years ago, I saw “Bye Bye Birdie” and found myself similarly unsettled. And let’s be clear — I have no issue with mature content or bold artistic direction. But there’s a difference between mature storytelling and outdated, uncritical recreations of problematic narratives.
