Named after the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as greasers and set in 1959 at the fictional Rydell High School in Northwest Chicago[1] (based on Taft High School in Chicago, Illinois,[2] and named after rock singer Bobby Rydell[3]), the musical follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of peer pressure, politics, personal core values, and love.

The show's original production was directed by Guy Barile, choreographed by Ronna Kaye and produced by the Kingston Mines Theatre Company founded by June Pyskacek on Chicago's Lincoln Avenue.

[10] The cast: Doug Stevenson (Danny), Leslie Goto (Sandy), Sue Williams (Rizzo), Polly Pen (Patty), Gary Houston (Roger), Marilu Henner (Marty), James Canning (Doody), Hedda Lubin (Frenchy), Bruce Hickey (Kenickie), Sheila Ray Ceaser (Jan), Bill Cervetti (Miller), Jerry Bolnick (Sonny), Judy Brubaker (Miss Lynch), Mike O'Connor (Vince Fontaine), Steve Munro (Eugene), Barbara Munro (Cha Cha), Mac Hamilton (Teen Angel) and George Lopez (Bum).

The original Broadway cast included Barry Bostwick as Danny, Carole Demas as Sandy, Adrienne Barbeau as Rizzo, and Timothy Meyers as Kenickie, with Alan Paul, Walter Bobbie and Marya Small in supporting roles.

Directed by David Gilmore and produced by Robert Stigwood (who had also produced the film), the opening cast included Craig McLachlan (Danny); Debbie Gibson (Sandy — Sonia, then Samantha Janus later replaced Gibson as Sandy); Mike Doyle (Vince Fontaine); Tamzin Outhwaite (Patty); Shane Ritchie (Kenickie) and Sally Ann Triplett (Rizzo).

(Variety, Review Abroad Grease, August 2–August 8, 1993) McLachlan was succeeded by Shane Richie, Luke Goss, Ian Kelsey and Darren Day.

The production's success led to the first British national tour which featured Shane Ritchie as Danny, Helen Way as Sandy, Toby Hinson as Vince Fontaine/Teen Angel, Ben Richards/Alex Bourne as Kenickie and Michele Hooper as Rizzo.

The opening cast included Ricky Paull Goldin (Danny), Susan Wood (Sandy), Rosie O'Donnell (Rizzo), Sam Harris (Doody), Hunter Foster (Roger), Megan Mullally (Marty), and Billy Porter (Teen Angel).

The original cast featured Randy Bobish (Danny Zuko), Nicole Greenwood (Sandy Dumbrowski), Gary Martin (Kenickie), Christine Hudman (Betty Rizzo), Timothy Quinlan (Roger), Kimberly Wharton (Jan), Bruce Smith (Doody), Kathleen Connolly (Frenchy), Jeffrey Shubart (Sonny LaTierri), Laura Hornberger (Marty), Debbie Damp (Patty Simcox), Michael Giambrone (Eugene Florczyk), Juan Betancourt (Johnny Casino), Jamie Patterson (Teen Angel), Holly Ann Kling (Cha-Cha DiGregorio) and Steven Sackman (Vince Fontaine).

The cast starred Frankie Avalon as the Angel, with Jamey Isenor (Danny Zuko) and Hanna-Liina Võsa (Sandy Dumbrowski), Jason Harper (Roger), Danny Smith (Sonny LaTierri), John Ashley (Kenickie), Sarah Hubbard (Frenchy), Craig McEldowney (Doody), Kirsten Allyn Michaels (Marty), Jaqueline Colmer (Betty Rizzo), Cortney Harper (Jan) and Arthur J. Callahan (Vince Fontaine).

Max Crumm and Laura Osnes were selected to portray Danny and Sandy via viewer votes cast during the run of the NBC reality series Grease: You're the One that I Want!.

[27] The UK tour features Danny Bayne as Danny, Carina Gillespie as Sandy, Ricky Rojas as Kenickie, Kate Somerset How as Rizzo, Derek Andrews as Roger, Laura Wilson as Jan, Richard Vincent as Doody, Lauren Stroud as Frenchy, Josh Dever as Sonny, Lois Urwin as Marty, Darren John as Eugene, Sammy Kelly as Patty, Jason Capewell as Teen Angel/Vince Fontaine, Nancy Hill as Miss Lynch, and Sophie Zucchini as Cha Cha.

In 2017, Grease started touring the UK again, this time starring the Wanted's Tom Parker as Danny Zuko, BBC Over the Rainbow winner Danielle Hope as Sandy and Strictly Come Dancing's Louisa Lytton.

[29] Taylor Hicks reprised his role as the Teen Angel after playing the part on Broadway, with Eric Schneider as Danny and Emily Padgett as Sandy.

[37] There have been professional productions of Grease in Argentina (with Florencia Peña and Gustavo Monje), Austria (with Pia Douwes) and Canada (a 1998 French spoken/English sung version incorporating songs from the movie starring Marina Orsini as Rizzo and Serge Postigo as Danny).

In 1984, the Mexican [then pre-teen] pop band Timbiriche starred in the musical, with Sasha Sokol and Benny Ibarra in the leading roles, which was an overwhelming success.

The cast included other members of Timbiriche (Diego Schoening, Mariana Garza, Alix Bauer, Paulina Rubio and Erik Rubin), along with other child singers and actors such as Eduardo Capetillo, Stephanie Salas, Thalía, Edith Márquez, Lolita Cortés, Hector Suarez Gomis, Usi Velasco and Angélica Ruvalcaba.

Directed by Ricard Reguant, the original cast included Carlos Solano (later alternating the role with Tony Bernetti) as Danny Zuko, María Adamuz as Sandy (later Replaced by Edurne and Gisela), and Elena Gadel as Betty Rizzo, A New Zealand Production, ran at the Civic Theatre in Auckland during August 2010.

[40][41] A second Spanish revival directed and choreographed by Coco Comín ran at Cúpula Las Arenas, Barcelona from November 15, 2011, to January 22, 2012, and then was transferred to Teatro Coliseum, Madrid from March 6, 2012, to May 6, 2012, before starting a national tour.

[45] The cast included Rob Mills as Danny, Gretel Scarlett as Sandy, Anthony Callea as Johnny Casino, Stephen Mahy as Kenickie, Lucy Maunder as Rizzo, Todd McKenney as Teen Angel, and Bert Newton as Vince Fontaine.

[47][48] A June 2022 Australian production, directed by Drew Anthony and choreographed by Jamie and Susie Rolton, was staged at Perth's Royale Theatre, with John Berry as Danny, Elaina O'Connor as Sandy, Peter Cumins as Teen Angel, Blake Williams as Vince Fontaine and Lucy Williamson as Miss Lynch.

[49][50] The principal cast was later revealed in June 2023 with Patti Newton as Miss Lynch, Marcia Hines as Teen Angel, Jay Laga’aia as Vince Fontaine, Annelise Hall as Sandy and Joseph Spanti as Danny Zuko.

John Travolta, who had played Doody on Broadway and the national tour, performed as lead Danny Zuko, while Olivia Newton-John, an English Australian country-pop singer, was cast as Sandy; to accommodate the casting move, the character was rewritten as Australian immigrant Sandy Olsson (named after the maiden name of Ann-Margret, who was briefly considered for the role in the film), and parts of the score were replaced.

Paramount also produced a sequel Grease 2 in 1982, which featured a younger class of students at Rydell High School led by Maxwell Caulfield and Michelle Pfeiffer.

One of the Pink Ladies, Frenchy, introduces her new neighbor Sandy Dumbrowski, who had been unjustly rejected from a Catholic school, to the others (Marty, Jan and Rizzo), as well as Patty.

The sheltered Sandy goes into shock and falls ill from seeing blood when the Pink Ladies try to pierce her ears, leading them to mock her when she's not in the room (in some revivals, the song "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee" is placed here, mirroring the film).

As the Burger Palace Boys and Pink Ladies gather at the park, Danny reveals to the rest of the greasers that he has joined the track team, much to their dismay and skepticism.

After Roger and Jan bicker about food, drink and religion, she asks him how he earned the nickname Rump; he explains that, as "King of the Mooners", he has a hobby of baring his backside to unsuspecting victims, and in the process, both reveal their affections for each other ("Mooning").

The three remaining boys go into the Burger Palace for a snack before the fight, and Frenchy laments at what to do with her life, having dropped out of beauty school in frustration at failing all of her classes.

Rizzo, who missed her period, fears she is pregnant and tells Marty (who herself laments that Vince tried to spike her drink at the dance) that the father is a stranger who had sex with her with a cheap, broken condom; word gets back to everyone else.