Jim Jacobs (born October 7, 1942) is an American actor, composer, lyricist, and writer for the theatre, long associated with the Chicago theater scene.
Jacobs attended Taft High School, during which time he played guitar and sang with a band called DDT & the Dynamiters.
He also cites Buddy Holly, Little Richard, and Jerry Lee Lewis as influences, while noting he despised later rock bands such as The Grateful Dead and Led Zeppelin.
[2] For the next five years he appeared in more than fifty theatrical productions in the Chicago area, working with such people as The Second City founder Paul Sills, while earning a living as an advertising copywriter.
[citation needed] Jacobs' Broadway acting debut was in a 1970 revival of the play No Place to be Somebody, followed by the national tour.
The team headed to New York City to collaborate on what would become Grease,[1] which opened at the Eden Theatre in lower Manhattan.
In June 1972 the production moved to the Broadhurst Theatre in the heart of Manhattan's Broadway Theater District.
[citation needed] Grease would be the only musical from Jacobs and Casey to make it to Broadway or achieve widespread success.