Theaterweek	Grease and American Idol at the Riviera by Anthony Chase

Shannon Carney (Patty Simcox), Kaitlyn Feather (ensemble) John Stevens (Doody) and Liz Giovino (Jan).

Grease has been done zillions of times in zillions of places from national tours to high school auditoria. The 1950s nostalgia show about teen love seemed like a perfect fit for the Historic Riviera Theatre on Webster Street in North Tonawanda, which looks like a Back to the Future trip to the 1950s to begin with. Still David Bondrow wanted to do something special to attract interest to his production.

A North Tonawanda native, Bondrow recalled that he had a friend who was a teacher at the high school once attended by John Stevens, who, you may recall, is the Buffalo-born, East-Amherst redhead who achieved fame as a finalist on the American Idol television show. And so the crooner was enlisted to play Doody in the show.

The Riviera’s new executive director, Frank Cannata, recalls that he liked Bondrow’s proposal even before the teen star was part of the package. “David came to me with the idea for the show. I liked that David was from North Tonawanda, coming home with a good idea and a lot of enthusiasm. John Stevens came into the picture about a week later.”

Bondrow will direct, with much-admired choreographer Matthew Clark providing choreography. “Matthew is bringing a contemporary attitude to the 1950s dances,” says Bondrow. “We want people to feel as if this story could happen today.” Debbie Hutter is the music director.

Set at fictitious Rydell High School in 1959, the central story of Grease follows good-girl Sandy Dumbrowski, who has a summer romance with Danny Zuko, a boy from the wrong side of the tracks. When Sandy shows up as a new student at Rydell in September, she and Danny have to deal with pressure from their teen peers, represented by the Burger Palace Boys and the Pink Ladies. Before things get sorted out, we follow subplots involving all sorts of teen problems from the frivolous to the severe. Rizzo thinks she’s pregnant; Frenchy is struggling through beauty school; Marty’s boyfriend is in the military; and on and on.

John Stevens has an undeniably innocent stage presence, making him inappropriate for the Danny Zuko role. Instead, he plays Doody, the youngest of the Burger Palace Boys, who (in a convenient American Idol parallel) dreams of becoming a rock-and-roll star. Doody sings two Neil Sedaka knockoffs: “Rock ’n’ Roll Party Queen” and “Those Magic Changes.” In this production he will also sing “Born to Hand-Jive,” giving Stevens an additional number.

Bondrow thinks the public, which knows Stevens only as a crooner and contestant on American Idol, will be surprised by the quality of is acting and his superior sense of comedy. “He’s extremely funny and a very talented actor!” Bondrow confides.

Speaking to Bondrow himself was a bit of a time warp for me. I recall him as one of the von Trapp children in a legendary production of The Sound of Music produced by Upstage New York at the Park School many years ago. Loraine O’Donnell-Gray (now of PM Buffalo on WKBW Channel 7) played Maria; Richard Lambert (now of the New Phoenix Theatre) played the captain. Directed by Artvoice’s Javier Bustillos, there were three nuns and one Nazi. The show was performed on a bare stage and was the first production of The Sound of Music on record to come in with a running time of less than two hours.

It seems that subsequent to The Sound of Music, Bondrow grew up, moved to New York City and attended NYU, where he completed a BA in music, with his concentration in vocal performance. He pursued work at numerous independent and regional theaters, including the Northshore Music Theatre outside Boston. He co-founded an improvisational comedy troupe called “I Ate What?”

Now he has come back to Buffalo to try to build on the energy of our famously nurturing and energetic performing arts community.

“I first performed at the Riviera when I was 10 years old,” recalls Bondrow. “Ghostlight Theatre [a highly regarded community theater company] was in residence then. Then, in high school I produced some musical revues here. We did a Sinatra show, a Gershwin show and a Harold Arlen show. The Riviera was having tough times in those days.”

Bondrow’s entrepreneurial spirit seems compatible with the mission of Cannata, who is trying to up the wattage at the Riviera and attract a more regional audience. He scored a recent success with a screening of the Marilyn Monroe film, Niagara, with classic 1950s automobiles parked out front.

“We’ll have classic cars at Grease too,” says Bondrow. “And we have a partnership with Rainbow Rink, just a few blocks from the theater. On opening night there will be a pre-show retro roller-skating party there.”

Grease is the first show for DAB productions, which aspires to produce new theatrical works in the future with a Buffalo connection. For reserved seating, call the Riviera Box office at 716-692-2413 or visit www.riviertheatre.org. The Rivera Theatre is located at 67 Webster Street in North Tonawanda, just 11 miles north of downtown Buffalo.