GREASE 2

THE STORY

In 1961, two years after the original GREASE gang’s graduation, a new crop of seniors invades All-American Rydell High School. It’s time for straight skirts, scoring with chicks and good, old rock and roll.

British newcomer Michael Carrington (MAXWELL CAULFIELD) arrives at the unfamiliar campus and is immediately smitten with sexy Stephanie Zinone (MICHELLE PFEIFFER), the leader of the outlaw sorority, the Pink Ladies, and grease monkey in her dad’s gas station. Stephanie is the coolest Pink Lady of them all, a girl who will do almost anything for a ride on the hottest cycle she can find.

True to tradition, the T-Birds are out in force. Striking an attitude with black leather jackets and revved-up motorcycles, they protect their turf and prized possessions, the Pink Ladies, from inter- ference by the rival Cycle Lords or anyone else.

Head T-Bird Johnny Nogerilli (ADRIAN ZMED) is still interested in ex-girlfriend Stephanie, but she’s outgrown him over the summer. She’s looking for a new love, the cool rider on his hot bike. Since Stephanie’s slipping out of Nogerilli’s grasp, sister Pink Lady Paulette Rebchuck (LORNA LUFT) moves in on Johnny with her best imitation of Marilyn Monroe.

Though Stephanie is faithful to the Pink Ladies’ Code (“To act cool, look cool and be cool”), she’s got a serious problem with the Code bylaw, “To only hang out with the T-Birds.” As she moves further from the Pink Ladies’ pack, her “sorority” sisters, Sharon Cooper (MAUREEN TEEFY), Rhonda Ritter (ALISON PRICE) and even tagalong little sister, Dolores Rebchuck (PAMELA SEGALL), witness her liberation with a mixture of dismay and a touch of envy. Even Paulette is mystified by Stephanie’s change in character,though it means that the territory’s opening up on Johnny.

Nogerilli’s just not getting through to Stephanie anymore. His brother T-Birds, con man Lou DiMucci (PETER FRECHETTE), gawky “Goose” McKenzie (CHRISTOPHER McDONALD) and little Davey Jaworski (LEIF GREEN) back their leader with T-Bird support, but there’s nothing anyone can do to bring Stephanie back into the fold. The guys also have their own romances to attend to, making plays for their choice Pink Ladies.

Michael Carrington is also determined to win the prime Pink Lady for his own. As she’s establishing her independence, she’s put off by his polite advances. Not only does he have to get through the phalanx of the T-Birds to get to her, he’s also got to transform him-self into her kind Of dream lover.

Aided by the returning GREASE alumna Frenchy (DIDI CONN), Michael schemes his way into her heart by assuming the double identity of the daring Lone Biker.

Teenage romance is never easy, but, in true movie musical fashion, love will out and eventually conquer all

BACKGROUND NOTES

On November 9, 1981, GREASE 2 began principal photography on a sunny football field at the recently vacated campus of Excelsior High School in Norwalk, California, 25 miles from Paramount Studios in Hollywood.

First-time feature film director and long-time choreographer Patricia Birch set up her opening shot as 125 members of the USC Trojan Marching Band warmed up with the strains of “High Hopes.” GREASE 2, which chronicles campus activities at Rydell High School in 1961, two years after the original GREASE gang’s graduation, began to unfold from the pages of Ken Finkleman’s screenplay. Produced by Robert Stigwood and Allan Carr, with Bill Oakes serving as executive producer, GREASE 2 is the sequel to the most successful movie musical of all time, GREASE.

With the sun glaring and temperatures in the 80’s, the band paraded across the field. Appropriately clad in woolen uniforms and fall clothing for the back-to-school look of the beginning of Rydell’s school term, band members and actors had a long way ahead of them in the unusually warm Southern California weather.

Director Birch placed her well-known touch on everyone within camera range, as director of photography Frank Stanley positioned the crane. Birch requested a kick here, a turn there to give the band a casual quality she intended. Blending the choreographer’s attention to movement and rhythm with the director’s eye, she would note even the most subtle nuance of each extra in every scene of the film. She is the first female choreographer to assume the post of feature film director.

Maxwell Caulfield, starring as Michael Carrington, British newcomer to Rydell High, took his place ion the track-. GREASE 2’s sorority girls, identical twins Liz and Jean Sagal, shook their red and white pom-poms as they ran down the bleachers to flirt with him.

A line of jocks deftly navigated through a row of tires, working on their coordination for football moves. Rydell’s legendary T-Birds, headed by sexy Johnny Nogerilli (Adrian Zmed), followed clumsily, encouraged by the philosophizing and ever-harried Coach Calhoun (Sid Caesar). Two pole vaulters flew through the air, while the threatening Cycle Lords, led by the returning Balmudo (Dennis Stewart), cruised menacingly. Rydell High’s outlaw sorority, the Pink Ladies, with their beautiful, blonde leader, Stephanie Zinone (Michelle Pfeiffer), stopped by, adjusting their sunglasses to check out the action.

The well-intended, but slightly confused principal’s aide, Blanche (Dody Goodman), climbed her ladder and raised her megaphone, yelling her lines to conduct band practice. GREASE 2 was off to a glorious start.

The cast of GREASE 2 is made up of many new faces, discovered during a nationwide talent search, conducted by producers Robert Stigwood and Allan Carr, director Patricia Birch and executive producer Bill Oakes. Actors and actresses and thousands of dancers auditioned on both the East and West Coasts.

Maxwell Caulfield stars as Michael Carrington, a new arrival at Rydell High. Smitten by the beautiful Stephanie Zinone (Michelle Pfeiffer), eader of the Pink Ladies and grease monkey in her dad’s gas station, he assumes the double identity of the mysterious Lone Biker to become the man of her dreams.

The strikingly handsome Caulfield was starring in the smash hit revival of “Entertaining Mr. Sloane” at New York’s Cherry Lane Theatre when he was cast as the male lead of GREASE 2. His electrifying performance in “Sloane” had caused a sensation.among theatregoers and brought him to the attention of filmmakers. The young British actor had won a Theatre World Award for his work in a showcase of Nigel Williams’ “Class Enemy” and had appeared in the title
role of the national touring company of “The Elephant Man,” under the direction of Jack Hofsiss. Caulfield co-starred in a West Coast production of Stephen Poliakoff’s play, “Hitting Town,” before returning to New York to star in “Entertaining Mr. Sloane.”
GREASE 2 marks his motion picture debut.

Michelle Pfeiffer stars as Pink Lady Stephanie Zinone. Having outgrown her relationship with top T-Bird, Johnny Nogerilli (Adrian Zmed), she is asserting her independence from his possessiveness, looking for a new love. Pfeiffer won the coveted female leading role in this multi-million dollar production over hundreds of other actresses. The enviable part of Stephanie is her first starring role on screen, having previously appeared in the films “Hollywood Knights,” “Falling in Love Again” and “Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen.” She has been seen as a series regular on “Delta House” and “B.A.D. Cats.” She has also guest-starred in the made-for-television movies “Callie and Son” with Lindsay Wagner, “The Solitary Man,” “Splendor in the Grass” and “The Children Nobody Wanted.”

Co-starring as T-Bird leader Johnny Nogerilli is Adrian Zmed, who has starred as Danny. Zuko in both the Broadway and national touring companies of “Grease.” Among his many television credits are starring roles in the series “Angie” and “Flatbush,” and as Frankie in “The Goodtime Girls. He stars with William Shatner in ABC-TV’s “Sergeant Hooker,” and as guest-starred on the series “Starsky and Hutch” and “Bosom Buddies.” Prior to joining the cast of GREASE 2, he starred in the feature film, “Three Blind Mice.”

Lorna Luft makes her motion picture debut, co-starring as Paulette Rebchuck, the PinkyLadies’ answer to Marilyn Monroe. As Paulette, she is thrilled to see Stephanie moving away from Johnny, so that she can take her place in his heart. Lorna’s Broadway debut in “Promises, ProMises” earned her the 1972 Rising Star of the Year Award. Her 1976 concert appearances at the London Palladium drew unanimous critical acclaim. An internationally known concert performer, she starred in the national touring company of “They’re Playing Our Song,” prior to which she starred with Gary Sandy in John Kenley’s revival of “Grease.”

Other Pink Ladies vowing their code of honor are Sharon Cooper (Maureen Teefy) and Rhonda Ritter (Alison Price). The faddish:Sharon-Cooper is currently taken by the always fashionable style of then-First Lady Jackie Kennedy. . The trendy Miss Cooper is played by Maureen Teefy, who was trained at Julliard and the Boston Conservatory of Music. Having appeared in the films “1941” and “Scavenger Hunt,” she is best known for her starring role in the film “Fame.”

Alison Price plays Rhonda Ritter, the girl who is worried that without a nose job, there is no hope for her to rate an appearance on “National Bandstand.” Price was featured in the original film GREASE, as well as “The Fan,” “The Wanderers,” “Sergeant Pepper’s  Lonely Hearts Club Band” and “First Love.” She appeared in the national touring company of “Grease” and has been seen on television in the film “The Seduction of Leona,” and the series “Saturday Night Live.”

Pamela Segall plays Paulette’s little sister, Dolores Redchuck, a tagalong, pesky kid who will do anything to be included in Pink Lady activities. Segall, who was featured on the Goldie Hawn special, Goldie & Kids,” stars in the NBC-TV Paramount pilot of “Little Darlings,” playing Angel, the role Created in the film by Kristy McNichol. This is her film debut.

Nogerilli’s got strong back up from his infamous T-,Birds. Peter Frechette plays Lou DiMucci, the T-Bird with ulterior motives for Sharon Cooper’s affections. Frechette co-wrote and starred in the play “Strawberry Blonde.” He appeared in the Off-Broadway pro-ductions of “Harry Ruby’s Songs My Mother Never Sang” and “In Cahoots” at the Ensemble Studio Theatre, of which he is a member. With his roots in theatre, he is making his motion picture debut in GREASE 2.

Gawky T-Bird Goose McKenzie is played by Christopher McDonald, who has co-starred in the films “The Black Room’! and “The Hearse.” Having trained with Stella Adler and at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, .he was a 1977 Obie Award winner for his performance:in the Off-Broadway production of “Nightclub Cantata.” He has been seen in the television movies “Twirl,” “Getting Married” and on the series “Shirley,” in the recurring role of Jacques.

GREASE 2 is actor Leif Green’s first film. Featured as the littlest T-Bird, Davey Jaworski, Green has an extensive theatre background, including productions of “Carnival,” “Mame” and the national touring company of “West Side Story.” He has co-starred in the TV production of “Cliffwood Avenue Kids” and guest-starred in the seriesThe Music Shoppe.”

Frenchy, GREASE’s beauty school dropout, is back, Again played by Didi Conn. Having flunked tinting in trade school, Frenchy’s re- turned to Rydell to master chemistry and help Michael Carrington adjust to the unfamiliar American high school campus. Conn’s film credits include “You Light Up My Lite,” “Almost Summer,” “Raggedy  Ann and Andy” and “The Magic Show.” She is a series regular on ABC’s Benson” and has guest-starred on “Happy Days,” “The Practice” and  The Rookies.” She starred in the Academy Award-winning live ac- tion short film, “Violet.”

This year’s faculty lounge finds Eve Arden returning in the role of Principal McGee. Her long film career includes “Stage Door,” “Anatomy of a Murder,” “Under the Rainbow” and “Mildred Pierce,” for which she received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She is fondly remembered for her Emmy Award-winning portrayal of “Our Miss Brooks” and starred in her own television series, “The Eve Arden Show.”

Assisting Miss McGee is her trusty aide, Blanche, played again by Dody Goodman. She is currently featured on the popular television series “Diff’rent Strokes” and was a regular on the classic Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman” as Louise Lasser’s dizzy mother. She has been seen in a number of Broadway productions.

Sid Caesar returns to Rydell High’s corridors as Coach Calhoun. Caesar is best known for his unforgettable TV comedy series, “Your Show of Shows,” in which he co-starred with Imogene Coca. With a career that encompasses film, television and stage, he has also created a one-man show that is an annual event in Las Vegas. His most recent film was Mel Brooks’ “The History of the World, Part I.”

Dick Patterson is back as Mr. Spears, the anxiety-ridden biology teacher. His long Broadway career began when he succeeded Dick Van Dyke in “Bye, Bye, Birdie.” He was a series regular on TV’s Stump the Stars” and is a frequent guest star on a number of popular television shows, including “Laverne and Shirley.” He has appeared in several films, including “Can’t Stop the Music” and “A Matter of Innocence.”

Tab Hunter and Connie Stevens team as the flirtatious new faculty members of Rydell High. Teen idols and superstars of the Sixties, Hunter and Stevens are seen together for the first time on screen in GREASE 2.

Hunter plays the over-eager substitute biology teacher, Mr. Stuart. His film credits include “Damn Yankees,” “Battle Cry,” “The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean” and John Waters’ recent Odorama classic, Polyester.” Coincidentally, he played Dody Goodman’s husband on the series “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.”

Connie Stevens plays Miss Yvette Mason, the beautiful music and English teacher whose abundantly sprayed hairdo is the talk of the campus. Stevens began her professional career as a singer with the trio, The Three Debs. Her film debut was in “Dragstrip Riot,” followed by starringroles in “Rock-a-Bye Baby,” “Susan Slade,” “Parrish” and “Never Too Late.” Her role as Cricket on “Hawaiian Eye” won her national stardom, and she has appeared in the television movies “The Sex Symbol,” “Scruples” and others i She made her Broadway debut in “Star Spangled Girl” and continues to headline in nightclubs in Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe.

Dennis Stewart returns as the Cycle Lords’ leader, Balmudo, while Eddie Deezen reprises his role as the class dork, Eugene.

Matt Lattanzi, who was seen as Jacqueline Bisset’s’young lover in “Rich and Famous,” plays Brad, the leader of the clean-cut Preptones, who are played by Brad Jeffriesi and Charles McGowan.

Rounding out the cast are the sorority girls who swoon over the adorable Brad and a corps of 16 energetic dancers, called the Greasers. The sorority girls are played by identical twins Liz and Jean Sagal, who were curiously cast individually in New York and Los Angeles.

Famed cinematographer Frank Stanley began his film career as a lab technician at Technicolor in 1946, and subsequently designed many of the complex optical effects seen in “The Ten Commandments” and oth-er films. Stanley worked as an assistant cameraman to cinematographer  Russell Harwin during a productive nine-year association, on such films as “Hatarit,” “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “Hawaii,” “Camelot” and “Darling Lili,” the last-named for director Blake Edwards. Edwards recognized Stanley’s artistry and talent and promoted him to director of photography in charge of second unit photography on “The Wild Rovers” with cinematographer Phil Lathrop. He went on to become a full director of photography on “A Separate Peace,” Clint Eastwood’s “Breezy,” Magnum Force” and “The Eiger Sanction,” Michael Cimino’s “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot,” and on the films “Heroes,” “Corvette Summer,” Car Wash,” “10,” “Wholly Moses” and “Under the Rainbow.” He is a member of the prestigious American Society of Cinematographers and has served on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He is now in his third term as President of the International Photographers Camera Guild, Local 659. Stanley received an Emmy Award nomination for his camera work on the television mini- series “East of Eden.”

Production designer Gene Callahan has received numerous honors for his work in motion pictures. He won the Academy Award for set decoration (black and white) for “The Hustler” in 1961, and in 1963 won the Oscar for art direction and set decoration (black and white) for “America, America.” Callahan received Academy Award nominations for his work in “The Cardinal” in 1963, and for art direction for “The Last Tycoon” in 1976. Among the almost 50 films to his credit are Butterfield 8,” “Splendor in the Grass,” “King of the Gypsies,” “Eyes of Laura Mars,” “‘Julia,” “Promises in the Dark” and “Annie.”

Louis St. Louis produced and arranged the score of GREASE 2, containing five of his original compositions. As a native of Detroit, he finds his musical roots in the Pentecostal Church. His association with “Grease” began when he served as the music director for the original stage production, which became the longest-running show on Broadway. He conducted the orchestra for more than four years of “Grease’s” historic run and later became special creative musical consultant on  the motion picture. For the first movie, he composed “Sandy,” the popular song performed by John Travolta.

With a wide range of experience as a professional musician, Louis St. Louis has worked as performer, arranger, composer and producer.  He was a soloist for the Presidential Premiere of Leonard Bernstein’s  “Mass,” performed at the Kennedy Center in 1977. He has also served as music director for the American premiere of the Brecht-Weill opera “Mahagonny,” and for the Broadway productions of “Over Here” and his own original stage musical, “Truckload.” For television, he was musical director for the recent Robert Klein special and for the Emmy Award- winning “Lily Tomlin/Sold Out.” He also composed music for the film “The Fan” and for the television movie, “The Kitty O’Neill Story.”

THE CAST

MAXWELL CAULFIELD makes his motion picture debut in GREASE 2 as Michael Carrington, British newcomer to the all-American student body of Rydell High School. His casting to this coveted role comes as a result of an extensive coast-to-coast talent search conducted by Paramount Pictures, GREASE 2 producers and director Patricia Birch.

Caulfield was starring in the smash hit revival of “Entertaining Mr. Sloane” at New York’s Cherry Lane Theatre when he auditioned for the part of Michael Carrington. His outstanding critical notices and widely-touted electricity on the stage in “Sloane” brought him to the attention of the filmmakers.

The young English actor began his professional acting career in New York, having arrived in Manhattan with $300 and a copy of Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road.” Following a walk-on in a non-union show, Caulfield appeared in a showcase of Nigel Williams’ “Class Enemy” and won a Theatre World Award for his work. He then proceeded to the title role in the national touring company of “The Elephant Man” under the direction of Jack Hofsiss and co-starred in a West Coast  production of Stephen Poliakoff’s play “Hitting Town,” before returning to New York to star in “Entertaining Mr. Sloane.”

 

Starring in GREASE 2 as Stephanie Zinone, leader of Rydell High School’s outlaw sorority, the Pink Ladies, is MICHELLE PFEIFFER, who won the female lead over hundreds of contenders during the nationwide talent search conducted by the production.
Stephanie Zinone is the coolest Pink Lady of them all, a girl who will do almost anything for a ride on the hot cycle of the mysterious Lone Biker. The enviable part of Stephanie marks Michelle’s first starring role on screen, having previously appeared in the films  “Hollywood Knights,” “Falling in Love Again” and “Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen.”

Pfeiffer has been seen as a series regular on “Delta House” and “B.A.D. Cats.” She has guest-starred in the made-for-television movies “Callie and Son,” “The Solitary Man,” “Splendor in the Grass” and “The Children That Nobody Wanted.”

 

Appearing in GREASE 2 as Johnny Nogerilli, leader of Rydell High School’s legendary T-Birds, is ADRIAN ZMED, who has starred as Danny Zuko in both the Broadway and national touring companies of “Grease.”Among Zmed’s numerous television appearances are starring roles in the series “Angie,” “Flatbush” and as Frankie in “The Goodtime Girls.” He has also guest-starred on the series “Starsky and Hutch” and “Bosom Buddies.” Prior to joining the cast of GREASE 2, he starred in the feature film “Three Blind Mice.”

He stars with William Shatner in the new ABC-TV series, “Hooker.”

 

LORNA LUFT makes her motion picture debut in GREASE 2 as Paulette Rebchuck, the Pink Ladies’ knock-off Marilyn Monroe. Paulette is enamored of the tough and handsome T-Bird leader Johnny Nogerilli, whose attentions are fixed on sister Pink Lady Stephanie Zinone.

She made her first public appearance at the Palace Theatre, then appeared at Madison Square Garden and on the “Today” and Mery Griffin shows; she was 14 years old at the time. After her much-publiciized and successful debut, she decided to finish her education. She returned to the Professional Children’s School in New York, but couldn’t stay away from the theatre. She won a role in the short-lived musical version of “Lolita,” which never made it as far as Broadway.

David Merrick cast her in the leading role of his hit, “Promises. Promises,” which marked her -Broadway debut and first Neil Simon project. It earned her the 1972 Rising Star of the Year Award.

In 1976, Lorna appeared in concert at the London Palladium, receiving unanimous critical acclaim. It kicked off her highly successful European and Middle Eastern tours. She has also toured South America, Canada, Australia and the United States. She has headlined at this country’s largest and most important nightclubs, including the Sands in Las Vegas, the Fairmont in Dallas and Studio One in Los Angeles.

Two seasons ago, she starred in John Kenley’s revival of “Grease” with Gary Sandy. Last season she starred in the national touring company of “They’re Playing Our Song,” for which she received national critical acclaim. She literally sold out in 63 cities across the country.

Her last-minute appearance on the Golden Globe Awards three years ago also made national news, and this year’s appearance at Carnegie Hall was an equal and resounding success.

 

CHRISTOPHER McDONALD, who plays the gawky T-Bird Goose McKenzie in GREASE 2, has co-starred in the films “The Black Room” and “The Hearse.” Having trained at the Stella Adler Acting Conservatory and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, McDonald was a 1977 Obie Award winner for his performance in the Off-Broadway production of “Nightclub Cantata.” On television, he was featured in, the made- for-TV films “Twirl” and “Getting Married” (with Richard Thomas), and on the series “Shirley” in the recurring role of Jacques.

 

PETER FRECHETTE is featured in GREASE 2 as con-man Lou DiMucci, who always seems to have an ulterior motive, mostly to further his romance with Pink Lady Sharon Cooper. Frechette recently co-wrote the play “Strawberry Blonde” and starred in its presentation at the Van Alen Casino Theatre in Newport, Rhode Island. He has appeared in the Off-Broadway productions of “Harry Ruby’s Songs My Mother Never Sang” and “In Cahoots” at the Ensemble Studio Theatre, of which he is a member.

He has also starred in the 1978 Edinburgh Theatre Festival productions of “Pontifications on Pigtails and Puberty” and “Of Love and Villainy.” GREASE 2 marks his motion picture debut.

 

LEIF GREEN makes his motion picture debut in GREASE 2 as DaveyJaworski, the littlest T-Bird. His extensive theatre background includes productions of “Carnival,” “The Music Man,” “Mame,” “The Sound of Music” and the national touring company of “West Side Story.” He has co-starred in the television production of “Cliffwood Avenue Kids” and guest-starred in the television series “The Music Shoppe.”

 

MAUREEN TEEFY plays Sharon Cooper in GREASE 2, the Pink Lady who is currently advocating the 1961 chic of Jacqueline Kennedy. Trained at Julliard and the Boston Conservatory of Music, Teefy starred in the film “Fame” and has appeared in “1941” and “Scavenger Hunt.” Her television credits include roles in the After School Specials “Dinky Hocker” and “Diary of a Teenaged ShoPlifter.” On stage, she has been
seen in regional theatre productions of “The Winter’s Tale,” “A Man
For All Seasons” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”


ALISON PRICE is Rhonda Ritter, the Pink Lady who is convinced that a nose job is all she needs to be discovered for “National Band- stand.” Price was featured in the original GREASE, as well as in the
films “The Fan,” “The Wanderers,” “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and “First Love.”
She has appeared on “Saturday Night Live” and in the television movie “The Seduction of Leona.” Her extensive theatre background includes the national touring company of “Grease” and the American Place Theatre production of “Really Rosie.”


PAMELA SEGALL plays Dolores Rebchuck, Paulette’s tagalong little  sister, who will do anything to be included in Pink Lady activities. Segall has been featured in a number of television commercials and has been seen in the Goldie Hawn TV special, “Goldie & Kids.” She has recently been cast in the starring role of Angel, which was created by Kristy McNichol on screen, in the NBC-TV Paramount production of “Little Darlings.”

 

DIDI CONN returns to Rydell High School campus, re-creating her memorable role of Frenchy. The Pink Lady beauty school drop-out from before, alas, has flunked out of beauty school–tinting was the problem. Now she’s back in class to earn the one credit she needs to graduate and to try to master chemistry in the hope of creating her own line of cosmetics. She’s very concerned about skin care.

In addition to her role in the original film version of GREASE, Conn’s film credits include “You Light Up My Life,” “Almost Summer,” “Raggedy Ann and Andy” and “The Magic Show.” She has guest-starred in such television series as “Happy Days,” “The Rookies” and “The Practice,” starring Danny Thomas, and is a series regular on ABC-TV’s “Henson.” She recently starred in the Academy Award-winning live action short film, “Violet.”

 

EVE ARDEN re-creates her role as the beleaguered Principal McGee, long-suffering in the original movie GREASE. Miss Arden’s long film career includes “Mildred Pierce” (for which she received an Academy Award nomination), “Stage Door;” “Anatomy of a Murder,” “Night and Day” and, most recently, “Under the Rainbow,” in which she co-starred with Chevy Chase and Carrie Fisher. She is fondly remembered for her Emmy Award-winning portrayal of “Our Miss Brooks” and has also starred on television in her own series, “The Eve Arden Show.” On Broadway, she has appeared in “Name,” “Hello, Dolly!” and “Butterflies Are Free.”

 

SID CAESAR returns to the faculty as the harried Coach Calhoun. Caesar is best known for his unforgettable TV comedy series “Your Show of Shows,” in which he starred with Imogene Coca. With a career that encompasses film, television and stage, he has also developed a one-
man show that is an annual event in Las Vegas. His latest films are “The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu” and “The History of the World, Part I.” He has appeared on television in NBC’s “Thirty Years of Comedy,” “TV Guide: The First 25 Years” and the movie-of-the-week “Munsters’ Revenge.” He has lately been starring in the national touring companies of “With a Touch of Burlesque” and “Anything Goes,” with Ginger Rogers.


DODY GOODMAN returns to GREASE 2 in the role of Blanche, Principal McGee’s wacky assistant. She is currently featured on television in the recurring role of Conrad Bain’s sister on the popular series “Diff’rent Strokes” and was a regular on “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman” in the part of Louise Lasser’s dizzy mother. Her stage career includes the Broadway productions of “High Button Shoes,” “Call Me Madam,” “Miss Liberty” and -“Wonderful Town.”


Joining the Rydell High School faculty for the GREASE 2 semester  is TAB HUNTER, who portrays Mr. Stuart, the over-zealous substitute sex education teacher. Hunter’s film credits include “Damn Yankees,” “The Lawless,” “Return to Treasure Island,” “Battle Cry,” “Ride the Wild Surf,” “The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean” and John Waters’ recent Odorama classic, “Polyester.” He also appeared as a regular on the highly popular “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman” series.

 

CONNIE STEVENS joins GREASE 2 as Miss Yvette Mason, the beautiful  English and music teacher whose abundantly sprayed hairdo is the talk of the campus. Connie began her professional career as a member of the vocal trio The Three Debs. Following her film debut in “Dragstrip Riot,” she starred in “Rock-a-Bye Baby,” “Parrish,” “Susan Slade,” “Two on a Guillotine” and “Never Too Late.” She became a national television star in the early Sixties with her continuing role as Cricket on “Hawaiian Eye” and has since appeared with George Burns in the series “Wendy and Me” and in the movies-for-television “The Sex Symbol,” “Side Show” and “Scruples.” She made her Broadway debut co-starring in “Star Spangled Girl” and continues nightclub appearances as a headliner in Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe.

 

DICK PATTERSON is back in the featured role of Mt. Spears, Rydell’s anxiety-ridden biology teacher. His long Broadway career began when he succeeded Dick Van Dyke in “Bye, Bye, Birdie” and then played Carol Burnett’s boyfriend in “Fade Out, Fade In.” He has been a regular on TV’s “Stump the Stars” and a frequent guest star on “Laverne and Shirley,” “Happy Days” and “Too Close For Comfort.” His film credits include Walt Disney’s “The Strongest Man in the World,” “A Matter of Innocence” and “Can’t Stop the Music.”

 

Returning to the role he created in the original GREASE-as Balmudo, leader of the Cycle Lords, the rival gang of Rydell High’s T-Birds, is DENNIS STEWART. Following his film debut in “Pete’s Dragon,” he was featured in “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and in both the Broadway and film versions of “Zoot Suit,” all three of which were choreographed by Patricia Birch.

On television, Stewart was featured in the Goldie Hawn special, “Goldie & Kids,” and in the movies-of-the-week “Loose Change” and “Elvis,” and on the popular series “Angie,” “CHiPs” and “Wonder Woman.” His stage credits include the national touring companies of “Applause,” “Pajama Game,” “Promises, Promises” and “Disney on Parade.”


MATT LATTANZI portrays the heartthrob leader of the clean-cut, buttoned-down Preptones. Exactly one day after arriving in Hollywood, Lattanzi landed his first motion picture role in “Skatetown, U.S.A.” He has since played the young Gene Kelly in “Xanadu” and Jacqueline Bisset’s young lover in “Rich and Famous.”


EDDIE DEEZEN re-creates his role as Eugene, the misfit class book- worm of Rydell High School, in GREASE 2. Deezen has co-starred in “1941,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and the forthcoming “Wiz Kid.” On television, he has co-starred in the movies-of-the-week “Champions” and “Here’s Boomer.”


Los Angeles natives and identical twins LIZ and JEAN SAGAL play the too-cute sorority girls of Rydell High School. Jean auditioned for her role in GREASE 2 in New York, while Liz auditioned separately in Los Angeles. The twins, who make a point of trying to look different from each other and have never before worked together, were cast in the roles of Muffy and Mary Jane by director Patricia Birch. GREASE 2 marks their feature film debuts.

THE SCREENWRITER
A native of Winnipeg, Canada, KEN FINKLEMAN is a graduate of the University of Manitoba. Finkleman wrote, produced and performed a half-hour political satire program for Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio with Rick Moranis (now of “Second City TV”). The radio show led to a Finkleman-Moranis television pilot, also for the CBC, and two other news-satire pilots for ABC-TV and NBC-TV in New York.
While in New York, he became involved with director Patricia Birch and executive producer Bill Oakes in writing the screenplay for GREASE 2.
He is now writing “Airplane 2” and is involved in several other feature film projects for Paramount Pictures.    

                                                                                                                                                                                                         EXECUTIVE-PRODUCER

Exedutive producer BILL OAKES to the Senior Vice President of RSO Films. A native of Nottingham, England, he moved to the United States in 1970 after two years as a personal assistant to the Beatles.
Since arriving in America, Oakes has leen involved with both the record and film production :sides of the Robert Stiqwood Organization, including “Jesus Christ Superstar” (1972) and “Tommy” (1974), and a two-year tenure in New York as President of RSO Records.
Oakes was instrumental in Robert Stigwood’s acquisition of Nik Cohn’s New York magazine article “Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night,” which became the basis for the motion picture “Saturday Night Fever” (1977). He subsequently supervised the soundtracks of both “Saturday Night Fever” (for which he won a Producer’s Grammy Award) and “Grease” (for which he won an American Music Award). The albums from these two Paramount films remain the biggest selling soundtracks of all time.
Oakes served as associate producer on “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” “Times Square” and “The Fan.” Prior to assuming duties as executive producer on GREASE 2, he was involved as associate producer on RSO Films’ “Young Lust,” which will be released by Paramount Pictures in 1982. He is also responsible for the development-of RSO Films’ future projects, including the forthcoming screen version of the hit musical “Evita,” again for Paramount Pictures.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                   THE PRODUCERS
                                                                                                                                                                                               ROBERT STIGWOOD AND ALLAN CARR

A man with the reputation of sticking with his hunches and seeing them paying off, ROBERT STIGWOOD is the founder of an international show business empire comprised of companies that are active in film, theatre, television, personal management, records, concert tours and music publishing.
Born in 1934 in Adelaide, Australia, Stigwood began his career as a copywriter for a local advertising agency. At the age of 21, he left for England, where he opened a theatrical agency, initially casting commercials for television and later producing records for many of his clients. By 1965, Stigwood had become the first independent record producer in Great Britain.
Stigwood joined forces in 1967 with Brian Epstein, the manager of the Beatles, to become co-manager of NEMS Enterprises. After the death of his partner, he went on to form his own company and launched the
careers of, among others, the Bee Gees and Cream, featuring Eric Clapton.
Entering London’s theatre scene in 1968, Stigwood immediately conquered the West End by presenting the American rock musical “Hair.”Subsequent West End productions have included “Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Pippin,” “Oh! Calcutta!” and “Sweeney Todd,” produced in association with David Land. In June, 1978, “Evita,” another Stigwood-Land production, opened in London to rave reviews and SRO crowds. Currently, the musical is enjoying record-breaking runs in London, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Australia, Spain and Austria. “Evita” has won many top honors, including both the Los Angeles and New York Drama Critics Circle Awards, and the Tony Award for Best Musical.

In 1973, Stigwood entered into film production with the motion picture version of “Jesus Christ Superstar,” directed by Norman Jewison. Next came “Tommy,” directed by Ken Russell, which was one of 1975’s biggest hits and marked the first successful merger of rock music and the film medium. Even greater success followed with “Saturday Night Fever”–which catapulted John Travolta to superstardom and featured the immensely popular music of the Bee Gees–and, in 1978, “Grease,” produced in association with Allan Carr. Subsequent films have included “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” “Moment by Moment,” “Times Square,” “The Fan” and the highly lauded “Gallipoli.”

Founded in 1973, RSO Records has presented the music of the Bee Gees, Eric Clapton and Andy Gibb, among others. The RSO label releases all the soundtrack albums of Stigwood’s motion picture productions. “Saturday Night Fever” and “Grease” have become the industry’s all-time best-sellers. In fact, in mid-July of 1978, RSO Records held the Number 1 spot on Billboard’s Top 100 single chart for 26 out of that year’s 29 weeks. RSO also released the soundtrack of “The Empire Strikes Back,” beginning a close association with Lucasfilms.

Stigwood’s involvement with television spans both sides of the Atlantic. He controlled the rights to the original British TV series upon which “All in the Family” and “Sanford and Son” were based. His award-winning production of “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,” which starred Geraldine McEwan (Best Actress of the Year in the United Kingdom for this role), was presented in 1979 over PBS to rave reviews.

Upcoming from Stigwood’s RSO Films is “Young Lust,” which will be released by Paramount Pictures in 1982, and the film version of the smash hit “Evita,” which will begin production next year in association with Paramount.

Not since the heyday of Hollywood’s golden era, which produced “movie moguls” with magical names like Zanuck, Goldwyn, Mayer and DeMille, has an entrepreneur quite like ALLAN CAR emerged. He is the co-producer and co-author of GREASE, the most successful movie musical in film history, as well as being the fourth largest grossing movie of all time. It has, to date, produced over $160 million in international box-office rentals on production expenditures of just over $6 million. Carr had the honor of being named Producer of the Year for 1978 by the National Association of Theatre Owners and has also won the People’s Choice Award for the Movie of the Year in 1978. In February of this year ShoWest ’82 presented him with the first honorary “Showman of the Year” Award. He has now produced, with Robert Stigwood, the sequel, GREASE 2.

It was Carr’s influence that persuaded the producers of “The Deer Hunter” to release that film in time for Academy Award consideration, and it was his innovative approach to marketing and promotion  that assured the film its major sweep of the Oscars, including Best Picture of the Year, as well as securing its position as one of the top-grossing international film successes of 1979.

Prior to his involvement with GREASE and “The Deer Hunter,” Carr was instrumental in launching filmdom’s first rock opera, Ken Russell’s production of The Who’s “Tommy,” for the Robert Stigwood Organization and Columbia Pictures, which became a major critical and box-office sensation.

In early 1976, Carr discovered a little-known film while vacationing in Acapulco, Mexico. He acquired the rights to the movie for all non-Spanish speaking territories, and using the ingenuity that has since become his trademark, had the film re-edited, dubbed and rescored before releasing it domestically. That film, “Survive!,” the cinematic saga of the Andes air crash victims, went on to become the sleeper hit for Paramount in the summer of 1976, in the United States as well as a huge international success. It was the first time any film produced in Mexico achieved such recognition. It subsequently had one of the highest ratings of the year when it played on ABC-TV.

Carr’s previous films include the musical “Can’t Stop the Music,” for E.M.I., “C.C. & Company,” with Ann-Margret and Joe Namath for AVCO Embassy, and “The First Time,” starring Jacqueline Bisset for United Artists.

Carr is a resident of Beverly Hills and Malibu, California, and Honolulu, Hawaii, and New York City, where his parties are legendary. Once again, Carr has revived another old Hollywood institution in, creating what can only be described as the most fabulous bashes Hollywood has seen since the days of Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. He recently received an official proclamation from Mayor Thomas Bradley honoring him as the master showman of the ’80s. All traffic stopped on the world famous Sunset Strip for this presentation.

Raised in suburban Highland Park, Illinois, Carr attended Lake Forest College and entered show business after a stint at Northwestern University. His first venture was as one of the creators of the “Playboy Penthouse” television series. He was also responsible for opening, the magnificent Civic Theatre in Chicago, where he personally presented Bette Davis and Gary Merrill in “The World of Carl Sandburg,” Tyrone Guthrie’s production of “Mary Stuart,” starring Eva LaGalliene, Tennessee Williams’ “Garden District,” with Cathleen Nesbitt and Diana Barrymore, and “The Girls in 509,” with Imogene Coca and Peggy Wood. While still in high school, he was an investor in such Broadway hits as “Auntie Mame,” “The Happiest Millionaire” and “Once More, With Feeling.”

Carr’s first actual film experience came when he worked as an assistant to Nicholas Ray on Samuel Bronston’s epic, “King of Kings,” in Madrid, when he was 20 years old. Soon thereafter, Carr migrated to California and launched an unknown USC student named Mario Thomas in the West Coast premiere of “Sunday in New York.” The play ran for nine months and made a star of Ms. Thomas. His other discoveries include “Star War’s” Mark Hamill and the new Tarzan, Miles O’Keefe.

Carr’s influence and imagination have been a persuasive force throughout show business, having guided and influenced the careers of, as personal manager, such stars as Peter Sellers, Ann-Margret, Paul Anka, Dyan Cannon, Tony Curtis, Marvin Hamlisch, Melina Mercouri, Petula Clark, Joan Rivers, Hezb Alpert, John Gavin, Nancy Walker and the legendary Rosalind Russell, among so many others.

He has been an executive consultant to Columbia Pictures Television and co-produced four of the highly-rated Ann-Margret television specials, as well as “The Mama Cass Special” with Dick Van Dyke and Joel Grey. He worked with Academy President Howard W. Koch on the 49th Academy Awards show, and with director William Friedkin on the gala 50th anniversary show.

He is a member of the White House Preservation Committee, Board of Directors of Cedar-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, a founder of The Dorothy Chandler Music Center, co-sponsor of the Focus Student Film Awards, and a sponsor of the Honolulu Symphony.


                                                                                                                                                                                                             DIRECTOR/CHOREOGRAPHER

GREASE has “haunted” PATRICIA BfRCH ever since her involvement with it in its early beginnings as an Off-Broadway musical production, and GREASE 2, now marks her feature film directorial debut.
After training at the School of American Ballet and with Merce Cunningham and in the Martha Graham School, Birch began her career as a dancer with the legendary Martha Graham. She became one of the company’s leading soloists and, then, one of its brightest directors. As both actress and dancer, she has appeared in Agnes DeMille’s New York City Center revivals of “Brigadoon,” “Oklahoma” and “Carousel.” She is well-remembered as the character Anybody’s in the Broadway production of “West Side Story.”
In the theatre, she has received Tony Award nominations for her work as choreographer for “Grease,” “Over Here” and the Stephen Sondheim musical, “Pacific Overtures,” which was directed by Harold Prince. Birch also won the prestigious Drama Desk Award for her choreography of “Grease,” “Over Here” and “Candide,” which was again directed by Harold Prince with music by Leonard Bernstein. ”Candide” will be remounted at the New York City Opera.
As choreographer for the stage show Of “Grease,” Birch contributed greatly to its success as the longest running musical on Broadway. Responsible for the staging and choreography of the original film version of GREASE, she was a key creative component in this most successful movie musical of all time.
Other stage credits include the choreography for the original  productions of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” “The Me Nobody Knows,” “Diamond Studs,” the Prince-Sondheim-Wheeler “A Little Night Music” with Glynis Johns and Len Cariou, co-direction of Kurt Weill’s “The Happy End” with Meryl Streep and Chris Lloyd, “Gilda Radner Live From New York,” “Zoot Suit,” “They’re Playing Our Song,” as well as the jitterbug pas de deux for the New York City Opera production of “Street Scene.”
For the 1980-81 theatre season, Birch directed “Really Rosie,” a piece by Maurice Sendak and Carole King, which opened at the Chelsea Theatre Center and later moved to its successful run on Broadway. Her work as a choreographer has also been seen in the films “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” “Roseland,” “Gilda Live” and “Zoot
Suit.”
For television, she was the resident choreographer for the award winning Children’s Television Workshop program, “The Electric Company.”  She staged and choreographed the memorable Steve Martin-Gilda Radner spoof on “Dancing in the Dark” for “Saturday Night Live” and went on to join the staff of “Saturday Night Live” under producer Lorne Michaels.
Birch is the subject of the Emmy-nominated presentat
ion “Patricia Birch: From Graham to ‘Grease.’”