ALW's Cinderella - Gillian Lynne / U.K. Tour (rumour)

makes even less sense now.

yeah I thought that. Plus I dont know why changing yourself seems to be always painted as a negative thing these days. Changing yourself can often be good.

This is such a yawn.

I’m fully expecting this show to reveal in all its glory how totally out of touch ALW is with the ‘yoof’ of today. The whole enterprise is bizarre and I cannot wait.

I dunno, i mean i think that he tackled SOR quite well and i was surprised by it. Plus it's not his actual idea or story. Based on the clip the music isn't going to be 'young' though.

But doesnt Danny make an effort to change to? he does in the film anyway.

Let's face it girls/women have been having makeovers since practically the dawn of time for one reason or another and men are now catching up in different ways (e.g. working out, fashion etc.).

And sometimes you meet someone or a situation occurs that makes you realise you're stuck in a rut/in comfort zone and you can (and want) to be better or different and gives you the confidence to do that. I get where people are coming from but change doesn't always equal bad and staying yourself doesnt always equal good.

I'm a female and I'll be happy to share my perspective because I get really bored by this ongoing "Sandy changes for Danny" accusations. She doesn't and it's right in the script. Even during the date at the Drive-In Sandy shows spirit by refusing to go along when Danny gets handsy. Instead she returns his ring and leaves.

Soon after everyone except Danny is together in Jan's basement, hanging out and Sandy announces, "Don't put too many records on, I'm leaving soon" (it's her record player) and the others tease her that she wants to leave because Danny isn't there and she says "I didn't come here to see him", Rizzo asks "Whatdya come for then?", Sandy: "Uh, because I was invited", Rizzo: "We only invited ya because we needed a record player"

In this moment Sandy is rejected by the WHOLE group, girls included. The scene continues with Rizzo's revelation that she may be pregnant, Sandy tries to be nice to her and Rizzo flies into her face with "There are worse things I could do". After that Sandy sings a full reprise of "Look at me, I'm Sandra Dee" in which she sings "When THEY critizise and make fun of me, can't THEY see the tears in my smile? Don't THEY realize there's just one of me and it has to last me a while? (...) Sandy, you must start anew..."

This isn't about Danny, this is about wanting to belong to a group, a clique, which is something I'm sure almost every teenager feels. And yes, they change to fit in with the group. Girls do it, boys do it too - they all wear the same kind of clothes, hairdos, whatever. And as adults we can preach as much as we like that it's best to "just be yourself" - very few people do, certainly not as teenagers.

I'm also quite sure that teenagers have always and will always experiment with different styles - get a mad hairdo, go "gothic" for half a year or try some crazy fashion. Do we really think that Sandy will only walk around all dolled up in super-tight leather pants now? I'd like to think, that she's just showing them "I can be more than that boring dull little girl you see" and wear a little more fashionable clothes from then on onwards.

So yes, I'm very much with @rnc - this is about self-development, finding the strength to change, moving on, etc. There are so many shows with godawfully written female characters, but I never ever thought Grease and Sandy were among them.

Yes I totally get you viserys , it's a good point well made! Personally I don't find that the whole group rejects her in the Rec Room scene - actually the opposite. They want Sandy to stay and Frenchy says “don't mind her, Sandy” when Rizzo is the one continually ripping into her. The revelation that Rizzo might be pregnant and her subsequent outburst is what breaks that party up. This is all according to the stage show anyway, not the film! And I find that her “sexy” reveal seems to be tailored purely towards Danny. Maybe Rizzo and Marty act and/or dress in that fashion but I wouldn't have said Frenchy & Jan do so the whole fitting in with the Pink Ladies thing I also don't fully buy. But as I’ve said, it's purely my opinion and what you've said certainly makes a lot of sense.

Don't wanna derail this thread much further - who else was in the workshop cast for this and do we think any of them will make an appearance in the show too?

Haha, yes and no; to the extent that ALW could ever relinquish overall control.
It’s a bit like Lawrence Connor’s “direction” for ALW and Cam Mac - we all know who’s in the driving seat.

That said, I do think some of ALW’s best composing has come when he’s working on someone else’s idea. Doesn’t happen that often sadly. But Evita was Tim Rice’s idea. Beautiful Game Ben Elton’s. Cats TS Eliot, and shaped very much by Trevor. Etc.

It smacks of wanting to get some extra publicity