Grease Returns to Chicago

Grease Returns to Chicago
Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta in Grease.
Grease Returns to Chicago
Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta in Grease.

Grease Returns to Chicago

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With more than 3,300 performances in its initial Broadway run, Grease is one of the most successful musicals of all time. And the film version, from 1978, is the highest-grossing live-action movie musical of all time. It’s also been presented by countless high schools and regional theater groups, and has been revived for a national tour.

But did you know that it started in Chicago, and that Rydell High is really Taft High School? That’s because the co-writer of the book, music, and lyrics is Chicagoan Jim Jacobs. He stopped by our studios to talk about the birth of Grease, and growing up on the Northwest Side.