Grease still the word

For millions of “Greasers” — fans of the musical “Grease” — these are great times. Last year, “Grease,” probably the most popular musical in American history, returned to Broadway after a national television competition titled “You’re the One That I Want” to select the lead characters.

Touring companies are hitting other cities in the United States and abroad. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the equally successful movie version, and a host of commemorative activities are in the works.

Among the venues is Chicago’s Taft High School, the alma mater of Jim Jacobs, co-author of “Grease,” and the school that inspired the musical. Shirley Deweese, a member of the “Grease class” of 1960, is the vice president of Taft’s alumni association and chairman of the annual class reunion. (In the musical, the story takes place in 1959, so that the production could make better use of ’50s music.)

Mrs. Deweese said special plans in the works include an anticipated appearance by Mr. Jacobs. Ten years ago, she said, Frankie Avalon, who appeared in the film, attended the celebration, as did Guinness World Records representatives who verified the world’s largest performance of the “hand jive,” a dance featured in the movie.

Mrs. Deweese said about 330 members of the Taft class of 1960 are still living and that are proud of their “Grease” roots. During his years at Taft, Mr. Jacobs played guitar and sang in a band called DDT and the Dynamiters.

Because of the success of “Grease,” Mr. Jacobs is flush with royalties from stage and film performances, as well as the music.

Mrs. Deweese said the wealth and attendant fame have not affected Mr. Jacobs, who lives mostly in Los Angeles but maintains a condo in Chicago.

“I talk to him all the time,” she said, “and he always wants to be updated on what our classmates are doing. And when he comes to town he always looks some of us up and takes us out to dinner or introduces us to celebrities he may be with.”

Reached by phone in Los Angeles, Mr. Jacobs was affable and relaxed. With a strong sense of humor, he was happy to ride the endless wave of his doo-wop masterpiece.

“It’s just phenomenal, the number of Greasers that are out there,” he said. “And it’s a worldwide phenomenon. ’Grease’ is even more popular in Australia and the UK than it is here in the States.”

Fans are “hopelessly devoted” to “Grease” because of the seductive aura of ’50s nostalgia and the catchy music. Alone among musicals of the past 30 years, “Grease” does not depend on razzle-dazzle and spectacular sets, highlighted by one or two signature numbers.

Instead, the plot is propelled by one memorable song after another, including the title song, “Grease,” as well as “You’re the One That I Want,” “Summer Nights,” “Greased Lightning” and “We Go Together.”

The rocky love story between greaser gang leader Danny Zuko, played in the 1978 movie by John Travolta, and goody-two-shoes blond beauty Sandy Olsson, played by Olivia Newton-John, also connects the audience emotionally.

“Grease” was born in 1971 as a collaboration between Mr. Jacobs, then a copy editor at Advertising Age magazine, and Warren Casey, a salesman for a Chicago department store, both of them part-time actors.

As Mrs. Deweese related the story, Mr. Jacobs and Mr. Casey were attending a theater cast party when Mr. Jacobs played some of his 1950s 45-rpm records.

“Jacobs proposed to Casey that they write a ’50s musical,” said Mrs. Deweese, “and after a few beers, they had both agreed.”

“Grease” began as a play with music and debuted at a small, out-of-the-way theater called the Kingston Mines.

“The theater was so bare-bones,” Mrs. Deweese said, “that they didn’t even have chairs. They passed out sheets of newspaper for you to put on the floor to sit on.”

Neither co-author expected much from their little production, but two New York producers, Ken Waissman and Maxine Fox, were in the audience and liked what they saw. They told Mr. Jacobs and Mr. Casey that they wanted to produce “Grease” on Broadway.

Mr. Jacobs and Mr. Casey agreed to move to New York and rewrite the production as a full-scale musical. The reworked “Grease” opened at the Eden Theater in Lower Manhattan.

The original play, Mr. Jacobs said, mentioned familiar Chicago places such as Canale’s Pizza Parlor, the Super Dog and Lake Michigan beaches. He said the song “Summer Nights” originally was titled “Foster Beach.” Taft High School was changed to Rydell High, in honor of ’50s crooner Bobby Rydell.

In the movie, the setting was changed to Southern California.

“The characters were essentially composites,” Mrs. Deweese said, “although I can recognize individual classmates in most of the characters — except Sandy.”

Sandy was recast as an Australian in the movie to fit Australian actress Olivia Newton-John.

Mr. Jacobs said the school really did have a girls gang named the Pink Ladies.

“I reported to Taft High School as a peach-fuzzed freshman in 1956 and these broads with babushkas, cigarettes hanging out of their mouths and huge [breasts] scared … me.”

He said someone sent pictures of the 50-year reunion of the class of ’57 last year. “There were these old ladies who looked like Julia Child all wearing Pink Ladies T-shirts. It was pretty amazing.”

Mr. Jacobs said he was encouraged to write a book about “Grease” but declined because the story is not over.

“Warren Casey and I used to ask each other, ’When will it end?’ ” he said. “We decided that it would end when something came along to replace nostalgia.

“For a while, we thought it might be disco,” Mr. Jacobs said, but then, disco’s biggest Hollywood name, John Travolta, decided to star in the movie version of “Grease.”

“Finally,” Mr. Jacobs said, “we just decided it will never end.”