Jay Laga’aia - Grease The Musical
Joseph Spanti & Annelise Hall
"Grease is the soundtrack to a lot of people's lives," explained Jay Laga'aia ahead of the Australian stage musical adaptation of the iconic film. "The wonderful thing about Grease is that you could take your 8-year-old or you could take your 80-year-old & they would get two different shows out of it... Hopefully, we'll be able to make life memories for those people who come to see the show for the first time."
The upcoming run of Grease stage musicals will see it making stops at Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne, the Capitol Theatre in Sydney & even over to Perth in 2024. During this run of shows, Laga'aia will be performing the role of Vince Fontaine, which he told Pario was incredibly exciting for a multitude of reasons.
As Jay explained, firstly, "As a performer I'm doing one of the most iconic musicals that you could ever do... when I got the call I was overjoyed... I grew up in the 60s & 70s listening to iconic radio DJs, so for me the idea of being able to bring those guys to life on stage was fantastic."
Another element that elicited much excitement from Jay was the opportunity to spread his creative wings again.
"I'm a jack of all trades, so I get really excited when people throw curveballs at me and go, can you do this or can you do that? Whether it be film, television, hosting shows, or running workshops, I quite like the idea of being able to chop & change... The challenge of being able to come up against an obstacle & try to figure out how to work it, how to get it. I think that comes from my Play School days of being able to put my hand in the useful box & go, 'Ok, how do I make this bumblebee work with toilet paper, a toilet roll & some sticky tape."
Lastly, Jay was especially delighted to be returning to the Capitol Theatre as a performer for the first time in 2 decades.
"This will be the first time I go back to the Capitol Theatre since I was in The Lion King in 2003," Jay said while making a joke about the reason for the large gap. "You kill a couple of hyenas & the next thing you know they ban you for life!"
In regards to the show itself, Jay was filled with praise for the leads of the show, Annalise Hall & Joseph Spanti. Particularly as Jay understands how daunting it must have been to undertake such iconic roles.
"I look at Danny & Sandy like you would look at Luke Skywalker & Princess Leia. These are such iconic names that sometimes it doesn't really matter who plays them, but we're really blessed to have these two talented performers in the show. I think the audience is just going to fall in love with both of them."
For Jay, it's not just the phenomenal cast that will make these shows so special, as he told Pario the nostalgic element combined with the importance of live theatre also plays a big part.
"These shows bring the community together... Seeing live theatre, especially now after COVID, people need comfort food. They need things that they are familiar with because we lost a lot of people that we loved... That is the great thing about Grease, people know what they've ordered, they know what they're coming to see & they just want to be surprised by how we present it... so everybody stays in the moment because they know what's coming up."
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