THE Theatre Royal Brighton’s big Christmas show will be feelgood classic Grease.

Actors Tom Parker, Danielle Hope and Louisa Lytton will take to the stage from December 11 right through the 31 as part of a huge nationwide tour.

The production started in Manchester in March and has graced a new city each week playing to sell out audiences. Brighton will be the last stop on the near year-long tour. Mr Parker, who is making his musical debut as Danny, said: “I’ve learnt something from everybody in the cast and I don’t think there is any better place to learn then on the job.”

Ms Lytton, who plays Rizzo, added, “There is a pressure in that people who come to see this show know exactly what they want from it, and some people know the actual script inside and out.”

This award winning production originally opened in the West End in 1993 and it enjoyed a hugely successful run of six years at the Dominion and Cambridge Theatres. Ms Lytton said, “We are putting our own spin on things and the characters, because people don’t want to come and see exactly what they’ve seen in the film.”

The UK tour is directed by David Gilmore, a veteran of 17 West End productions, and is choreographed by former Strictly Come Dancing judge Arlene Phillips. Jimmy Osmond is also set to appear, playing the role of Teen Angel.

Ms Lytton said she was looking forward to the Brighton run over the Christmas period but admitted she finds it difficult to be away from family and friends. Mr Parker said he tries to get round it by inviting his fiancée and parents to as many shows as possible - although he admitted the novelty had worn off for them.

Grease opened on Broadway in 1972 following the hit movie starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. The 1978 Hollywood production is one of the most successful musical films of all time.

Produced on just a budget of $6, it took more than $395 at the box office. Its soundtrack album also ended 1978 as the second-best selling album of the year in the United States, behind the soundtrack of the 1977 blockbuster Saturday Night Fever.

A sequel, titled Grease 2, followed in 1982, with Maxwell Caulfield and Michelle Pfeiffer playing leads. Only a few of the original cast members reprised their roles. The sequel did not enjoy the success of the first film.

Emily Hennings