It’s back to Rydell High: Chanhassen turns up the heat on ‘Grease’ with a cast of ‘hotties’

If Chanhassen Dinner Theatres artistic director Michael Brindisi tears up when he talks about “Grease,” it’s because the musical has so much meaning for him. As he remembers it, he was a struggling actor down to his last dollar at the Howard Johnson’s in Times Square when a fellow actor saw his dejection and encouraged him to join the long audition line across the street.

Brindisi didn’t even know anything about “Grease” — the show that attracted that crowd — but after impressing the creative team, he landed a part as an understudy in the ensemble for the national tour.

“That show saved my life,” he said.

It also put him on the path that eventually led to him being a co-owner of America’s largest dinner theater. Now, as he produces the fourth Chanhassen production of “Grease” — including a version that played at the Pantages Theatre in downtown Minneapolis — Brindisi hopes that it will be as meaningful for his actors and audiences as it has been for him.

“No part is ever too small because you never know where your opportunity is going to come from,” Brindisi said. “The other thing is that because this show is so popular, people treat these characters like cartoons. But they’re real, and going through things everyone goes through.”

Laura Osnes famously headlined as Sandy in “Grease” at Chan before going on to Broadway and beyond. Now the company is hoping to mint other stars with a cast studded with veterans alongside newer, younger faces.

“They’re hotties. They’re fire — so gorgeous and talented,” said resident choreographer and theater co-owner Tamara Kangas Erickson. “Of course, this version will have undercurrents of the productions we’ve done in the past, but they’re definitely bringing freshness, authenticity and chemistry to it.”

“Grease” orbits the gangster wannabes Burger Palace Boys and Pink Ladies who rule Rydell High. Here are some yearbook-style portraits of performers playing some of the most rebellious seniors.

She was a swing in Chanhassen’s just-closed “White Christmas,” which means she covered about 10 of the show’s ensemble parts. Now Theisen gets to settle down as Sandy, the biggest role of her career. Born in San Jose, Calif., she grew up in Maple Grove before attending the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University.

After school, she tried to make a go of acting in the Windy City but found herself doing everything but her chosen profession. “I had six jobs at one time, including cleaning people’s houses, serving, bartending, go-go dancing,” Theisen said. An ensemble role in 2022 in the Ordway’s “Beauty and the Beast,” where she also performed with “Grease” co-star Sam Stoll, brought her home. She’s been working ever since, including at Artistry. Sandy is her biggest break.

“People think that she’s sweet, innocent and passive but she’s misunderstood,” Theisen said. “She’s new to the scene so she’s nervous. But she’s really strong, and I love that by the end of the play, she steps into a more confident version of herself.”

He drew oohs and aahs with his smooth baritone on “Oh What a Night” as Bob Gaudio in “Jersey Boys.” And he memorably dashed off a spicy “Oh! Carol” as smitten Neil Sedaka in “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical,” both at Chanhassen. Now the charismatic, baby-faced performer is playing Danny Zuko, the cool leader of the Burger Palace Boys who had a summer fling with new girl Sandy Dumbrowski that he is trying to hide.

Stoll is the rare Danny who not only has the pipes and solid acting chops but also is a stylish dancer, Kangas Erickson said.

A Minnesota State Mankato grad, he has performed in New York, on the national tour of “Jekyll & Hyde” and on cruise ships. This Danny is the tops for him, he said, because the cast gets on so well and he has a better read on his character.

“I’m embracing Danny’s balance between a sweet guy and a tough guy,” Stoll said. “I love that he’s on the cusp of becoming an adult and he’s realizing that he doesn’t need to be a crass little boy anymore.”

She plays Betty Rizzo, the tough leader of the Pink Ladies. Trained in opera, Hashizume depicted Rapunzel in the Guthrie’s “Into the Woods” and several roles in History Theatre’s “I Am Betty.” Now she’s stretching out in the biggest part of her career.

“I love classical music and opera so much, and I always thought that I’d be pigeonholed to doing just crossover work,” Hashizume said. “To be doing this feels like a completely new experience.”

Rizzo, she says, is misunderstood.

“People look at a show like ‘Grease’ and think they know the whole story — Sandy is the good girl, Rizzo is the baddie,” Hashizume said. “But Rizzo is very complex as she works through things that teenagers have to work through. Young people have big feelings and they don’t have the frontal lobe development to say, ‘Stop, let’s think about this.’ Her coping mechanism is being angry and fighting.”

He returns to Chanhassen after six years seeing the world as a performer on Norwegian cruise ships. During those years, he was one of four principal singers in several revues and also headlined two full productions — “Kinky Boots,” in which he played real estate agent Richard Bailey, and “The Choir of Man,” where he was a featured vocalist.

“My favorite itinerary was Australia to New Zealand but I loved Greece, Portugal and seeing all these other places,” Mwanza said. He has played Teen Angel — the guardian who encourages Frenchy not to be a “Beauty School Dropout” — before at Chan.

“Teen Angel is a sassy character but at the crux of it all is a message that we can all use,” Mwanza said. “I know you can do better so let’s do better.”

She plays good-natured but not too smart dreamer Frenchy, who is eager to get on with life and be a beautician. She sparkled as Little Eva and as a Chiffon in “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.” And while she has been in shows at the Children’s Theatre, including “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” and “Three Little Birds,” she is finding a home at Chan.

“I really connect with Frenchy on her love of fashion and hair and color,” Andrews said. “I also like the care she has for her friends and the fact that the reason people start to like Sandy is because she loves Sandy so much.”

Still, Andrews said, if she could change anything about Frenchy, it would be her drive.

“She gives up too soon,” Andrews said. “She could try something and stick with it for a little longer.”

He has shown that he can be a force, flashing personality and character in ensemble roles. Now Benson gets to play a principal role, Danny’s righthand man Kenickie.

“I’m usually a one-named character that sings a fun upbeat song to help tell the rest of the story,” he said, referencing Pepper in “Mamma Mia!” Action in “West Side Story” and Rocky in “Rocky Horror Show.” “Kenickie has a full, fleshed-out arc — we see confidence, heartbreak, machismo and softness.”

Benson did “Grease” once before — in seventh grade at Minneapolis’ Marcy Open School. He played Teen Angel and it was memorable not just because it quickened his desire for the stage.

“I had my first backstage kiss right before I went on,” he said. “She missed and kissed my contact out of my eye. I was blinking a lot when I sang the song.”

Now, he said, he sees his character in “Grease” with greater clarity.

“How do you crack through the surface of someone who’s a wall of emotional blockages and is all persona?” Benson said. “We’re having fun finding out.”

When: 7:30 p.m. Tue., 1 & 7:30 p.m. Wed., 7:30 p.m. Thu.-Fri., 1 & 7:30 p.m. Sat., 6:30 p.m. Sun. Ends Oct. 4.

Where: Chanhassen Dinner Theatres, 501 W. 78th St., Chanhassen.

Tickets: $94.29-$126.80, 952-934-1525 or chanhassendt.com.