What better time to reminisce about maybe the most famous summer romance ever than just as summer is ending? There’s a lot to be said about why the late 1970s was so obsessed with the teen life of the 1950s, but who needs analysis when you can just have fun? Grease is an apotheosis of those ‘50s youth-culture nostalgia movies. Based on a hit Broadway musical and full of catchy songs (the soundtrack was the second-best selling album of 1978 behind the soundtrack of Saturday Night Fever — has anybody ever had a better year than John Travolta’s 1978?), Grease elevates the teenage high-school romance of greaser Danny (Travolta) and prim Australian transfer student Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) as they navigate their respective cliques to Hollywood perfection. It’s a little corny, and it’s a little campy, just like a good musical should be. But it’s also unforgettable. And now nobody will complain as you sing along under the Tampa Theatre stars about oh, those summer niiiiii … iiiiiiights!
