'Grease': First Look at Rydell High School in 'Rise of the Pink Ladies' Paramount+ Prequel

By Daniel S. Levine

The Pink Ladies are dancing again, but this time in Vancouver. Production is underway for Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, a prequel series for the beloved 1978 movie. Vancouver residents have begun sharing photos from the set, showing off classic 1950s cars and how Vancouver Technical School stands in as Rydell High School.

Back on Feb. 17, a Twitter user shared a photo from outside Vancouver Technical School, showing production staff preparing to turn the building into Rydell High. They even planted palm trees at the entrance. A Reddit user published photos of the classic 1950s cars sitting in the parking lot, complete with fake California license plates. One photo shows a Rydell High School yellow bus.

Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies is set in 1954, four years before Danny Zuko (John Travolta) made Sandy Olsson (Oliva Newton-John) change everything about herself for him. The four central characters have fun on their own terms, even if they cause a moral panic at the school. 

Rise of the Pink Ladies stars Marisa Davila as Jane, Cheyenne Isabel Wells as Olivia, Ari Notartomaso as Cynthia, Tricia Fukuhara as Nancy, Shanel Bailey as Hazel, Madison Thompson as Susan, Johnathan Nieves as Richie, Jason Schmidt as Buddy, and Maxwell Whittington-Cooper as Wally. Jackie Hoffman (Only Muders in the Building) was cast as Assistant Principal McGee. Charlotte Kavanagh, Josette Halpert, Nicholas McDonough, Maximo Weber Salas, Alexis Sides, and Chris McNally also star.

Paramount+ ordered 10 episodes of the show, which is produced by Paramount Television studios. Annabel Oakes (Awkward.) is the showrunner, while Alethea Jones is directing three episodes. Jamal Sims is the choreographer since the show will include musical numbers.

"We are thrilled to unveil our new original series that will introduce an incredible cast of young stars in the making and electrifying musical numbers you will fall in love with," Nicole Clemens, president of Paramount Television Studios & Paramount+ Original Scripted Series, said in a statement in late January. "Annabel and Alethea have managed to brilliantly capture the spirit of the iconic beloved classic film which like Rise of the Pink Ladies, is both set in the past but relevant to the present."

The Grease franchise started as a hit Broadway musical in 1971 by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The musical was adapted into a film in 1978 and became one of the highest-grossing musicals in film history. It joined the Library of Congress's National Film Registry in 2020. The movie was followed by Grease 2 in 1978 and Grease: Live on Fox in 2016. Paramount is also developing a film prequel called Summer Lovin'. 

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