Milling About With The Papermill Playhouse Stars of 'Grease'

Start off the summer with the new stars of Grease, Taylor Louderman and Bobby Conte Thornton performing May 28- June 29 at the Papermill Playhouse. They join host Robin Milling during their rehearsal in New York to talk about taking on the beloved roles of Sandy Dumbrowski and Danny Zuko. Broadway theater lovers may remember Taylor from Bring It On, but Bobby is making his musical stage debut while still in college balancing musical theater with playing tennis at the University of Michigan.

Bobby tells Robin their show promises to take on more inspiration from the stage version than the movie which starred Olivia Newton John and John Travolta. The one change is adding 'Hopelessly Devoted To You' to their show which wasn't in the original musical. The other classic songs remain the same, but the two actors admit they had to step it up a bit learning the 50s style choreography of 'Hand Jive' by JoAnn M. Hunter. For their homework as members of the highschool gangs the Greasers and the Pink Ladies, they can still recall their former selves in highschool.

Both Taylor and Bobby are the first in their families to make their way into show business. Bobby comes from a family of scientists while Taylor who grew up in Bourbon, Missouri says 'the cattle population exceeds the human population and there's really no theater!' Their families are very supportive of their careers and will no doubt be front row and center to see them starring in Grease!

For more information visit http://www.papermill.org/

Rehearsal photos courtesy of Jerry Dalia