Review: Secret Cinema's Grease The Immersive Movie Musical (2026)
- Immersive Rumours
- 1 hour ago
- 7 min read
Rydell High is bigger than ever, but a lack of interaction leaves the audience on the outside looking in.
Photo: Matt Crockett
Tucked away between the trees of Battersea Park is a little slice of American pie. Rydell High School has traveled from the American 50’s to give immersive theatregoers a taste of the malted and sugar-coated past, complete with hair grease, lindy hops, and leather jackets in Secret Cinema’s second remounting of Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical. And while there is no doubt that the energetic approach to this classic musical is a toe-tapping crowd-pleaser, a lack of attention to the company’s immersive roots leaves the audience feeling Alone at the Drive-In.
Secret Cinema has had a wild few years. With the sale to TodayTix in 2022, the company has understandably gone through some soul-searching, taking time to redefine their brand and approach to creating immersive experiences. During that period, they’ve leaned on an old reliable production - Grease - to keep some cash flowing while they lay new foundations. And what a foundation it will be. The company has announced a new flagship venue in Greenwich, which plans to open in early 2027 with one of the company’s most ambitious immersive adaptations to date, Pirates of the Caribbean.
But these restructures have also impacted the company’s approach to its artistic endeavors, with their productions becoming less interactive and intimate and more focused on mass appeal and spend per head over recent years. Where there once were sweeping stories in the style of Phantom Peak or The Key of Dreams, which involved hacking computers, uncovering secret back rooms, and interacting with characters; now audiences are largely relegated to the sidelines, only invited into the action for momentary scenes and being told exactly what to do every step of the way.
It’s a departure from the formats that made the company legends of the industry, guiding them dangerously close to the more corporate offerings of projector installations and pop-up brand experiences. And while the sets and performances are still top-notch, the vision and spirit of the productions have changed, and the question has to be asked - who is this for?
Audiences arrive to a carnival outside of Rydell High, mimicking the final scene of Grease in which Danny and Sandy dance across fun houses and midway games. Iconic attractions like the Shake Shack and the fun house from the movie are available for audiences to try for themselves, along with other classic offerings like a ferris wheel, swings, and roll-a-ball derby games. There is also a large movie screen designed to look like a billboard which plays classic American ads from the 50s, including the Ipana “Brusha Brusha Brusha” commercial parodied at Frenchie’s sleepover in the film. The sets and sounds capture the energy and excitement of a state fair, capitalism and all.
Each attraction costs a varying amount of tokens (10 tokens cost £10), so be prepared to shell out if you want to join in the fun. There are also several bars to purchase cocktails, food stalls to purchase a burger or hot dog, and merch booths to purchase mock leather T-Bird or Pink Lady jackets in case you left yours at home. In fact, there isn’t a single thing to do during the hour and a half pre-show experience that isn’t an extra cost. And while it seems fair that audiences should pay a small fee to fund the rides’ rental costs, it stings to realize that the base ticket price doesn’t cover any entertainment across such a significant portion of the experience.
Photo: Danny Kaan (From 2025's edition of Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical)
The true experience begins as the 1978 film plays its romantic prologue on the billboard at the fair. As the film transitions away from its sun-soaked shores and into the title sequence, live actors take over from the movie’s soundtrack. Audiences are ushered through Rydell’s front doors and into an enormous multi-purpose space. In the centre of the room is a raised stage in the round, with large movie screens positioned above it playing the original film.
At the front of the room, another stage is decorated for a live filming of American Bandstand, complete with a live band playing along with the actors’ singing. The rest of the space is themed after the Frosty’s Malt Shop, a Drive-In Theatre, and Rydell’s auto shop, with the vast majority of the space dominated by tables for premium ticket holders. There is a large amount of space between the central stage and the other themed spaces for audiences with standing room tickets to move between the areas, creating a moat between the main seating and the action of the play.
As a baseline, Grease is a cinema experience. The film plays on the overhead screens, and audiences watch from their themed seats (or from the peanut gallery). But at key moments, especially around the film’s musical numbers, a live cast performs the scenes and songs with the film continuing in the background. In between these live scenes, small groups of audiences are selected to engage with short mini-scenes to flesh out the theme and atmosphere of the movie. Several audience members are led by Coach in simple sports drills, another group of audience members are taught a cheerleading chant, and during the pinnacle Prom dance, audience members are invited to mingle with the cast members on the dance floor.
As a musical, Secret Cinema’s take on Grease is stellar. The cast are phenomenally talented, filling out a difficult venue with energy and charm at every turn. Giórgios Michaelídes swaggers through his scenes and songs as Danny, and Lucy Penrose’s Rizzo has a powerhouse performance in both “Look at Me, I’m Sandre Dee” and “There Are Worse Things I Could Do”. But Stephanie Costi steals the show as Sandy, rivaling even Olivia Newton-John in both vocals and magnetism. Her naïve and hopeful approach to the character is anything but meek, and in an experience which vies for the audience’s attention in every different direction all at once, she anchors the performance with her commanding presence and charismatic charm.
Photo: Matt Crockett
The design is impressive as well, meshing several snapshots from the film into an interwoven space that jumps from scene to scene. The set design (Tom Rogers) expertly captures the youthful and rebellious energy of the time period, and navigates the magically iconic set piece moments of the film with flair (the flying car from “Greased Lightnin’” is a particular highlight). The costumes (Susan Kulkarni) are also inventive, matching the look of the film but also adapting the themes to fit the unique needs of this reimagined production.
However, the beating heart of the show is Jennifer Weber’s choreography, which builds on the film’s classic aesthetic and injects a more modern Kenny Ortega-style energy into the movements. The audience audibly gasped at key moments during the Prom sequence, and the entire ensemble is meticulously in sync and endlessly energetic. Much of the production fights to drag the audience’s attention away from the screens, and Weber’s design is what makes the show truly feel alive.
If this production were simply a musical on a more traditional stage, this review would be nothing but positive, and would give the show a five-star rating. But the “Musical” aspect is only one third of Secret Cinema’s “Immersive Movie Musical”.
The “Movie” aspect, which the entire production uses as the foundation to build off of, is more of a distraction than a backbone. While it is helpful for the film to take over segues between scenes and fill the moments needed to set up for the next live performance segment, it actively distracts from everything else in the room. It’s difficult to focus on the live actors or the gorgeous sets when the film is playing overhead, and it’s even more difficult to pull the audience’s attention away from those screens when it’s time for the live performance to take over. This has worked better in previous Secret Cinema productions where actors could step in front of the screens to steal the audience’s attention back, but here it feels difficult to know where to look.
But it’s the “Immersive” element that falls shortest, which should be Secret Cinema’s strongest aspect. The layout of the venue creates a visible barrier between the audience and the performance. There’s a clear line drawn between “on stage” and “off stage”, and while actors occasionally cross this line, the overwhelming majority of the performance takes place in an area that the audience is not allowed to impede on.
Photo: Matt Crockett
The moments of audience interaction are fleeting, and are scripted down to the second. This is in part because the cast need to time their performances to the film playing overhead, but there are moments when the film pauses for the cast to move into flexible periods (which allow for costume changes, additional songs, and preparation for major tech moments). Gone are the intimate moments where audiences could speak to their favorite characters from the film, possibly to get a quest or simply to spend some time living within the world of the show. The actors (many of whom are from a West End background rather than an immersive one) don’t even have time for a quick “hello” as they rush past to get changed for their next scene.
All of this combines to create a feeling of the audience being on the outside looking in. This feeling might be reminiscent of some high school experiences, but not in a good way. Even when audiences are placed on stage next to the cast members, the cast are frequently performing for the non-diegetic audience rather than engaging with the audience members who have stepped into their world. In one particular scene, audiences were brought on stage to dance casually while the cast performed a choreographed number around them that was too complex to pick up organically, leaving the on-stage audience to feel like extras at best, or uncoordinated outcasts at worst. It came across as unwelcoming, even in the guided dance segments later on where audiences were relegated back to the ground floor.
The production seems to have an identity problem. It’s incredibly difficult to seamlessly merge three different formats of performance, and Secret Cinema hasn’t quite threaded that needle. Instead, because Secret Cinema haven’t offered audiences the opportunity to effectively participate in the world they’ve created, their production feels more akin to a very high-budget theatre-in-the-round performance. It’s a perfectly valid and effective form of theatre, but it isn’t immersive.
Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical is overall an energetic and entertaining experience with undeniably talented and passionate artists at the helm. But it never quite amounts to more than the sum of its parts. The disengagement and oversight of the audience’s presence is a worrying sign, and hopefully isn’t indicative of Secret Cinema’s future. However, much like Danny and Sandy at the end of the film, Secret Cinema has a bright future ahead of it. Here’s hoping that, like Sandy, they realize they didn’t need to change the best parts of themselves in order to make their fans happy.
★★★
[Tickets provided in exchange for an honest review]
Words: Danny Romeo
Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical runs in Battersea Park until 13th September 2026. Tickets are priced from £34.00 per person. For more info and to book tickets, visit greasetheimmersivemoviemusical.com
For more reviews of immersive experiences like Secret Cinema's Grease, check out our recent Reviews.