Nostalgia for the malt shop scene of the 1950s remains so keen that revivals of the musical "Grease!" will probably always have a place on the entertainment menu.
Considering the original 1972 Broadway production of "Grease!" ran for eight years and spawned two movies, it's no surprise that the current revival opening tomorrow at the Lyric Opera House has done well both in New York and on the road.
If anything, it's daunting to realize that we're now as far removed in time from the original Broadway production of "Grease!" as it was from the '50s pop culture it celebrates.
"The show reminds people of what life was like back in high school," explains "Grease!" star Sally Struthers from a tour stop in Cincinnati. "It was the time when they had the most fun and life was simpler. After high school, life gets a little more difficult."
Audiences for this particular production may be lured by more than a kick of '50s nostalgia. After all, some people will come bearing warm memories of Ms. Struthers in the early '70s TV series "All in the Family." Others may be lured by her two co-stars: '60s pop phenom Davy Jones from the Monkees, and Rex Smith from the TV soap opera "As the World Turns." Pick any recent decade and the cast of this show promises to fit your nostalgia needs.
Ms. Struthers plays the high school English teacher Miss Lynch -- she of the sensible shoes and nerdy glasses. The actress describes her character as "a no-nonsense teacher who wears a whistle around her neck at all times, carries a ruler and sends people to detention hall. The goody girls like her and the greasers don't like her."
Although Miss Lynch is one of the rare adult authority figures in the juvenile universe of "Grease!" Ms. Struthers doesn't consider her a heavy. "I don't think I'd be believable as a monster. I don't think I could play a really mean teacher. I just stick my jaw out and get a little bossier."
By way of long-distance demonstration, the actress suddenly shouts "Everybody sit down! Sit down!" in a nasal shriek that makes you glad you're not in Miss Lynch's class.
A lot of the comedy in "Grease!" comes when the in-control Miss Lynch loses control. "Miss Lynch is at the prom to supervise, the punch is spiked, she has a lot of punch, and I leave the rest to your imagination."
If you can easily imagine Sally Struthers in this part, it's because her career has had its share of silly business. She became a familiar face through appearances on the Smothers Brothers and Tim Conway variety shows, gained a permanent place in the collective TV memory as Gloria Stivic in "All in the Family" and, over the years, has been a familiar vocal presence because of voiceover work, including being the voice of teen-age dinosaur Charlene in the TV series "Dinosaurs."
That voice can be so playfully child-like in conversation that it seems the right tone for discussing her 18 years of visits, public service commercials and films made on behalf of needy children around the world.
As an ambassador for Save the Children, she visits remote villages in Third World countries, where "there are no TV sets and so they don't know me from 'All in the Family.' I'm just a blond lady speaking funny and holding their babies."
The young cast members of "Grease!" -- which is just about everybody else -- also look up to her. She says, "I call the kids in the show my children." With that in mind, she had a "Grease!" mock business card made as a joke on which she listed her occupation as baby sitter. Her real-life daughter, 15-year-old Samantha, lives with her in Brentwood, Calif. Asked about their home, Ms. Struthers notes with pain in her voice that she lives "six blocks from O. J. Simpson's home. My daughter used to baby-sit their children."
The non-stop performance and travel schedule of a national tour means Ms. Struthers has spent little time with her daughter in recent months. For that reason, she's looking forward to leaving the production in May.
"I really want to go home. I miss my daughter terribly," says a mother for whom the "Grease!" gig is only the second time in her career she's been with a touring Broadway production. The first such tour also brought her to Baltimore -- exactly a decade ago -- when she and Rita Moreno appeared in the female version of "The Odd Couple" at the Mechanic Theatre.
"I spent Thanksgiving in Baltimore 10 years ago and I'll be spending it in Baltimore again now."
'GREASE!'
Where: Lyric Opera House, 140 W. Mount Royal Ave.
When: 8 p.m. tomorrow through Saturday; 7:30 p.m. Sunday; 2 p.m. matinees Saturday and Sunday
Tickets: $27.50 to $47.50
Call: (410) 481-SEAT