Rerun: Edgy, gritty and sexy, the Broadway production of ‘Grease’ opened at the Broadhurst Theatre on 7th June, 1972, beginning what would become a record-breaking eight-year run.

Despite NOT featuring some of the most well-known hits from the movie - including ‘Grease Is The Word’, ‘You’re The One That I Want’ and ‘Hopelessly Devoted To You’ - the production attracted an unusually high proportion of blue-collar audiences, keen to see working-class and ethnic immigrant subculture portrayed in a musical.

In this episode, Olly, Arion and Rebecca reveal the origin of the word ‘greasers’, explain why ‘50s nostalgia played little part in the original success of the show, and consider whether the Grease Megamix is an appropriate choice for 10 year olds to sing at a Summer Ball…

Further Reading:

• The Playbill from the original production:

https://www.playbill.com/article/playbill-archives-grease-1972-com-143094

• ‘It’s The Longest-Running Show on Broadway’ - a 1970s TV commercial for the show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phxb5K7jUUw

• The original dialogue from ‘Grease’ c/o New Line Theatre:

http://www.newlinetheatre.com/grease-dialogue.html

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When Lord Byron’s 17 year-old daughter, Ada Lovelace, attended a soirée at the home of academic Charles Babbage on 5th June, 1833, the pair hit it off immediately. He invited her to see his ‘Difference Engine’ - an early mechanical calculator - kicking off a correspondence that lasted throughout her life.

Their lively, intellectual correspondence, and Ada's deep understanding of mathematics and science, lead to her championing of Babbage’s ‘Analytical Engine’, a groundbreaking proto personal computer for which Ada even wrote an algorithm.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly debate whether Ada deserves her 21st century acclaim as the godmother of computer programming; expose her extramarital affairs and gambling habit; and consider whether Babbage himself even fully understood the applications for what he had invented…

Further Reading:

• ‘Charles Babbage’s Difference Engines and the Science Museum’ (Science Museum, 2023): https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/charles-babbages-difference-engines-and-science-museum

• ‘How Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage Invented the World’s First Computer: An Illustrated Adventure in Footnotes and Friendship’ (The Marginalian, 2015): https://www.themarginalian.org/2015/06/15/the-thrilling-adventures-of-lovelace-and-babbage-sydney-padua/

• ‘Ada Lovelace in “Victoria” (ITV, 2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOoCOUDdoeA

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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Edit producer:

Ollie Peart

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024.

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