Image Credit: "Peter Andre (close up) helping at the Happy Endings rescue centre, Hailsham, Sussex UK" by Steve Slater (used to be Wildlife Encounters) is licensed with CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, click here

The producers of the first new production in 25 years of the iconic musical Grease have rescheduled the 2021 dates of the UK tour. The musical was due to tour in 2020 but had to be postponed due to COVID-19. Directed by Nikolai Foster and choreographed by Arlene Phillips, the 2021 tour will now begin at Curve, Leicester from 30 – 31 July.
 
The tour will continue on to Theatre Royal Plymouth from 3 – 7 August, The Marlowe, Canterbury from 9 – 14 August, Theatre Royal Nottingham from 17 – 21 August, Milton Keynes Theatre from 23 – 28 August, Stoke Regent Theatre from 30 August – 4 September, New Victoria Theatre, Woking from 7 – 11 September, The Orchard Theatre, Dartford from 13 – 18 September, Bristol Hippodrome from 21 – 25 September, Edinburgh Festival Theatre from 27 September – 2 October, Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield from 5 – 9 October, Manchester Opera House from 11 – 23 October, Grand Opera House, Belfast from 26 – 30 October, The Alexandra, Birmingham from 2 – 6 November, Mayflower Theatre, Southampton from 9 – 13 November, Liverpool Empire from 15 – 20 November and Wales Millennium Centre from 22 – 27 November.
 
Following his success starring in the UK and Ireland tour in 2019, Peter Andre will star in the 2021 tour at certain venues. Peter Andre is currently scheduled to perform at certain performances in Leicester, Plymouth, Canterbury, Nottingham, Milton Keynes, Woking, Dartford, Bristol, Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham, Southampton, Liverpool and Cardiff. As well as reprising the role of Teen Angel, Andre will also play Vince Fontaine.
 
Grease originally opened in Chicago in 1971, followed by a move to Broadway in 1972, where it received seven Tony Award nominations, including one for Best Musical. During the show's eight-year run, at the time, little known actors including Peter Gallagher, Patrick Swayze and John Travolta all appeared in the production, with Richard Gere understudying many roles before going on to star as Danny Zuko in the 1973 London premiere.
 
The 1978 film adaptation starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John is the fourth highest-grossing live action musical of all time.