Bear Grease

A LightningCloud Production
Directed by Crystle Lightning

It’s not the Grease you expect to see, it’s the Grease you need to see.

Bear Grease reimagines the iconic 1972 musical Grease through a bold and comedic native lens. With a rip-roaring score by Crystle Lightning and Henry Cloud Andrade, and direction by Crystle Lightning, this all-Indigenous concert-style musical infuses hip-hop and comedy into a pow wow-powered love story that’s equal parts hilarious homage and cultural celebration. Captivating audiences across North America, Bear Grease has had over 200 successful performances over 4 incredible years and is now debuting Off-Broadway. The beloved songs of Grease are revitalized with vibrant cultural expression and Cree (Nêhiyawêwin) language: “Hopelessly Devoted” becomes a soul-stirring Round Dance, “Bear Grease Lightning” bursts with Traditional, Grass, Chicken, and Fancy footwork, and “Wichihin” delivers a powerful new take on “Stand by Me”.

This production takes the audience on an Indigenous joyride through a parallel universe where colonization never existed. While staying true to some aspects of the original musical, the show revamps certain elements: Sandy wears a ribbon skirt, it’s the Pink Aunties (not the Pink Ladies), Rizzo is Rezzo, and "Summer Lovin’" turns into "Summer Snaggin’". Bear Grease cleverly fuses Doo Wop, Hip-Hop, and Pow Wow styles with Indigenous fashion, history, and humour, and makes each show reflective of the community it is performed in. If laughter is the best medicine, Bear Grease – also the name of a sacred Indigenous medicine – is just what the doctor ordered.

"I will see you on Broadway!" – George R.R. Martin (Game of Thrones author)


We acknowledge "Bear Grease the Musical” was written in Treaty 6 Alberta land and traditional territories of the Nehiyaw (Cree), Denesuline’ (Dene), Nakota Sioux (Stoney), Anishinaabe (Saulteaux) and Niitsitapi (Blackfoot).