The long-running Broadway revival of Grease! will reopen April 8 with comic Joe Piscopo and Olympic gold medalist Dominque Dawes in featured roles.
Both have appeared in the show previously. Piscopo's bow was memorable because it occurred during the night of the great blizzard of February 1996. The former "Saturday Night Live" comedian and the cast went on anyway, making Grease! the only Broadway show to play that night. Gymnast Dawes played the show for a month in December 1996.
Grease! had been slated to close Feb. 23 at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre to make way for the Annie revival, but the unexpected closing of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Whistle Down the Wind in Washington DC allowed Annie to switch to the larger Martin Beck, which in turn allowed Grease! to continue at the O'Neill.
Grease! went on hiatus Feb. 23 as scheduled, but will reopen April 8 with the new cast. For tickets, call (239-6200. You can also order tickets on Playbill On-Line.
-- By Robert Viagas and David Lefkowitz