There aren't many movies that I know the majority of the script. I am able to recite about 90 percent of "The Breakfast Club," maybe 75 percent of "Harold and Maude" and I know quite a few lines – and all of the songs – from "Grease."
Hence, I finally checked out Turner Hall's Beer And A Movie (BAAM) series last night at Turner Hall for the "Grease" sing-a-long. I squeezed into a pair of leather pants I have not worn in years in solidarity of the show, and despite the 8 p.m. start time, I took my kids because one of them loves this movie as much as I do.
And knows more of the words than I do, I was surprised to find out last night.
Many of the BAAM movie events are not kid friendly because the films are, at times, rated R. But "Grease," rated PG (arguably a PG-13 film if it were to get rated today), was a great experience for the fam. Although they did ask what "flog your log" means. Dang you, Rizzo!
The screen size and audio at Turner were both tip top, and the enthusiasm of the crowd really added a lot to the experience. I had a Jameson and Coke and then sang "Beauty School Drop Out" entirely too loudly, but the group didn't seem to mind.
The only downside of last night was that, now that my kids are getting older and I am thinking more about future relationships they will be in, I was disappointed at the message at the end of "Grease" that a person must change drastically to make a love connection. I say skip the perm and the cigs, Olivia, and stay how you are. How tough could it be to find a guy who appreciates a sweet blonde cheerleader with an Australian accent?
But this is not what a "Grease" sing-a-long is about. It's about singing off key with a dimply John Travolta and imagining what it would have been like to have been alive during the decade of white socks and poodle skirts. And it made me wish my old convertible in the garage weren't hemorrhaging transmission fluid or that all of the drive-ins are going away.
Although it's not a sing-a-long, the next BAAM movie is scheduled for March 1 at Turner Hall (check out BAAM's Facebook page for more info), but for the $5 price it's a really affordable and fun way to check out a classic film. I'll be back – without the kids.
And probably not in leather pants.
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.