JIM JACOBS (Book, Music and Lyrics). Jacobs, who created Grease (in 1970) with Warren Casey, was born and raised on the mean streets of Chicago’s far northwest side. During the golden era of rock ‘n’ roll (1956-1960) he was a guitar-playing “greaser” student at Taft High School. In 1963, Jacobs met Warren Casey when they were both cast in a local theatre production of A Shot in the Dark.
Seven years later they wrote what was to become one of the greatest musicals of all time. Grease opened in 1971 in a former trolley barn called the Kingston Mines Theatre in Chicago. A year later, Grease made it to Broadway and “Greasemania” took off, resulting in one of the longest running shows in Broadway history. The 1978 movie became and remains the highest grossing movie musical of all time.
WARREN CASEY (Author, Composer and Lyricist) was born in Yonkers, New York, and attended Syracuse University. During the late ‘50s, he learned all about “greasers” while working as an art teacher in upstate New York. He moved to Chicago in 1962, where he hoped to pursue an acting career. He appeared in dozens of productionsMr. Casey acted with the Chicago Stage Guild (where he met Jim Jacobs), the Old Town Players, and the Kinston Mines Theatre. The latter company staged the original production of GREASE which he wrote with Jim Jacobs. |
