BRACE yourself to be transported back in time to 1950s America for Wantage Junior Showstoppers’ annual summer show.

Quiffs, leather jackets and flouncy skirts will be the order of the day when the group performs thw ever-popular musical Grease later this month.

Set in 1959 at the fictional Rydell High School, Grease charts the lives of ten pupils as they discover the path of true love is not always an easy one to follow.

Packed with unforgettable songs including You’re The One That I Want, Summer Nights and Greased Lightning, the show is directed for the group by Louise Cobb, supported by musical director Alan Cobb.

Taking the starring roles of lovestruck couple Danny and Sandy will be Tom Legge and Jade Toovey. They are backed up by the members of the T-Birds, Sam Cornick (Kenickie), Dominic Baker (Doody), Connor Clark (Sonny) and Alex Castle (Roger) and the Pink Ladies, Kay Ova (Rizzo), Amy Blake (Frenchy), Sarah Gerard (Marty) and Olivia Peck (Jan).

The show is being performed at King Alfred’s Academy, Portway, on Friday and Saturday, July 11 and 12, at 7.30pm with a Saturday matinée at 2pm.

Urging people to book their tickets, group committee member Jackie Connick said: “Dust off your leather jackets, pull on your bobby socks and hand jive the night away with the show that will make you want to stand up and shout ‘A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop A-wop-bam-boom!’”

Other members of the cast include Harry Rimmer (Eugene), Ellie Kirwin-Jones (Teen Angel/Miss Lynch), Victoria Baker (Patty), Victoria Phillips (Cha-Cha) and Edward Lagden (Vince Fontaine). Supporting the main players will be the show’s chorus of Rhyssa Bestford, Eloise Higgs, Luke Johnson Kyra Johnson, Olivia Jones, Fred Lagden, Ross Purbrick, Alex Lapsley-Mika, Charlie Nelson, Robyn Taylor and Chloe Sheppard.

The musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey was first performed in Chicago and went on to be a Broadway and West End hit, and a 1978 film starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.

The musical was named after the 1950s United States working-class youth sub-culture known as the greasers, of which rock and roll music was a major part. Styles were influenced by singers such as Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Ritchie Valens, but the two main figures behind the look were film stars Marlon Brando and James Dean.

Tickets at £8 and £5 concessions can be bought from Bretts Pharmacy, Grove, or by calling 01235 223847. Each performance will include a a raffle for prizes donated by local businesses.