GREASE, the Musical comes to the Palace Theatre like grease lightning. The timing is immaculate and the singing and dancing knock you off your feet.

The gang at Rydell High are back. The leads are Tom Parker and Urmston star Over the Rainbow winner Danielle Hope, as Danny Zuko and Sandy,

They embark on a rocky romance after life at college proves different from their brief holiday encounter. Their singing is exceptional.

Louisa Lytton plays Rizzo.. Louisa’s rendering of There are Worse Things I Can Do is beautiful as is Darren Day’s singing and dancing version of Beauty School Drop Out in his role of Teen Angel.

The choreographer, Arlene Phillips, gets top results in the hop scene where Danny and Cha-Cha Digregio (Natasha Mould) win a dancing competition.

Then there is Tom Senior’s Kenickie, linked with Rizzo, the proud owner of a Cadillac Designer, Terry Parsons should be equally proud of this shiny creation.

The cast are too numerous to mention individually although there isn’t a weak link among them. One person who does deserve mention, however, is Alisa Davidson in the contrasting role of head mistress Miss Lynch who sees nothing good about her pupils’ lively approach to life and remains straight-laced throughout.

The musical’s greatest appeal is the number of hits it contains including You’re the One That I Want, Grease is the Word, Summer Nights, Hopelessly Devoted to You, Sandy and Greased Lightning performed vigorously on top of the car.

The seven-piece orchestra, high above stage, look down on fantastic, fast moving dancing by a cast wearing a kaleidoscope of colourful costumes.

• Grease is at the Palace Theatre, Manchester until Saturday, March 25. For tickets, see atgtickets.com/Manchester or telephone 0844 871 3019. Star rating : * * *