Get transported back to the 1950s for a new way to enjoy Grease - it's Electrifying!
The clues were there, at New Street Station and walking through the NEC, that this was not going to be a normal showing of Grease.
There were groups of women wearing pink fussing over each other's bright headbands, and there were leather-jacketed men who obviously had brought a job lot of Brylcreem and a comb for the first time.
As we approached Secret Cinema presents Grease: The Live Experience it became blindingly obvious the thousands in attendance were not just coming to watch the 1978 classic motion picture.
The women in pink were The Pink Ladies and the men in black were the T-Birds. The majority of the audience had come in character, but then again, so had I, myself. I looked every inch the shattered post deadline hack, complete with a battered laptop which would have blown the mind of any 1950s teenager.
The entrance to the Secret Cinema was a huge mock up of Rydell High, the school in Grease which has the oldest pupil cohort in movie history, with some of pupils closer to 35 let alone 25.
However, once inside the 1950s adults playground it was obvious why so many people had made the effort to get the maximum enjoyment out of their night.
I was given a KZAZ Television badge to stick on my coat so I could at least feel part of the party.
The 1950s Americana wonderland was wonderful to explore. There were people hoisting the Stars and Stripes amid the recreated American High School sports field and fairground based on the final scene of the film. The ferris wheel rotated round slowly always full of people getting a bird's eye view of the fun below them.
The smell of all different types of food wafted across the school field from all the different dishes on sale around the ground, from milkshakes to burgers, and goose fat potato wedges to pizza, the choice dizzying.
Live Rock n Roll was being performed inside the Rydell High Gym, greaser grease monkeys danced around vintage cars at the workshop and cheerleaders tried to pull off acrobatics on the field.
There were countless actors playing characters in the films, and they stayed in character throughout, and they would encourage anyone they could fine to join in the fun they were having. Gangs of 50s teenagers ran past me in various directions but with the shop doing a roaring trade selling Pink Ladies and T-Birds jackets it was becoming increasingly hard working out who was an actor and who was an audience member.
As the night wore on, it became a little easier as I worked out the real actors were not knocking back San Miguel, or the rather fantastic San Margretta cocktail, or moaning about the price of everything as every event anyway has audience members who complain.
But then, as well as the cast members, and the audience members who looked cast members, there were a smattering of celebrities wandering around and enjoying themselves amid the Hoi Polloi including Birmingham's own Jamelia and Joey Essex, AJ and Curtis Pritchard, Liberty Poole and Tink Reading. One Fonz lookalike excitedly told his girlfriend he had just been standing next to a fella from Strictly Come Dancing at the urinal, but lamented, correctly, it was not the time to pull out his phone for selfie.
So much was happening it was hard to keep up, but on the stage underneath the cinema screen, the cast were performing Summer Nights and then jiving contests broke out to the classic song Born to Hand Jive.
As the sun went down the lights went on and the film started, the spectacle was fantastic but this being Blighty glances were being shot to the sky to see if there were any dark clouds to ruin the night.
This being an outdoor experience, and this being an English summer, a washout is as likely as a balmy evening. But we were blessed and by the time Danny and Sandy and worked out They Were The One They Want the crowd were up on their feet, dancing and singing.
It is testament to how Grease is embedded in our popular culture, the words to the musical from 45 years ago are easy to remember, even to an old curmudgeon like me. It is easy to forget how many filthy innuendos there are in this family movie and between trying to spot them I forgot to look below the screen where the cast were brilliantly recreating John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John's set piece dances.
Secret Cinema: Grease is at the NEC until August 13, tickets are from £39, at www.secretcinema.com. If possible, it is well worth checking the weather forecast, tickets can be purchased online on the day so make sure the sun is shining in 1959 on the day you go!
