Grease ball character background and role
Personality;
Grease ball is the
diesel engine from Starlight Express. He is the alpha male of the train yard,
the reigning champion of the races, he is confident, suave, and a
heart-breaker.
Being the alpha male
of the train yard, all the coaches love him, but Dinah is his girlfriend. His
character is quite deceptive, at first he appears cool and tough, but at the
end he is quite thick as he spells "Sorry" wrong with three Rs. He
leads an anonymous and faceless gang who double up as race marshals before,
during and after each race. Together, they menace and intimidate Rusty and the
Freight.
He is Control's favourite engine, with all his rule-breaking
and foul play being ignored.
The original London production portrayed him as a darker
character than he is today. He is portrayed as a champion who cheats, bullies,
and defaces his way to the finishing line. He beats up his girlfriend Dinah,
ditches her when she complains about his behaviour, and humiliates her by saying
over her head to the red caboose that she is no longer his coach.
However, with the musical now tuned to that of a family
show, much of his behaviour is understandably toned down to his being an
arrogant and thoughtless champion who learns his lesson.
"I'm just the fastest thing you'll ever see"
Role;
Grease ball is the
first major character we are introduced to. Clearly Control's favourite, Grease
ball leads his gang in an anthem to how awesome they are ("Rolling
Stock"). The pathetic little steam train, Rusty, interrupts their
celebration of Diesel, and Grease ball and gang taunt Rusty about his
ridiculous dreams of racing ("Taunting Rusty") Control tells the
racing engines to go rest, leaving Rusty to work shifting coaches and freight.
Grease ball returns to find an intruder bedazzling his train
yard with flashy Electrics. He responds by making a point, he's "Pumping Iron" and all the girls adore him, even the new-comer Electric
components can't resist him. The race comes down to a direct challenge, Grease
ball the reigning champion against Electra with his cutting-edge technology.
The rest of the competitors are simply making up the numbers.
Grease ball wins the first heat with his carriage, Dinah,
but when she complains about his cheating with Caboose, he leaves her behind,
he doesn't need emotional baggage. After The Rap, Grease ball decides on her
replacement - the pretty Pearl would make a great partner ("Pearl
Twirl"). Caboose calls him, wanting to explain his plan - Caboose will
partner with Rusty, and throw the race in Grease ball’s favour. The Uphill
Final only goes partially to plan, Rusty is wrecked by Caboose, but the race is
called off when it devolves into a punch-up. Now Pearl knows about the scheme,
and she has to be threatened to behave.
For the re-run, the
Downhill Final, Grease ball is racing with the now unwilling Pearl, but his
treacherous mate Caboose is now racing with Electra, and last minute, Rusty
turns up with Dustin, but he is hardly a threat. But Pearl is distracted by
Rusty, and Electra hits her with a lightning bolt, leaving her injured and a
dead weight in the race, so Grease ball uncouples her, leaving her to fly off
uncontrolled while he continues to race solo. However Grease ball’s fighting
with Electra, and Caboose's meddling, finally cause a crash before any of them
cross the finish line, leaving Rusty and Dustin to win the race.
Thoroughly humiliated
("One Rock'n'Roll Too Many"), Grease ball has lost his championship,
his respect from his gang, and his girlfriend. But tender-hearted Dinah accepts
his somewhat stilted apology "Dinah,
I'm S.O.R.R.R.Y". And Poppa suggests he could be converted to Steam - to join the
winning side in the end.