How Jamal Sims Brought ‘Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies’ Into the Now with Dance

Jamal Sims makes you want to get up and move. When you see Sims watching a performance (like on RuPaul’s Drag Race) or when he is teaching a combination, there is something infectious about how instructs someone–he feels with his whole body. For Paramount+’s bold, ambitious musical comedy series, Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, he makes nods to the time period, but he puts his exciting spin on every musical number.

When you begin the first episode of Rise of the Pink Ladies there is an immediate sense of how huge this show truly is. You can see it in the costuming and production design, but you also notice just how many people are constantly on screen. With so many of Rydell High’s students participating in huge, sweeping dance numbers, Sims was tasked with making everything as clear as possible, but he informed me that the bigness of the show was an asset.

“It actually helps me,” Sims says. “If the camera is moving in the right direction, it enhances the experience for the viewer. If it’s going in a direction to showcase a certain move, it can be counterproductive. What’s nice [about] what we did here, when we choreographed the numbers, is I filmed them on my iPhone and we showed them to the director and DP to suggest where the camera could be to show off the movement.”

Even though this show has a modern viewpoint, Sims still wanted to take iconic moves from known dances but turn them on their head. It was all about learning how to speak the right way but make everything fresh.

“My mom and dad grew up in this time period, and they danced like this back in the day,” he says with a big smile. “At parties, they would dance like this. Although things like The Jerk and the Mashed Potato came later, I was still able to use the language. To be able to do a different take on something like The Pony and not choreograph that as a straight movement was exciting. You could add arms, for instance, to keep it fresh. My thing was how do we do these standard dances from the ’50s to give it something extra zhush so it doesn’t feel run-of-the-mill.”

Marisa Davila tears through “I Want More,” Jane’s declaration of want early on this season. Davila’s character is expected to follow the rule and obey, but “More” is an exciting promise of what is rumbling inside of her. Davila tears through this song, and Sims loved helping Jane literally soar.

“This is a song that came later,” Sims admitted. “We thought episode two was done, so when we got a call for a new song for Jane. Working with Marisa [Davila] and understanding her character arc, you realize that there is more to Jane than what people want her to be. I knew I needed to accentuate that with the dancing and the movement. The magical element was about feeling like you could levitate, and I don’t think we could’ve sold that in a non-Grease way. In the first movie, the whole car flies off–so why can’t she levitate her?”

Cynthia (Ari Notartomaso) is caught between two worlds. She is desperate for a T-Birds jacket, but the Pink Ladies is the only place she feels like she belongs. She is a character that is constantly trying to prove herself to someone, but “New Cool” isn’t about fitting in but whipping the members of Rydell’s baddest gang into shape. It’s a winky nod to “Greased Lightnin'” but it gives Cynthia stakes.

“By leaning into this number, this is really about Cynthia’s journey, he says. “In the original “Greased Lightnin’,” it’s about the guys getting what they want. That’s a different storytelling number, but this one is about Cynthia telling these guys that they aren’t that cool. It was so fun to tell Cynthia’s character come in with a bunch of boys and whip them into shape. That was really a dream, and I couldn’t wait to choreograph it. When they sent me the songs, I knew I wanted to murder this one.”

I was so thrilled to discover that Sims directed episode six, “Sloppy Seconds Ain’t My Style.” It’s a turning point for a lot of characters, but Sims is able to focus on Shanel Bailey’s Hazel as she musters the courage to perform in Rydell’s production of Romeo & Juliet. As Juliet’s balcony raises into the sky, Juliet’s crimson dress extends to showcase a stunning gown, but my favorite part is how Sims moves the camera. He swirls it around Hazel and Buddy as they are about to kiss, and we see the audience watching them. Sims got emotional when we talked about this moment as it served as an homage to the courage of his own mother.

“When you direct or choreograph something, you aren’t sure if people pick up when the episode airs,” Sims says slowly. “My mother was on the homecoming court in her high school in California at a similar time. There is a picture of the court, and she is the only Black woman in this picture. I loved this photo of her so much, and she is so beautiful. None of the Black men wanted to escort her to the game, so she had a white escort. When I got “Finding My Light,” I automatically thought of how brave my mom was to go out there and do this. At the time, that was something that people didn’t want to see, and it was a scary thing for Black students to put themselves out there like that. This was a courageous act. When I worked on that song, I wanted to play with the fact that, yes, Hazel is coming out of her shell, but she is showing huge bravery for 1954. The camera does pan around and when the light flares, those were all planned out. I wanted there to be even more light on here, so when it’s time for the kiss, it gives you more and more. It’s all about the shining the light on that character’s courage.”

Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies is streaming now on Paramount+.