As we went into production, there was no song for Olivia and no idea where we would put it. It was not even on the production schedule.
I loved the idea of Travolta sitting on the kid's swing, pining away for his girlfriend.
I told her it was a bigger than life musical, that all the actors were going to be about the same age, late twenties into thirties. It would be a style; a kind of surreal high school.
In order to do a musical now, a style must be developed that works for today's audience.
It was very unusual, because normally the producer requests the test to determine whether they want to hire someone or not. Olivia was concerned about playing a seventeen year old.
Olivia Newton-John was our first choice to play Sandy, but she was nervous about acting, whether she would feel comfortable with us and could pull it off at all.
The day of Olivia's test, John Travolta was made aware of her fears and helped her feel as relaxed as possible.
We sent away to a Chicago distributor for about twenty vintage 50's popcorn trailers, but they didn't arrive until the night we were shooting at Burbank's Pickwick Drive-in (now a shopping mall).
We wanted a supporting cast that would appeal to Baby Boomers who grew up in the fifties.
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