We recently went to a Grease autograph show in Grand Rivers, Kentucky. It’s a very charming town! We flew into Nashville, picked up our dear friend Jamie Donnelly (Jan from Grease) and drove a couple hours through this gorgeous country side. I had no idea Kentucky is so pretty.

We stayed at Patti’s which is an adorable old settlement from the 1800’s. Also ironically named that since Lorenzo’s talent agent that sets up these events for them is named Patty also, she just has a different spelling. This settlement has quite the history and a really interesting back story. We really enjoyed our stay. Barry Pearl (Doody in Grease) had a Beatles themed room. They also have cute little rocking chairs out front (Lorenzo and I are pictured down below in the chairs with our Funko Pop’s a fan had made of us) and an adorable gift shop in the lobby. The last photo is of Jamie and Michael (he plays Sonny in Grease) walking back to the hotel.

Patti’s also has a restaurant with a beautiful outdoor courtyard where the actual event was held. The food is incredible, they also make bread in these little pots. We all really enjoyed it. My favorite thing about attending these shows is when we all get to hang out and enjoy a meal together. The stories I hear about the behind the scenes filming of Grease never get old.

I grew up watching Grease, my friends and I would watch it and sing all the songs. I had the cassette tape of the Grease Soundtrack and later it was the first CD I ever bought. Just in case anyone is wondering how old I am. I remember when my bestie was doing her usual detective work and was looking up who this Lorenzo Lamas guy is, like she does with anyone I was dating. She was like “Kenna, this guy was in Grease!” I laughed, “No, K, I would TOTALLY remember if he was in that movie, I’ve seen it over a thousand times”. She was like “Dude, look!” She was right as always! He just didn’t look the same, ha! But anyway, that’s literally the only movie or TV show I’ve ever seen that he’s been in. I had met him through his godmother, I had no idea he was famous. Anywayyyy, back to our trip…

The next morning was a breakfast Q&A with the Grease cast and fans. It was a really fun time filled with great questions and laughter. Followed by the autograph portion of the show. I absolutely loved the way they set up the Grease tables. It was definitely one of the best decorated Grease autograph shows I’ve ever seen. The cast agreed! They also had really amazing backdrops for fans to take photos with their favorite cast members.

I didn’t get as many photos of fans as I would have liked. It’s always so busy when I help run the booth, a lot of times there’s a line and I’m trying to keep people entertained while they wait to meet Lorenzo. I love meeting his fans and hearing how much Grease (or whatever movie, show, etc he was in) meant to them. There are a lot of heartwarming stories and sometimes happy tears because a particular show or movie was so special to their life.

So many people drove around 3-6 hours just to meet everyone, get pictures and autographs. A few people drove 2-3 hours to come to the event, then were turning around and going home! When Lorenzo is annoying me, I try to remember how far and wide people come just to meet him, pay to get his autograph or to take a picture with him. Not that I don’t appreciate him immensely, it’s just easy to get used to every day married life and forget he’s kind of a big deal. Truly, it’s very touching! If you’re one of these people that have come out and shared your stories and tears, please know how much it means to the cast of Grease to be remembered, cherished and part of your life! The tales they hear of how impactful their work was is something they all talk about when we drive back together after the show. They swap fan stories of people who really touched their hearts. Thanks for being so loyal!

Another tangent, sorry I tend to be a little scatterbrained so when I try to tell a story it has a lot of twists, turns and back stories aplenty! Lorenzo says it’s part of my charm, but I think he’s being nice and most people are like “guuurl, just get to the point!”

But fun back story to the Grease autograph show in San Antonio in 2023, we were all there and Didi Conn (Frenchie, my favorite character) had her birthday. After we all sang her happy birthday in the stage room the Pink Ladies and T-Birds presented me with a Pink Ladies shirt (they were sold out of the jackets in a matter of hours) that the cast had all signed. I ugly cried because it was such an honor that these amazing people, who are so sincere, kind, loving and incredible humans, would accept me into their group. Not only that, but in my childhood I was a latchkey kid, I’d be home by myself for hours before my parents came home from work. Grease was one of those movies I’d watch over and over. Feeling like I was coming home to friends, to now know them and be accepted into the family meant the world! If you had told little dorky 10 year old Kenna, that this would happen I would have never believed you!

Long story longer, I definitely understand when fans get emotional during the autograph shows. As you can see in the video!

Back to Kentucky…

The following day was a delightful adventure to the Calvert Drive-In for a Grease screening with the gang. There was another autograph show before the movie, tons of sweet people in adorable Grease attire attended. We had such a great time meeting everyone. One of my favorite parts of the day was a young man came in with his guitar, he had played “Doody” in his local theater Grease play.

Fun fact: Before Barry was cast as “Doody” he also had done Grease the play, on Broadway. In the play, “Those Magic Changes” song is performed by Doody’s character. However in the movie it’s played briefly on the radio, if I remember correctly. Feel free to comment and correct me if I’m wrong. This adorable young man gave Barry his guitar and Barry sings it with him, while Randal Kleiser films and Jamie Donnelly dances and claps along. I wish I could have bottled up the emotions in the room. It was definitely a core memory in the making for me.

You can watch the video below, I screen recorded it from his Facebook page. I couldn’t figure out how to save it off of Facebook and the video I took on my phone was so short (4 seconds) which hardly captured the whole moment. The orientation starts off wrong but then corrects itself, then goes back to being wrong again, so ignore that. I’m an OG millennial, so while I’m pretty good with computers/phones I also am not, if that makes any sense.

The next day we woke up early, packed up and Lorenzo drove Randal (director), Jamie and I into Nashville to fly home. It was a gorgeous drive and we all had such deep conversations during our 1.5 hour commute. Getting to know each other more and more is pure joy. Jamie is such a sweetheart and of course Randal has such a brilliant mind. They were so encouraging to me about my future business plans. They have such wise advice and we really enjoy their company. We dropped them off at the airport and had a few hours before our flight so we went to see the sights.

After we got them on their way we explored Nashville. We found this incredible restaurant called Ophelia. If you’re in the area you have to go! They had bottomless mimosas, delicious salads, we shared a pepperoni pizza with a hot honey drizzle and it was divine! We sat on the patio and people watched while basking in the sun. The coolest part is this Hamlet book they give you with your check for you to sign. It was really fun to read through it and see what other people had written in it.

Then we walked down some alleyways, listened to some blues at 1 pm, how unusual but welcomed! I wish we had more time there, it’s such a vibrant city with a lot happening.

It truly was an amazing experience and I treasure every time we are with our Grease family.

The next Grease autograph show is in San Antonio on July 11-13th. We hope to see you there!