, an all-new installment in the franchise that expands the world of Rydell High and its two most formidable school cliques, the Pink Ladies and the T-Birds.

In fact, the original musical series focuses on the former as it shows how an unlikely group of girls came together to form a refuge for the female misfits that they were on the verge of becoming and helped them transform into the coolest coeds in school.Simply put: «It's about four outcast girls [who] can’t really find their place at Rydell High, so they come together and they decide to start breaking rules,» Cheyenne Isabel Wells tells ET, before Ari Notartomaso adds, «And join a girl gang.» The cast, including Wells (Olivia), Notartomaso (Cynthia), Marisa Davila (Jane) and Tricia Fukuhara (Nancy), as well as showrunner Annabel Oakes and music producer Justin Tranter break down what's in store for, from the catchy new song-and-dance numbers to the many connections to the original films.

And one thing's for sure, «this expands the universe of ,» Oakes says. Kicking off in the fall of 1954, during the 54-55 school year, is set four years before the events of, which followed Danny Zuko (John Travolta), Sandy Olsson (Olivia Newton-John) and Betty Rizzo (Stockard Channing) and their friends during their senior year at Rydell. , meanwhile, took place in 1961, two years after the first film as it followed Stephanie Zinone (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Frenchy (Didi Conn reprising her role from the original), who returns to get her diploma after previously dropping out to go to beauty school.«It's not a reboot,» Fukuhara says, while Davila explains that while «this is bringing back ,» it's also «not a sequel.

'Rise of the Pink Ladies' Cast on How the Prequel Series Expands the 'Grease' Universe (Exclusive)

Related News