Get ready for 'grease': not the same old sandy
Regardless of how much some of us would love it, and others might hate it, it is undeniably true that high school is not the singing, dancing, and drama-filled place that any teen movie makes it out to be. However, for three nights this fall, the high school will come as close as it may get to breaking out in song and dance at lunch.
This fall, Grease, the musical, will take the stage at the high school with two equally weighted casts, meaning there is no understudy cast. They will perform November 12 at 4:30 p.m., November 13 at 7:30 p.m., and November 14 at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
The tale of Grease is a familiar one, especially among high school students. While it might seem like this would present a challenge in making the production live up to the movie, Director Mr. Stephen Wrobleski said the preexisting movie gives putting on the musical production “lots of bonuses.” Not only does it make teaching the songs and storyline easier to the cast, but also “it creates lots of buzz,” and makes audiences more interested in seeing it, according to Wrobleski.
However, the musical will not exactly follow the movie, as Wrobleski and the actors are each putting their own spin on the story and its characters. “I’ve never liked the central message of Grease, that you have to change yourself for the boy,” Wrobleski said. “So that’s something I’ve been working with, to make it more of a choice [Sandy] comes to.”
Actress Lizzie Mears ’16, who plays Sandy in one of the two casts. reflected the same mission as Wrobleski to add more depth to Sandy’s character. “Sandy is a classic character that everyone knows, but I’m excited to play this part because she is so well known and because she’s often considered this surface level maiden, damsel in distress. I’m excited to play it and find some more depth in her because I think she’s this archetype that would be fun to think about a little more,” Mears said, adding that “In the musical, she has a lot more depth and is a lot more feisty than she is in the movie”
This modification on Sandy will become especially important during the ending scene where Sandy puts on the cat suit and sings the “Sandra-Dee” reprise, according to cast members.“We’re trying to make it more about self confidence self awareness. [In the cat suit scene] We want her to still express herself and be a bit more confident and not go totally back to her old self, but not be completely change her personality. She needs to stay true to who she is; that’s what we really want,” said Mears, explaining that she, along with Wrobleski, the student directors, and the rest of the cast, are striving to find a balance between Sandy’s new self confidence and her old passivity while still making it work with the extreme change the character has in the original script.
“I don’t even know what it’s going to be yet,” said Mears, “so everyone should come to the show and see what happens.”
Mears said she enjoyed this opportunity the change gave for a bit more creativity with her character. She referenced the Cinderella play she had seen on Broadway that changed a classic tale and hoped to do the same in Grease.“[Cinderella] was so fun to watch because it’s taking something so traditional, so familiar to everyone and giving that little twist, so I’m really excited that we can do that. I haven’t seen a production of Grease that changes that ending so I think it will be really unique,” she said.
For actor Dean Simpson ’17, who plays Kenickie in one of the casts, having a movie setting a standard can both “help and hurt,” he said. “I gotta play Kenickie in this way everyone knows him as, but as the same time I need to put in my own touch. I want to make him more charming than he is in the movie. I think he can be both the tough guy and charming at the same time,” said Simpson.
With such a large cast, rehearsals are broken into more manageable parts where some days only certain cast members are called to block their scenes. According to Mears, the cast will usually hold a song rehearsal with choral director Dr. Kevin McDonald and then block a smaller scene, or they might hold a larger blocking scene and dance number, where more of the cast is called.
The drama department is also revitalizing the songs in the show by adding some not in the original Broadway production and only in the movie. The department bought the rights to the classics “Hopelessly Devoted” and “You’re the one that I Want”, which only appeared in the movie, but the cast will work into the stage production.
The cast has added a few other personal touches to the production. Among the many, in the begining “Alma Mater” scene, when the story begins with the cast looking back on their high school days, the ensemble members pose for the yearbook candids the cast looks at. In the drive in scene, they watch a horror movie, and the movie will play on the screen behind the actors. The movie itself, will have been put together by ensemble members and will have the actors playing in the movie. “We’re adding all these types of fun unique elements to make it our own,” said Mears.
Mears and the cast are excited to put on such a fun and classic story. “The whole show is super cheesy, and we know that, but because it’s so cheesy, it’s just fun to put it on; there’s no pressure to make it artistic or anything,”Mears said, adding on a personal note “It’s especially great for my senior musical it’s really fun; it’s about kids graduating high school.”
This article appeared in the October 2015 print issue of The Bradford.
This fall, Grease, the musical, will take the stage at the high school with two equally weighted casts, meaning there is no understudy cast. They will perform November 12 at 4:30 p.m., November 13 at 7:30 p.m., and November 14 at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
The tale of Grease is a familiar one, especially among high school students. While it might seem like this would present a challenge in making the production live up to the movie, Director Mr. Stephen Wrobleski said the preexisting movie gives putting on the musical production “lots of bonuses.” Not only does it make teaching the songs and storyline easier to the cast, but also “it creates lots of buzz,” and makes audiences more interested in seeing it, according to Wrobleski.
However, the musical will not exactly follow the movie, as Wrobleski and the actors are each putting their own spin on the story and its characters. “I’ve never liked the central message of Grease, that you have to change yourself for the boy,” Wrobleski said. “So that’s something I’ve been working with, to make it more of a choice [Sandy] comes to.”
Actress Lizzie Mears ’16, who plays Sandy in one of the two casts. reflected the same mission as Wrobleski to add more depth to Sandy’s character. “Sandy is a classic character that everyone knows, but I’m excited to play this part because she is so well known and because she’s often considered this surface level maiden, damsel in distress. I’m excited to play it and find some more depth in her because I think she’s this archetype that would be fun to think about a little more,” Mears said, adding that “In the musical, she has a lot more depth and is a lot more feisty than she is in the movie”
This modification on Sandy will become especially important during the ending scene where Sandy puts on the cat suit and sings the “Sandra-Dee” reprise, according to cast members.“We’re trying to make it more about self confidence self awareness. [In the cat suit scene] We want her to still express herself and be a bit more confident and not go totally back to her old self, but not be completely change her personality. She needs to stay true to who she is; that’s what we really want,” said Mears, explaining that she, along with Wrobleski, the student directors, and the rest of the cast, are striving to find a balance between Sandy’s new self confidence and her old passivity while still making it work with the extreme change the character has in the original script.
“I don’t even know what it’s going to be yet,” said Mears, “so everyone should come to the show and see what happens.”
Mears said she enjoyed this opportunity the change gave for a bit more creativity with her character. She referenced the Cinderella play she had seen on Broadway that changed a classic tale and hoped to do the same in Grease.“[Cinderella] was so fun to watch because it’s taking something so traditional, so familiar to everyone and giving that little twist, so I’m really excited that we can do that. I haven’t seen a production of Grease that changes that ending so I think it will be really unique,” she said.
For actor Dean Simpson ’17, who plays Kenickie in one of the casts, having a movie setting a standard can both “help and hurt,” he said. “I gotta play Kenickie in this way everyone knows him as, but as the same time I need to put in my own touch. I want to make him more charming than he is in the movie. I think he can be both the tough guy and charming at the same time,” said Simpson.
With such a large cast, rehearsals are broken into more manageable parts where some days only certain cast members are called to block their scenes. According to Mears, the cast will usually hold a song rehearsal with choral director Dr. Kevin McDonald and then block a smaller scene, or they might hold a larger blocking scene and dance number, where more of the cast is called.
The drama department is also revitalizing the songs in the show by adding some not in the original Broadway production and only in the movie. The department bought the rights to the classics “Hopelessly Devoted” and “You’re the one that I Want”, which only appeared in the movie, but the cast will work into the stage production.
The cast has added a few other personal touches to the production. Among the many, in the begining “Alma Mater” scene, when the story begins with the cast looking back on their high school days, the ensemble members pose for the yearbook candids the cast looks at. In the drive in scene, they watch a horror movie, and the movie will play on the screen behind the actors. The movie itself, will have been put together by ensemble members and will have the actors playing in the movie. “We’re adding all these types of fun unique elements to make it our own,” said Mears.
Mears and the cast are excited to put on such a fun and classic story. “The whole show is super cheesy, and we know that, but because it’s so cheesy, it’s just fun to put it on; there’s no pressure to make it artistic or anything,”Mears said, adding on a personal note “It’s especially great for my senior musical it’s really fun; it’s about kids graduating high school.”
This article appeared in the October 2015 print issue of The Bradford.