en-us Copyright 2008 - All Rights Reserved. Sun, 22 Nov 2009 08:31:55 GMT 15 By Karl Guintibano (Staff Reporter)
Why, this car is automatic. It’s systematic. It’s hyyyyydromatic. Why, it’s Greased Lightning! Grease, SLz’s first musical in about a decade, premiered on Thursday, March 6, 2008 at 7:00 pm. The play focuses on the romance between high school students Danny Zuko, played by senior Eric Crawford, and Sandy Dumbrowski, played by sophomore Elizabeth Peña. The previous summer, Danny and Sandy had a brief love affair, but as the summer ended, so did their relationship. Just as things couldn’t get worse, Sandy transfers to the same school as Danny, and things at Rydell High School were never the same again. The cast, directors, and audience all had different opinions on how the performance went. “I was so excited. I couldn’t stay in my seat!” said Dance Teacher Rebecca Davis who choreographed the play. “But I was nervous like a mom, watching the students perform.” Some students felt the play was better than the movie itself. “There was live music,” said senior David Castaneda, who played in the band. “The movie didn’t have that.” The play added some new songs that weren’t in the movie, such as Freddy, my Love sang by junior Iris Acosta who played Marty, one of Sandy’s friends. The song was about Marty’s love for Freddy, a man in the marines. “I liked it because it was surprising,” said junior Chade Bills. While on stage, the cast members had many different emotions. “I was enthusiastic and nervous,” said Junior Francis Garay who played Kenickie, a member of Danny Zuko’s gang. “But at the same time I was very excited. I had an adrenaline rush.” The audience was hypnotized by the cast’s performance. “On opening night, hearing the crowd’s reaction, I was lost in the moment,” Music Teacher Ben Draper said. “You could tell they were into it because of the ‘Awww’ during the kissing scene.” The play took countless hours of hard work and focus. There were three directors involved. Ben Draper directed the music; Rebecca Davis choreographed the dancing; Beth Daly directed the acting. “This was the most rewarding musical I’ve been in,” Draper said. “We worked from the ground up. We only had two months to learn the music, play it as a band, and play it with the actors.” Picking the cast was a difficult job. There were certain characteristics in order to be in the musical. “I had to find people who could sing, dance, and act,” Drama Teacher Beth Daly said. “It took three days to audition. We had two months of rehearsal, everyday after school. Some days we would work on singing, then dancing, then acting.” The audience members had different ideas on how to improve the attendance. The price of the ticket, which was nine dollars at the Student Body Office and 12 dollars at the door, was probably a factor. “It wasn’t worth the money I spent because it was too expensive,” Junior Tony Lenh said. “The price should be lower.” There were some parts of the play that the audience members did not particularly enjoy. The cast, who had to sing in a large room full of loud instruments, had a difficult time being heard in the back row. “The singing [could be better],” Bills said. “It was hard to hear. The actors should have sang louder.” Through all of the hard work all the actors, band, and directors put into the it, the musical sensation was a hit. It was sold out all three nights, and became the talk of the school. Grease lyrics can still be heard all over campus. ]]> Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:44:00 GMT