There were so many things that I enjoyed about the show, but here are some of the highlights:
First of all, thank you Jay Zimmerman for putting the “pit” orchestra at the back of the stage. It made it easier to hear the singing, plus it was a way for the audience to check the band solos. Guitarists Tyler Haslet and Justin Foley and Ian Charney on tenor sax were particularly enjoyable.
The show was really at its best during the dance / ensemble numbers. The choreography was well paced and the cast seemed comfortable dancing steps that were before their time. Jessica Brown as Cha-Cha DiGrgorio, the “Best Dancer in Her School” made the most of her solo and I believed that she was “the best’.
I really liked Elizabeth Catchmark as Frenchy. I owe Ms Catchmark a personal apology; I wanted to include a picture of her with her wild, pink hair but the picture did not come out well. You will have to take my word that she looked adorable.
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| Sean Gipson as Vince Fontaine and Melissa Hilder as Rizzo |
The voice that came as a surprise to me belonged to Melissa Hilder as the tough girl Rizzo. Ms Hilder’s Rizzo was a little sweet, but when she sang her solo she blew me away…even with some sound problems.
As Sandy and Danny, Mariele Schechter and Sean Connelly really hit their duets. I have not heard a falsetto like Sean’s since 1959. These are the largest parts and these two carried them very well.
The cast was obviously enjoying themselves, but Sean Gipson as Vince Fontaine had a ball with his part. This is an example of why Grease is such a good choice for large groups; there are so many good solo spots.
I was not always sure who the actors were and I am afraid of getting names wrong, but I think that Julia Laufer and Jason Zimmerman did the duet “Mooning”. It was such a cute number that it was easy to over look that it was a little hard to hear all of the lyrics.
The program did not do bios of the cast and crew, so I am not sure who will be back next year. That is always of interest in high school plays. I guess that we will have to wait to see.
High school plays keep getting better and better. You owe it to yourself to check them out.
Thank you! We all enjoyed putting on the show during those three nights! It represented and became so much more than "just another production of 'Grease'" and grew to be so much bigger than each one of us. It is such a relatable show and I know it changed the lives of everyone involved, along with each person in the audience and that is something we'll never forget.
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