Theater department recreates classic musical “Grease”

The SCHS theater department will be bringing the classic musical “Grease” to the stage.  

The musical revolves around the duo Sandy and Danny, who fall in love during their high school years. Set in the 1950s, the show is about the two polarizing groups that Sandy and Danny belong to: the Pink Ladies and the T-Birds, respectively. In order to be together, the two attempt to alter themselves so they can be like the other.

The SCHS rendition of the famous musical, which premieres on Thursday March 30, will showcase a cohesive cast made up of a tight-knit group of students, all passionate about the show.

“The whole cast is really close to each other, so the chemistry on stage is going to be unlike any other theater,” cast member Khalil Malik said. “The interactions will hopefully seem really natural and not staged.”

What makes this cast unique is its diversity. Unlike the movie adaptation of “Grease,” which primarily features white actors, the SCHS cast has actors of all different races playing the various roles.

“We have a lot of different kinds of kids,” head of the theater department Angelo Reyes said. “Our Danny is not your typical Danny, and we have two different Sandys. Ethnicity wise, it’s a very different cast.”

Although the on-stage aspect of the show has been running smoothly, the work behind the scenes has proved to be a challenge, with the theater department having a difficult time getting the rights to perform it.

“We have to ask permission to do the show and we have to pay for the rights,” Reyes said. “‘Grease’ was really hard to get because it has a lot of rules and regulations that we had to abide by.”

Because of these rules, the school orchestra is not able to accompany the cast this year. Instead, they are using professionally recorded track music.

“We use a professional track, and it sounds really good, but I always prefer the music department to be involved,” Reyes said. “It gets more kids involved and gets more people to come and watch [the show].”

Despite the setbacks, SCHS’s “Grease” certainly should impress.

“Come see the performances because you’ll get to see all the talent we have at this school,” Malik said.