Grease is the word

 

On Wednesday 25th November we had the first of four nights of our Grease musical. We had been preparing for the past few weeks, only doing rehearsals during the day and coming in on Sundays to perfect the moves and make the show run as smoothly as possible. We had also been preparing the stage with a group of people designing and painting the set as well as making it look as authentic as possible. The end product was really good and reflected the fifties style. Kenickie even had a “grease lightnin'” car.  My friends and I had also been selling the tickets at break and lunchtime which was interesting and helped my organisational skills.

Prom scene

Mooning

Summer nights

On the Wednesday afternoon, we went home early to prepare and had to be back at the mercy hall for 6. We had to put loads of foundation on so that our faces would not be too pale in the light as well as blusher and we had to do dramatic eye makeup as well. Our outfits had to be knee length, brightly coloured skirts and we had to wear a white t-shirt or bright blouse. For the prom scene we had to wear dresses or a more showy skirt than the first scene. For the first act I wore a green skirt with a blue t-shirt and a green cardigan and for the second act I wore a red and black polka dot skirt and scarf with a white t-shirt and a grey cardigan.  The lighting on the night was great and the band were also amazing. Apart from nerves at the beginning, I enjoyed the show and thought it ran really smoothly. The audience were great as they were quiet and you could not see them fully from the stage so they didn’t distract me. I thought the leads were all amazing and would love to be in a musical or drama again.

PINK LADIES:                                                 T-BIRDS:

Sandy: Laura Cleary                                    Danny: Robbie Kelly

Rizzo: Francesca Patton               Kenickie: Odhran O’Neill

Marty: Heather Doyle                              Sonny: Robbie Ryan

Jan: Enya Kilfeather                         Rodger: Elliot Ruddy

Frenchy: Laura Booth                 Doody: Leo Brennan-Tohill

 Other Characters:

Vince Fontaine- Eoin Gallagher

Eugene: Finn Halligan

Miss Lynch: Brenna Daily

Patty Simcox: Edel Foley

Johnny Casino: Luigi Fernandez

Cha Cha: Evie Mc Gonigle

Radio host: Holly Phelan

Teen Angel: Mr Keogh

 

Grease rehearsals

Every Tuesday and Thursday, we have dancing rehearsals for the musical. The past few weeks we have been learning the hand jive and “We Go Together”. We have also begun the dance for “High School Hop” and “You’re The One That I want”. The dances do have some complicated moves to remember and at first you easily get jumbled up with what you’re meant to be doing but after a few practices the moves become more natural and you can imagine yourself singing along as well. We are also singing the songs to “High School Hop”, “Summer Lovin'”, “We Go Together” and “Rydell Alma Mater”. The songs were fun to learn and everybody got involved. There are still a lot of songs and dances to learn but it feels good knowing that some of them are already learned.

Grease auditions

On Thursday 24th September, auditions were held for Tys and 5th years to get a part in the musical. There were three parts to the audition; singing, acting and dancing. For the acting we were split into groups and given a scene to practice. My group’s scene was the canteen scene and I played Sandy and Patty Simcox. It was good fun to try out the two contrasting characters. We then had our singing auditions. I sang the first verse and chorus of “A Thousand Years” by Christina Perri with Kerry Britton. Our final audition was the dancing audition. Miss Murphy taught a group of us the dance for “Grease Lightning”. It was confusing at first to remember all the moves and when to do them, but near the end it was great fun and we all had a laugh. The auditions helped me to boost my confidence and also to not get so nervous but instead to try your best, enjoy yourself and smile.