Page 6
Wednesday^ March 3^ 1999
The Pilot
Grease hits the mark with GWU
GREASE
REVIEW
Miriam Coles
Pilot staff
Pink PcKidle skirts, hair
tuased tiJl it stands on end,
petal pushers with black
leather patches, tight T-
shirts with the sleeves neatly
rolled. Remember those
bygone years of the Fifties
when rock and roll was tfie
hottest thing and all every
one thought about was sex?
Those were the days.
ActaaHy, most of us
have no recollcction of what
took place during those clas
sic years, however, we have
ail been shaped by otw cul
ture‘s view of that time.
Cn^ase^ the ever popular
music^ that refuses to grow
old* provides a look at the
GfUes as wc imagine them;
when rebels ruled and
morality was out The days
when Elvis “the pelvis”
rocked America. Those were
definitely the days.
As for the storyHne, let
me see if I understand this
corrccriy. To get the man of
my dreams, I have to throw
away all of ray moral stan
dards, give up my convic
tions, and basically become
a slut. Meanwhile, he does
n’t hiwe to change in the
least for me. It all makes
sense now! Hmmm.. or not.
Needless to say. 1 wasn’t
nearly as impressed with the
nwrai message of Grease as
I was with the actors them
selves.
In my humble opinion,
GWU’s performance was
wonderfully entertaining. So
many elements of the show
wers great, from the singing
right down to the real ‘49
Oldsmobile they brought
out on stage. Tlie ca.st and
cfew ^1 pulled togetfier to
putonatenificshow
As the five-piece band
serenaded the audience with
good oidies. I knew I
was going ID eiyoy the show.
By the lime the program got
the whole
Production a big hit, adds performance
Miriam Coles
Pilot staff
wa$ singtng
See Review page?
Michael Brooks, who
played Kenikie, Betty Rizzo’s
rebellious lover, expressed it
this way: "It’s a high energy
time warp. Through singing
and dancing, Grease
opens up our imagina
tions and allows us all to
drift back into the 50’s
and get a taste of the
days of Buddy Holly and
slicked hair.
“Even though we
live in the high paced
world of 1999, through our par
ents, we all have roots in the
50’s. We’re forever connected,”
said Brooks.
That connection was evi
dent in the community’s
response to Gardner-Webb’s
production of Grease.
According to director Keith
Cassidy, the auditorium was
packed every night. In fact, 20
people were turned away on
Friday night because there
were no seats left so the show
was held over to Tuesday.
It wasn’t always a fun,
glamorous ride. The cast has
been troubled with injury and
sickness. Jeremy Burger, the
main character Danny Zuko,
was having voice trouble on
Monday night, and during the
Sunday matinee, Nataly Bevill
fell during a dance sequence
and was taken to the hospital.
By Monday night, the cast
was physically exhausted. One
cast member said, “Backstage,
we’re exhausted, but once we
get out on stage, the energy all
comes rushing back.”
“I really feel it’s only been
through the provisions of God
that we’ve been able to do this.
There have been so many diffi
culties,” said Kelly Greene who
played Marty. “I think that even
though it’s not a sacred play,
God has chosen to reward the
faith of the cast and crew with
such phenomenal success.”
Director Keith Cassidy
decided to use hand-held
microphones instead of a more
advanced sound system. He
explained that if you look at
how the play, not the movie,
was originally structured you
can see that it’s more of a rock
concert that a musical. Instead
of the music backing up the
story line, the story serves as a
frame for the music.
“I wanted to highlight the
music,” said Cassidy. In addi
tion, several cast members said
that because they used the big
hand-held mikes for the origi-
thing does get tiring and frus
trating. I, for one, am ready to
sleep decent hours. I work at
Burger King until 3:00 am after
this, so I’m a little worn out.”
The cast was unanimous in
their description of the best ele
ment of the whole produc-
“Even though we live in the high
paced world of 1999, through our
parents, we all have roots in the
50’s. We’re forever connected.”
nal play, it looks more authen
tic.
“They [the mikes] took a
tremendous amount of work,
extra time and practice,” said
Greene. Denise Deaton, who
played Jan, said that “they had
to be re-wound after ever
scene.” But with a lot of deter
mination and hard work, the
cast seemed to manage fine.
The band itself was a con
stant throughout the show.
Elizabeth Aldridge, Scott
Elliot, Robbie Freeman, Obbie
Clayton and Darin Deaton, all
of whom had never played
together before, performed the
entire musical score as well as
several songs before the show
got underway.
“It was hard because we
had to learn the whole thing
from scratch,” said Elliot.
“Most of the songs for the pre
show we didn’t have any music
for. They were basically
improvisations.”
“It was great to see the
audience singing along. It
means we reached them,” said
Saxophonist Aldridge.
The band also reached the
point of exhaustion. Elliot
commented, “While I’m not
tired of the show, the whole
tion,:“team work” and “unity
of the cast.”
Walking through the dress
ing rooms, the cast members
seemed to have a comrodery
about them. Ryan Stamey
(Doody) said, “we’re like a
family.” And like a real family,
the jokes were passed back and
forth with ease. “They might
as well knock down this wall
between the girls’ and guys’
dressing rooms cause those
guys can’t even put their cos
tumes on by the themselves,”
the girls teased.
When asked if anyone had
anything else they would like to
add, Deaton emphatically
exclaimed, “No matter how tal
ented the cast is, none of this
would have happened without
the director, Keith Cassidy. He
is absolutely the greatest.”
Grease was definitely one
of the most successful plays in
GWU theater history. With its
still in Cassidy’s mind, more
productions are in the works.
Auditions for Amedaus are
scheduled for shortly after
spring break.
Next year, the theater is
planning to perform A
Midsummer’s Night’s Dream,
Godspell, and A Few Good
Men, along with one other
small play. If the response to
these productions is anything
like that of Grease, the theater
department can plan on a bright
future next semester.
Ryan Stamey said, in the
words of the Grease genera
tion, “Audiences love us cause
they can dig it, baby.”
Deaton summed it all up.
“It’s Grease. That’s all that
needs to be said.”
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