Grease: The Musical

Forty-one years after Grease’s movie release, the Cabot High School Theater Department wanted to put on a grand show to celebrate, and they did it as quickly as “Greased Lightnin.” The whole show took them eight weeks to make, whereas other productions usually take 12 to get ready. Theater and Dance teacher Ashley Tarvin wanted to be able to perform this show before Spring Break. “This is the hardest show for high school students, to perform in front of there peers,” Tarvin explains. “We pulled it off with hard work and dedication.”

This play took many personal hours to complete, with students staying after school three days a week just to get the settings and the props ready. “Since after Christmas break,” Junior Ciera Scott explained. “We have taken so much time on this and everyone has practiced so much.” Everyone on the stagecraft team worked hard and made the outfits, as well as, managing the lights, sounds, and the ever-tricky microphones attached to each student. “You can plan the lights, you can plan the run, you can read the script, that’s manageable,” Senior Kyler Hayes from stagecraft explains. “The only thing that is constantly changing is sound. If something happens live we have to fix it live.”

A lot of the actors had a lot of fun doing this production, as well as work for a great show. “I get nervous at times,” Gracie Morris, who played Patty, states, “[But] I just love being on stage with the lights and everything.” They rehearsed daily in class and stayed after school many days just to make sure that the show would be worth paying for. Rainey Ross, who performs as Rizzo, explains, “It is tricky because some characters do have quite a lot of lines, but going home every day I read over the script again and again, it probably took me three months to memorize all the lines.”

The musical was a great success, leaving a lot of the audience both happy and pleased with the production. The High school team put together a great performance, and Mrs. Tarvin already has a few ideas about what to expect next year. “Some of my favorite shows are Disney shows,” Tarvin states. “But we can’t do them every year. Next year I am looking at some Disney friendly shows, like Mary Poppins and Matilda the musical. There is also High School Musical. We try to rotate our style every year.”