“Grease is the word, it’s the word that you heard. It’s got groove, it’s got meaning!” It is that time of year again where our school brings us the joy of immersing ourselves into the captivating portrayal of theatre and drama through our school production. And if you hadn’t guessed from the opening line, Grease is making its comeback for 2018!
Set in the rock n’ roll days of the 1950s, Grease is the romantic comedy of a group of high school seniors; bad boy Danny, and goody girl Sandy, who despite their differences fall dramatically in love. The play is filled with flash cars, hand-jiving and the classic 50’s vibes, which our enthusiastically talented cast and Mr Cho’s band have been rehearsing for all weekend.
Starting on Friday night, the cast leads, ensemble and the band, only had a short time to settle into their new cabins and have dinner before splitting off to rehearse their dancing, acting and playing. Whilst Mr Cho’s band practised in the hall with their instruments, the ensemble began to learn the upbeat choreography for the dancing scenes. Our wonderful choreographer Sandy, the name perfect for the production in fact, taught us the shuffling and twisting of the Hound Dog partner dance. And wow did that leave us all out of breath!
After practising this, the boys split off to practise the intense Grease Lightning, whilst the girls on a lighter note rehearsed their angelic-like Beauty School Dropout scene. The long night ended on a good note with students exhausted and relieved to go to bed ready for the next day.
On Saturday the keen cast began practice bright and early, a few feet aching from the previous night’s grooving, yet everyone was still buzzing and ready for what was to come. The talented leads, Elizabeth Ralph-Smith as Sandy, and Vincent Pluknett as Danny, began rehearsing alongside their other fellow leads and ensemble, which was truly inspiring for the other students to watch.
Of course, morning tea and lunch was provided and there were a few breaks in between; a nice rest from the intense yet exciting atmosphere of the dramatic rehearsing. After our lyrics were nearly learnt off by heart, and dance moves perfected, the whole cast practised the scenes with the band to finish off the day.
Under the guide of our talented teachers; Mrs Oliver, Miss Bradley, Mr Cho, Miss Samaeli and Miss Redwood, the camp was successfully planned and organised to make it so enjoyable for everyone. Much time and effort was devoted to ensuring the choreography, songs, lines, music and much more were understood and embraced by all. Our teachers challenged us in many ways to exceed what we thought was possible, and of course we had a lot of laughs along the way!
As Sunday morning rolled around, we attended Mass down at Eastern Beach at 6:30am with Father Craig who kindly led the beautiful service among the quiet setting. The beauty of the colourful sunrise, gently lapping water and the service was a truly beautiful way to start the last day of our production camp.
The weekend was an enjoyable and wonderful bonding experience for all the cast, who grew much closer to one another and many new friendships were made. It was uplifting to feel so united. And of course, all the hard work of rehearsing in preparation of the big show will hopefully pay off in the end…. I just guess you will have to be the judge of that!
Francesca Adams
