Rated G for Grease

Art by Estie Dillard

It’s systematic… hydromatic… ultimatic… and possibly going to inspire barrages of letters from offended parents. Grease is the word, and perhaps not the only word going to be repeated by young theatre-goers after viewing City High’s upcoming spring musical.

Directors Troy and Havilah Peters had an idea of what they were doing when they selected Grease as the school’s spring musical.

“I like the idea of cycling; doing kind of a traditional play, then doing something edgier, then kind of a family show that elementary kids would be comfortable with,” Troy Peters, director of four previous shows at City High, said. “I like to mix it up once and awhile, so over four years somebody will at least get to experience different genres or themes.”

This method gives actors and actresses opportunities to be a part of different types of theatre, but it may surprise avid city high audience members who have grown accustomed to family friendly shows like Once Upon a Mattress, Oliver, and Mary Poppins last year. Themes of sex, teen pregnancy, and frequent swearing intertwined with a few profane lyrics take Grease up a notch on the adult content meter.

“This isn’t anything City High hasn’t tackled before,” Peters said. ”Let me just say this: at City High we’ve done edgier shows in the past: Chicago, Rabbit Hole, shows like that. We don’t tend to shy away from too much material, but we don’t want to be gratuitous. If something’s written—maybe a profane lyric or a profane word which has a point and is an important part of the script—then we generally leave it in,” Peters says.

Genevieve Wisdom ‘17 agrees, “People were hesitant to do Chicago, and as far as I know it seemed to be one of the most well-received shows City High has ever done.”

As to whether the lyrics should be changed, both Wisdom ‘17, and Nick Mendoza ‘16, agree with Peters on his stance.

“This is part of the culture of the show,” Wisdom said. “The City High drama program does a great job of making our productions as close to professional quality as possible, and by changing the lyrics we would present ourselves with a more amateur feel. Changing [the lyrics] almost cheapens the show,” she said.

Handling the serious material with maturity is crucial to executing the musical in a realistic way. Mendoza believes removing the controversial aspects of the show will diminish its quality.

“Grease is set in a high school, and I think it’s really hard to take things like sex or violence or language out of that and then try and make it seem like an authentic high school play,” Mendoza said.

These facts became hardly anything to worry about once Peters made the announcement that less familiar songs from the original musical are going to be replaced with the newly purchased rights to classics like, “Grease is the Word,” “Sandy,” “Hopelessly Devoted To You,” and “The One That I Want”, none of which have particularly jarring lyrics. Even the original version of “Greased Lightning” is significantly less profane than the movie rendition.

“If people find things offensive, I doubt that people will think, ‘Oh, City High kids are really sex-crazed’ just because of some lyrics,” Mendoza said.

Others are not so keen on the idea of crude lyrics and actions being carried out on stage by meer teenagers. Vocal director Jim Berry expresses concerns that the profanity may not attract as many people as PG musicals of years past.

“The lyrics should be changed,” Berry said. “This will be fun, and offensive lyrics and content will be changed so that the show will be family friendly. I think we can bring kids to this show without worry,” Berry chortled.

While the material may dissuade some audience members, there is a consensus that it will have the opposite effect on auditionees.

“I hope more people from the whole spectrum come out for this,” Peters said.  “I’m hoping for more guys too. Generally with musicals it’s hard to get the amount of guys that we need, and I think it’s a cool musical, and it’s already thought of that way,” he said, “And the music is so familiar that people will feel, ‘I can do  this! I already know the music.’”  

Wisdom shares the actor side of the advantage Grease brings to auditionees.

“Many times when young people act in a production of a more kid-friendly show such as Mary Poppins, it’s more likely that we will be treated like children. Young people like us want to be treated like adults when we perform, and by doing a more adult show, the directors show that they trust us with this material.”

Regardless of which lines are cut and pasted, there is one positive consensus.

“We’ve got some great people working on it [Grease] and technically it will be a fantastic, big, spectacular show,” Peters said, “I remember in my high school that I grew up in, there was always one parent who would always write a letter, and we knew at that point that we weren’t doing something meaningful unless we got that one letter from that parent.”  

As for final acting advice from a few stars in the drama department?

“Putting yourself out there in situations that you aren’t sure what you’re going to do is where genuine acting as a character really comes out; when you’re forced to be in situations that you haven’t acted out before,” Mendoza said.

And as for acting out adult material…

“It might be awkward at first for whoever is in those scenes, but overall if you just do what you’re supposed to do and be in the scene, it won’t be terribly difficult,” Wisdom said. “People in City High theatre are so accepting and welcoming, so I’m sure the actors in these scenes will make each other feel comfortable.

Either way, being a little uncomfortable is necessary when pursuing acting, Nysio Poulakos ‘17 said.

“If you are pursuing a career in acting and performing, you may have to push outside your comfort zone, and the more theater productions you participate in, the larger range you have as an actor,” Poulakos said.

Auditions for City’s Spring musical Grease will be held on February 1st and 2nd in the choir room from 3:30- 5:30, with an optional dance audition on February 3rd. While it is not required, the dance audition is highly recommended for anyone auditioning for a feature or lead role. No monologue is required to audition; only a minute-long excerpt of a song of your choice, preferably from a musical. There is an informational meeting in Troy Peters’ room after school on Friday, January 22nd.