Students at Windham High School are working to perfect the musical “Grease” before presenting it to audiences next month at the WHS Performing Arts Center.
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| Student cast and crew members rehearse for the upcoming Windham High School musical production of the Broadway and movie smash hit 'Grease" after school at the WHS Performing Arts Center last week. More than 60 students tried out to land parts in the show, which opens in November. PHOTO BY ERIN ROSE |
“The last couple of shows we did, we’re asking them to be ogres and fairy tale creatures,” Director Rob Juergens said, remembering last year’s “Shrek” and 2023’s “Spamalot” performances. “What they need to do is a show where they can be high school kids.”
Grease is Juergens’ 15th show for the district and he’s especially excited by a sudden explosion in participation, thanks to the efforts of Windham Middle School. Cast for previous shows was between 30 to 40 students. This year, 60 students turned out for the musical.
“The middle school has been building a really nice following for their musicals,” Juergens said. “We had a huge freshman group come up.”
“I didn’t have enough knights for Spamalot, so we had a lot of girl knights. We’ve had the luck to have a lot of guys this year,” the director said.
Sticking to the original musical, the huge cast presents the opportunity to include the Burger Palace Boys (known as the “T-Birds” in the 1978 movie version), along with a full cast of supporting characters.
WHS Senior Joshua Macloughlin will be playing one of the leaders of the Burger Palace Boys, Kenickie, and is excited to see how many kids turned out to join the show this year.
“It’s cool to see such a diverse group of kids coming together to do this. You have kids who play sports, who have only done theater, who are major academic types. Everyone can come together, regardless of what your background is, and we have a really fun community here,” he said.
Fellow Senior Kaitlyn Dickson shares Macloughlin’s excitement at seeing such a huge cast.
“It’s a little overwhelming at big rehearsals, but I do appreciate it for a musical like Grease because it’s so fun having big dance numbers with a lot of people, and I know the costumes are going to be amazing,” Dickson said.
In addition, more than 15 students will run and operate the show from behind the scenes.
“During the show, I get up, I give my little introductory speech, and I sit down,” Juergens said. “The students run the show.”
While the show may be based in the 1950s, there are elements that continue to resonate with today’s teens.
“Friends and community are the things that stick around,” Macloughlin said.
Reaching into his own communities has helped him form a connection with his character as a love for cars is something he shares with his character Kenickie.
“I find myself in car communities, new and old. It’s like I’m in that time, buying an old beater, having a job over the summer to pay for a car,” he said. “Imagining I want something fun to ride around in and take your girlfriend out for drives in. I can really see that today.”
His love of cars will be on display as the students bring one of the show’s most popular songs to life, “Greased Lightnin’” alive.
“I can’t wait to drive on in that car,” he noted excitedly.
Dickson shares the love for the signature song.
“It’s a funky, good song,” she said. “Hopefully we can capture the visuals from the movie for that scene.”
Dickson will be playing Rizzo and is looking forward to playing another diva character after her past roles as the Dragon in “Shrek” and as the Lady Of The Lake in “Spamalot.”
“I’ve loved ‘Grease’ since I was younger, but I have always had a soft spot for my character,” she said. “Rizzo is a little complicated and very misunderstood.”
One of the songs that shows off her character’s history is “There Are Worse Things I Can Do,” and Dickson is looking forward to showing audiences a different angle of Rizzo.
“The movie showed it one way,” as relating to the movie’s reference to teen pregnancy, “while the play shows the character going through different struggles,” she said. “It’s her big moment.”
Performances of this year’s WHS musical “Grease” will be offered Nov. 14 through Nov. 16 and Nov. 21 to Nov. 23. <
