Cole Manley ’11
News Editor
On July 30, the Staples Players/Westport Summer School performed “Grease” in a 50s styled Staples auditorium. The show opened to a large audience, and featured a range of students—from incoming Staples freshmen to college juniors.
Based on the classic American musical, the summer production was set in the retro days of 1959 in fictional “Rydell High.” The Staples show followed the dramatic, stressful lives of ten working-class kids as they struggle with love, friendship, cliques and potential pregnancy.
Together, Sandy (Eva Hendricks ’11), Rizzo (Kathryn Gau ’08), Marty (Audrey Twitchell), Frenchy (Hannah Berg ’08, Zoe Apoian ‘09), and Jan (Shannon Walsh ’10, Michelle Pauker ’13) were the self-described “Pink Ladies,” a clique of pink-jacket-wearing girls.
Their counterparts, the “Burger Palace Boys,” an exclusive gang, included Danny (Nick Boak ’07), Kenickie (Britt Hennemuth ’08), Roger (Chris McNiff ‘09, Steve Autore), Doody (Vinny Amaru ’11), and Sonny (Glenn Leo’11, Adam Bangser ’10).
All the players deserve praise, with stunning solos by Hendricks (Sandy) and strong acting by Gau (Rizzo), Hennemuth (Kenickie), and Boak (Danny). Their interpretations of the 50s cool kids transformed the play into a more dramatic story.
Ryan Shea ’13 also deserves credit for playing Eugene Florczyk, the class nerd of Rydell High. Every time Eugene scampered onto the stage, the audience roared in appreciation.
As the school year passes, emotions heat up between the two groups, with relationships flaring and flickering, particularly between Danny and Sandy. Over the summer, the two share a romantic fling, but when Danny avoids talking to Sandy to preserve his “cool” status, she breaks down in tears.
Months go by and finally Danny realizes his mistake, and attempts to court Sandy once again. Eventually Sandy obliges and the two get back together in the final few scenes, with Sandy transformed from confused loner into the epitome of cool.
However, senior year at Rydell is a shock to the leader of the “Pink Ladies.” When her period is late, Rizzo assumes Kenickie, her boyfriend, got her pregnant, a social felony in the 50s for a senior girl in high school. The story has a happy ending, as does Sandy’s romance, but the strict social norms in the mid-20th century, along with Rizzo’s true insecurity are clearly portrayed.
For Rizzo, college isn’t an option. A life as housewife is her likely future. When senior year ends, Rizzo realizes that bearing children and serving her husband will define her success as a woman. Additionally, her family is working class, so finding a promising husband is much harder for Rizzo than it is for Sandy.
By senior prom, the romantic dramas and pregnancy scares are over. The Pink Ladies and Burger Palace Boys enjoy one last night together with DJ Vince Fontaine (Charlie Greenwald’11) before they go their separate ways.
Despite being a widely-copied and produced show, the Players/Westport Summer School production of “Grease” succeeded in providing rock-n-roll entertainment without ignoring the complex emotions high school students faced in the 50s and today.
The sets added to the performance, off ering glimpses of life in the 50s with the car in “Greased Lightning,” prom night, and more.
In terms of music, the renditions of “Greased Lightning,” “Summer Nights” and “Born to Hand Jive” were truly entertaining, and showcased the amazing theater talents Staples is known for.
For three nights at Staples, “Grease” was the word, drive-ins were all the rage, and leather was more than just clothing… it was life.
