We go together

De Pere High School’s stage is set to transport audiences back in time to Rydell High School for their upcoming production of Grease, which opens next Thursday, Nov. 13.

“It’s the iconic love story between Danny and Sandy — Danny is a greaser cool boy and Sandy is a sweet, innocent girl…” said Raquel Lopez, director of the show. “They fall in love and they just kind of try to navigate peer pressure and friend groups and how they can make their lives work together.”

Grease features many lead roles and a large ensemble, which is exactly what drew Lopez to the show for this year’s musical.

“We just have so much talent on our stage and we have so many seniors this year that I was looking for a show that had opportunities for a lot of leads and a lot of cast members so we could really showcase all of our talent,” she said.

“I love seeing the actors add their own twist to everything,” said Sarah Hansen, the student director for the show. “We have more than 10 featured roles, so that’s 10 different takes on the how and 10 different ways to see it come to life.”

And to bring their characters to life, students in the cast found helpful research tactics in some unexpected places.

“I personally made a Pinterest board about the ‘50s and that genre and time so I could kind of gauge how I should bring those elements into my performance,” said Livi Drewieske, who plays Sandy.

“I went on Facebook and I got all these old people talking and I was like, ‘Okay, that sounds like ‘50s. I’ll do that,’” said Owen Elliott, who plays Danny.

And once they had their own characters figured out, it was time to figure out how those characters would go together.

“We have a lot of fun on stage,” said Caiya Klish, who plays Rizzo. “You can definitely tell the chemistry between the actors really elevates the performance… I think that someone watching the show should really focus on the interactions between the actors — not only the leads, but also the ensemble. We spend a lot of time working on what someone in the ‘50s would do, what would a greaser do, what would a cheerleader do, and building those interactions from the ground up as our own characters.”

And it’s not just actors who are featured on stage, but the band as well.

“Something that’s really cool this year that we’ve never really done as long as I’ve been here is that the band is actually on stage with us,” Drewieske said.
Students said it’s also the things and people that audiences won’t necessarily see on stage that really bring the show together.

“There’s a lot more to theater than just what you see on opening night on stage,” Drewieske said. “There is a lot of teambuilding, a lot of dance workshops and a lot of time put into a show that mostly goes unseen.”

“There’s also more than just the actors,” Elliott said. “There’s costume. There’s lights, There’s sound. There’s a whole bunch of people that you don’t see on stage that are making it all run and that we’re really thankful for.”

If you’re planning on attending a performance, there’s one thing you can count on — “If you like the ‘50s, you’re going to love this,” Elliott said. “The songs are great. The interactions are great. It’s great.”

Learn more about De Pere’s production of Grease and purchase tickets at cur8.com/18417/project/134000.