Berkshire's Production of Grease
A Review
by Abby Curtin, BP Editor
April 29, 2008
On April 18th and 19th, the Berkshire Thespians took to the stage to present Grease, a rock and roll 1950’s musical written by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Grease follows the love story of Sandy Dumbrowski and Danny Zuko and their sock-hoppin’ high school friends, as they sing and dance their way through their senior year.
The musical’s main setting is Rydell High School, but scenes are also set at a slumber party, a drive-in theater and a park. Like in most of Berkshire’s productions, the sets for Grease were nothing fancy, but what the sets were lacking was made up for in the lighting and costume design. Most of the thespians sported quintessential 1950’s fashions, including poodle skirts, pedal pushers, leather bomber jackets and Converse high tops. The superb costume design contributed greatly to the overall feel of the production.
Berkshire’s presentation of Grease also included outstanding musical accompaniment. Band director, Matt Marks, worked with students to provide all music for the show. From “Greased Lightning”, to “Hand Jive”, to “You’re the One that I Want”, Marks’ musical direction helped make Grease a hit.
Most important to the success of Grease was, of course, the actors. The production starred Owen Park and Rachel Taylor as Danny and Sandy, Dan Lasco as Kenickie, Greg Dornback as Roger, Jasmine Nelson as Rizzo and Gudrun Updegraff as Frenchy. Each of these actors fit their roles to a tea and made the characters believable. Overall, the entire cast worked together to create a well balanced whole, with very little overplaying of roles. Most outstanding were Lasco’s Kenickie dance moves, Dave Foley’s interpretation of slick radio personality, Vince Fontaine, Amber Ashba’s role as over the top cheerleader, Patty and Megan Fisher’s ability to deal with a slight wardrobe malfunction while dancing an amazing hand jive.
Director Meghan Hull, Assistant Director Marks and Technical Director, Maria Ritter, succeeded in bringing the fun and up beat feel of Grease to life on stage. Grease is simply one of the best productions Berkshire has seen in the past five years. Congratulations to all involved!
