Tuesday, January 9, 2007

First Grease Rehearsal

I have to admit that I wasn't so thrilled about doing Grease. I have
never been a big fan. It seemed cheesy and superficial at best. Let's
start with the movie, I mean come on! A flying car? And not a lot of
the characters came across as "real people". Then there is every stage
version I have seen (3 times)... Mostly community theaters and mostly
kids and mostly STUPID!

That's what I like about doing Scott Miller shows. He never ceases to
surprise with his vision of where we are going to head and as long as
you accept it, it'll always be a fun ride. Scott is going to put the
authenticity back into Grease and make it the raunchy, unpolished,
snapshot of 50's Americana that it was meant to be. I also love the
insight he provides. He writes these chapters, that at first seem
very overwhelming, but if you read them, you can really ascertain a
lot of good info. And this time he has provided books, magazines and
DVDs for us to take home and get a true idea of who we are in this show.

For instance, I didn't realize what a big deal it was for Doody to be
playing a guitar. I thought it was just a ploy to get one in the
show, but Scott explained back then rock and roll was the "devil's
music" and for any kid's parents to let him have a guitar was a huge
deal. Not only to him, but to his friends as well. He now holds the
key to what they think is cool and, like Scott said, he could be the
next big star in their minds. So when the cast is singing back-up,
it isn't mocking, etc. They really are excited to have this music in
their lives and have it be so accessible.

So long story short.... I am kind of getting excited about Grease and
I can't wait to see where it goes.

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