High school production of Grease is a sell out

Six weeks of rehearsals, including Fridays until 8pm and a weekend, went into perfecting a slick production of Grease.

Young performers from Whitworth Community High School staged the musical version of the much loves Olivia Newton John and John Travolta classic film over three nights to packed audiences.

Some families enjoyed it so much they booked seats for every show and there was a waiting list of people who desperately wanted to get a seat. The finale ended in tears as an exhausted cast of 40 wished the run could last longer.

Director of creativity Debbi Goff and performing arts teacher Alex White decided to pick Grease, when Mrs White heard Mrs Goff running a band practice involving a Grease medley.

They brainstormed to see if they had the right boys for the tough roles of Danny and Kenicki and found the ideal actors in Sam Turner and Adam Longstaff.

 

 

Auditions were held in June and 70 students put themselves forward. After several callbacks the cast was picked. Grace Wilkins, 14, was delighted to land the role of Jan, one of the Pink Ladies while Sophie Ainscow, 16, was Pink Lady leader Rizzo.

Sophie said: “This was to be my last performance at Whitworth, I was in Robin Hood and Matilda, then We Will Rock You and now Grease.

“The atmosphere was amazing, and everyone was so fantastic and supportive of each other. On the opening night Leo Pilling, who was playing Eugene, was going round giving everyone peptalks.

“He was playing the geek in Grease, but he was so sweet telling everyone, ‘You’ve got this, guys.’”

Mrs Goff said, when she checked the boys dressing room after they had gone on stage, she was shocked to find it orderly and tidy, but was later told Leo had neatened up all the clothes the others had left lying around.

Grace said: “The best part for me was all the friends that I have made through the show and the different people I now know. Sophie is like a sister to me. The hardest part was finding my way through the dancers to get on stage.”

Director Mrs White said: “They were a lively cast, which is what was needed for Grease because of the characters. The biggest challenge was that so many had never done a production before.”

She praised how supportive parents were bringing their children to rehearsals in between football practice and matches and dance lessons.

As Rizzo, Sophie had two solos ‘There Are Worst Things I Could Do’ and ‘Sandra Dee’ while Grace’s character performed a duet of ‘Mooning’ with a much smaller student playing the role of Gabe.

The school hired props, including the Grease Lightning car from Dave D Events in Stockport and Archie’s uncle Adam Hudson, a professional photographer, captured the performance for free.