The Garibaldi Interdisciplinary Arts Academy is taking audiences back to the era of poodle skirts and slicked back hair for its production of Grease: The Musical.
The 1971 musical was written by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey and follows the lives of 10 teenagers entering their senior year at Rydell High.
The musical is named after a working-class subculture called Greasers, popularized by acting icons Marlon Brando and James Dean.
The story takes place in 1958, when an Australian girl named Sandy Olsson meets Danny Zuko on summer vacation at the beach, where they fall in love.
Danny is the leader of a Greaser gang called the T-Birds and on the first day of school tells his friends about Sandy.
He is not aware that Sandy has also enrolled at Rydell High for her senior year.
Sandy makes friends with Frenchy, a member of the Pink Ladies.
When Sandy tells them about the boy she fell in love with over the summer, Rizzo, the group’s leader, discovers it is her ex-boyfriend and arranges for them to bump into one another at a pep rally.
Danny’s indifference to seeing Sandy again causes her to run off.
Will Sandy and Danny be able to rekindle their love despite Sandy’s good-girl image?
The audience will be able to relive the 1978 film starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John with songs from the hit soundtrack like Summer Nights, Hopelessly Devoted to You and You’re the One That I Want.
Grade 11 student Daniel Coutts plays Doody, a member of the T-Birds, and Cody Marthaller, Grade 12, plays Eugene Felsnick, a not-so-popular student at Rydell High.
This will be the first Garibaldi production for both of them and they are huge fans of Grease.
“Things haven’t really changed,” says Coutts, comparing high school relationships today to that in the musical.
“I feel like it’s very related to how society still is, how cliquey people are. The nerds don’t fit in with the preppy kids and the preppy kids are always the popular kids,” continued Marthaller.
Both agree that people of all generations can relate to the characters in Grease.
Coutts loves the challenge of playing Doody.
“I like how different he is to me. He’s the least tough of the five [Greasers], but he’s tougher than me. I find it really entertaining,” said Coutts.
Marthaller likes how fun and positive his character is given any circumstance.
“Even if it is a bad situation, he’ll do something and then it’s a positive situation for him,” explained Marthaller.
But both actors like the positive message that can be gleaned from the end, that friendships can always be fixed.
What’s on
Grease: The Musical takes place Feb. 16-20 at Garibaldi Theatre, 24789 Dewdney Trunk Road.
Tickets are cash only and can be bought at Little Cricket Gift Gallery at 22347 Lougheed Highway, at the Garibaldi secondary office at 24789 Dewdney Trunk Road, or at the door depending on availability.
Tickets are $17 for adults and $15 for students.
• For more information call 604-463-6287.
