Grease’ is slick season-opener
By Erich Murphy/Managing Editor
The Daily Leader - Pontiac, IL
Published: Thursday, June 12, 2008
Bob McKenzie can be proud of the way he cast the first Vermillion Players production of the 2008 season. His choice of leads are blessed with strong voices and an ability to follow direction.
"Grease" is the word this weekend as the popular musical opens the theater season at Chautauqua Park tonight. "Grease" runs through Sunday with the curtain rising at 7:30 each night.
Do not confuse the stage production with the movie. Fans of the movie "Grease" will notice immediately that the play is not the same as that of the silver screen. Some of the songs will be familiar but will be sung by other characters. There are also some songs that are in the play that are not in the movie, and vice versa.
Despite the differences, theatergoers should be quite happy with what they see.
Instead of taking part in California (movie version), the play takes place in Chicago. Yes, Danny Zuko is a greaser who meets Sandy Dumbrowski at the beach.
They meet again under different circumstances on the first day of school at Rydell High.
John Ramseyer plays Danny. Ramseyer shows great improvement from his strong effort in "West Side Story" last year. Having a strong singing voice helps, but the typically easy-going Ramseyer is convincing as a "tough" gang member in this role. He has to be since Danny is a self-confident leader of the Burger Palace Boys.
Playing opposite Ramseyer's Danny is Brianna Gill as Sandy. Unlike in the movie, Sandy is not from Australia. That part was created for Olivia Newton-John, an Aussie.
Sandy is just the new girl who lives next door to Frenchy, one of the Pink Ladies. Gill is a confident singer and played the girl-next-door type very well. She shows the vulnerability and the strength of the character as Sandy goes from a meek newcomer to a Pink Lady.
Having strong singers in the lead lays the foundation for the others. Following the leads is a group of supporting performers who are equally powerful.
The main supporter is Sandy's antagonist. Rizzo is also a self-confident character who is the kind of girl guys would want to go out with, but not take home to mother.
Good or bad, Erin Shaughnessy makes the witchy character quite realistic — as if you were to walks the halls of PTHS and find someone like Rizzo.
Rizzo is the leader of the Pink Ladies, the girls equivalent of the Burger Palace Boys. A difference in the stage's Rizzo with the one on the silver screen is the sharpness of the girl on the stage. She's a tougher character and Shaughnessy plays that out well.
Marty, played by Erica Connolly, is a stronger character on the stage. Connolly helps sell that with her excellent effort in singing "Freddy, My Love," one of the songs not in the movie.
Kate Whitman seems as vulnerable as the character she plays, Frenchy. Like Didi Conn in the movie, Whitman shows she can be a Pink Lady with her cigarette smoking and tough talk, while still showing her emotional side during "Beauty School Dropout."
Not to be forgotten is the voice of wisdom to Frenchy. Dylan Webster does a marvelous job as the guardian angel Frenchy wishes for to offer advice on what she should do after dropping out of beauty school.
As Jan, Jessica Oester supports the leads and the secondary lead characters very well. She's part of the group, showing a little humor and a little brashness. She can also sing and dance.
The one girl who has a bigger role on the stage than in the movie is Patty Simcox. Cara Sledgister's performance is so good that it seems she was born to play the part.
Patty's character has the hots for Danny, and their relationship is closer on stage than in the movie. Sledgister shows her talent in being the good girl with a sense of wanting to be a little naughty by playing to the tough.
The Burger Palace Boys were known as the T-Birds in the movie. Kenickie is Danny's lieutenant in the gang and Doody and Sonny are comic relief players.
Corey Brown was impressive in singing "Greased Lightning." Yes, this was sung by Danny in the movie, but that was for John Travolta.
Seth Brown is Sonny and Doody is played by Zach Kohlmeier, a standout in his days with the children's productions. These characters, and that of Roger, the third member of the Palace Burger Boys trio of wisecrackers, are linked together almost as one character. Sean Young plays Roger, who is a bit different than the Putzie character from the movie.
In one scene, Kohlmeier and Young show off their singing ability by performing "Rock-N-Roll Party Queen" without losing their character's voices. This is actually nice trait and shows talent in being able to stay the same in abnormal environment.
The Browns, Kohlmeier and Young play off each quite nicely. This helps convince the audience that these guys are all good friends and do the things friends do — tease each other, fight among themselves and most, importantly, stand by each other.
It's this last trait that Danny finally understands when he goes out and tries to win Sandy back. His worries of what the others maintaining his image go by the wayside.
Other members of the cast include Ariel Tate (Mrs. Lynch), Bobby Browing (Eugene Florczyk), John Gahm Jr. (Vince Fontaine), Douglas O'Connor (Johnny Casino) and Gina Brooks (Cha-Cha DiGregorio). Also performing on stage are Sam Alsdorf, Olivia Dunham, Cortney Eggenberger, Kayla Froelich, Sarah Gahm, Brittani Henady, Karen Mehri, Rachel Mies, Jamie Morse, Jamie Ramseyer, Alex Rasmussen, Michele Spencer, Joshua Tate and Joe Whitman.
McKenzie directed and staged this production. Anita Nangle and Becky Nangle did the choreography. Producing "Grease" are John Gahm and Joyce Eggenberger.
The pit orchestra, with one exception, comes from Prairie Central High School and is directed by PC band director Lesa Kline. The exception is the pianist, David Young, the band director at Flanagan High School
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