Whoa! It's almost the end of our first week back, and it whipped by! I came back to Kent Sunday for our first choreography rehearsal for Grease. The cast spent 8 hours learning parts of the Hand Jive from our amazing choreographer, Felicity. It's a really complex number: the pace is lightning fast, with several tricks and lifts happening right on top of each other. I was holding my breath for a lot of the lifts, imagining faces smacking into the floor or walls. But the cast picked it up quickly, and it's shaping up to be a show-stopper.
Monday was a music rehearsal, and Tuesday was the first read-thru/sing-thru of the whole show, and design presentations. This is a really modern version of Grease; Michael, the director, wants it to look and sound like a flashy rock and roll concert, and from what I've seen, the designers are going to give him just that. This isn't your parents' Grease, folks. This is louder, faster, bigger, and raunchier!
Last night (Wednesday) we finished putting all the pieces of the Hand Jive and bringing it up to it's face-meltingly fast tempo. It needs some polishing, but the work that's been done leaves me in awe each time. It's some of the most athletic, powerful dancing I've seen for a musical here. There's a really cool blending of 50's and contemporary styles here, which is making the piece have a really fresh, new energy to it.
I'm informally dubbing this show "Grease 2.0." Seeing it revamped is really exciting... I can't wait for everyone else to get in on the action!
--Sarah Coon
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