TDP Recommends: ‘Grease’ – Presented by the BHS Music Department

The BHS spring musical, Grease, opens this weekend and it promises to have you dancing in your seats.  This spoof of high school life in 1959 is full of teenage stereotypes and questionable messages, but there is no denying that it is F-U-N. If you missed today’s preview assembly of the show, you really missed out. The BHS Devils were born to hand jive, baby.

Fifties pop music, which is highlighted in the performance, is characterized by a mix of big-voiced crooning, R&B traditions, and sentimental swooning. (Just see Dr. Nassiff’s Sweet Sixteen for evidence of that point.) Directed by John Middleton-Cox, the high energy cast of BHS’s production of Grease does justice to a beloved era in music and American culture. From Steven Gelberg’s compelling delivery of “Those Magic Changes” to Mikayla Merrill-Withycombe’s beautiful rendition of “There are Worse Things I Could Do,” this production certainly spotlights the musical talent of BHS students and honors early American rock-n-roll.

Although John Travolta’s “Greased Lightnin'” has nothing on that of BHS’s own Mike Garcia, listening to it is a great way to get psyched up for the show. You can sing along to the soundtrack to the 1978 film adaptation of the musical by playing it below. Be prepared, though. The BHS production includes a few lyrical alterations that tone down  some of the play’s more suggestive content; this soundtrack does not.

Get your tickets to Grease before they sell out. You’ll dig it, Devils!

Click HERE for ticket information.