“Grease” has taken the hearts of countless people since the musical’s creation in 1971, and the subsequent release of the iconic movie of the same name in 1978 which starred Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta. Despite its questionable overall theme, it remains a charming and hilarious classic performance for a variety of audiences. 

Winona State University’s Theatre and Dance Department presented their own production of “Grease” from Nov. 16-19, displaying four fantastic and charismatic performances. Equipped with a high number of props, lit herbal cigarettes and a working go-kart style car on stage, the audience was in for an emotional rollercoaster of tears, gasps and many, many laughs. 

The show started off with the “Rydell High School Reunion”, which eventually made its way into the iconic “Summer Nights”. Starting the show off with such high energy set up the rest of the show and spiked excitement in the audience. Bright costumes, clean choreography and a powerful cast can make a show that much better, and this show was no different.

One of the aspects of the show that made it more interesting as an audience member but more difficult as a cast or crew member was all of the moving pieces of the props, costumes, choreography, lights, music and more. 

Eli Ammons, computer science major and theatre minor and sound tech for the show, stated that the most difficult part of the show were pieces with many individuals and groups singing because of the balancing that needs to happen behind the scenes.

“Summer nights was my hardest song. Any song with a lot of ensemble solos really can test my bandwidth when I have to turn everyone up and down to make sure everyone can be heard,” Ammons said.

Hannah Beumer, a psychology major and theatre minor, played Marty in the show and commented on the intricacy of the props and timing of each of them. Each prop and costume change made being on stage a balancing act, where one little mistake would throw off a whole scene. This was illustrated well when a close save was orchestrated back stage during one of the shows.

“I forgot to set my robe for the scene in Marty’s bedroom on Thursday night; Elise set it for me when she realized it wasn’t there, and she seriously saved me from a really bad goof up,” Beumer stated. “I have no idea what I would have done without her in that moment.”

Louisa Schirmacher, English language and literature major, played Sandy in the show, and she elaborated on the intricacies of the show when explaining that costume mishaps are very common and are often difficult to rope into a scene flawlessly.

“On closing night during “Summer Nights”, the cardigan I wear around my shoulders slipped off and I had to make the split-second choice to put it back on and hope it didn’t fall again or just toss it to the side,” Schirmacher stated. “The latter is what I chose to do.”

The only way to notice small mishaps such as this was arguably to see the show multiple times; any little change or mistake was covered well enough where it was less of an “oh no” moment and more of “that was different from last night!” The cast and crew’s dedication to fluency was shown throughout the shows and made being in the audience even more enjoyable. 

Another aspect of the show that was unforgettable has to be the real lit herbal cigarettes on stage. This may have added another level of potential mishap on stage, but in my opinion, brought the corresponding scenes to the next level.

“Matches are pretty scary for me, and using them on stage was even scarier. Definitely did not want to light myself on fire,” Beumer said. “But in the end, we learned how to deal with them properly and we felt safe.”

Humor is a huge part of “Grease” the musical, and WSU’s Theatre Department did not disappoint (as per usual!). Arguably one of the funniest scenes in the show, Roger (Nick Tentis) sings to Jan (Senorah Goldoff) a song about his hobby of “mooning.” Tentis and Goldoff’s commitment to their characters and charisma on stage had audiences roaring with laughter and was definitely a highlight in the show. 

A rather surprising moment in the show was when Kenickie (Joshua Harrison) entered the scene by driving a miniature ‘50s truck on stage. Equipped with working doors and removable hub caps, the car made its appearance several times throughout the show and elicited laughter every time. 

The cast made it very clear that this was a very close knit, safe group of people to be around during the rehearsal process. Eli Anderson, a math major and theater minor and Eugene in the show, elaborated on this idea. 

“This show has been one of my favorites; you only get a cast that gets along so well only once every blue moon,” Anderson said. “This cast was always willing to work together, there wasn’t any bad blood and it was just always fun to come, work on and perform this show.”

It seems that this cast and crew was an exceptionally fun group, as many actors and cast members echoed Anderson’s sentiment.

“This cast was just amazing to work with. We all got along extremely well, and I consider a lot of these people to be my best friends,” Beumer said. “I seriously don’t think I have ever worked with a cast that meshed this well.”

Altogether, “Grease” was a whirlwind of laughter, tears and everything in between. The show, dedicated to Heather Williams-Williams’ mother and including a large and hardworking cast and crew, was a pleasure to attend, especially more than once; it’s clear everyone involved put their all into each and every performance. 

“Adding on to that, what made this show really special was the fantastic cast; everyone showed up to every rehearsal with good attitudes and loads of insights into the characters and story of Grease, so it truly felt like a world we built together,” Schirmacher said. 

Second semester for the Winona State Theatre and Dance Department will be jam-packed with other performances to attend. For example, Dancescape 2023 will be performed Feb. 16-18, 2023. The remaining performances are on the THAD Department “Current Season” page.