The Thespians are getting ready to take the audience back to the 1950s with the musical Grease.

Costumes are important to such a well-known play.

“The costumes come from our designer Becca and her mom. They will either source stuff from outside places. We also have a costume room with a lot of costumes and other things we may need for our costumes.  They also make a lot of the stuff that we use from scratch. We can get patterns and other ideas or inspirations that we have from donations or anything like that. The 1950s style is heavily inspired by what Grease is and when it was made. That kind of poodle skirt and the leather jacket vibe. A way I think about it is when I think of Steak ‘n Shake and how it would’ve been at that time. It’s kind of that vibe,” senior Madison Williams said. 

Costumes can say a lot about a character. 

“The 1950s style comes from the fact it was in the 1950s. We’re looking at productions from the past and seeing if we can get some inspiration from them. We have a talk with our designers, and they need to see our vision with each scene and each character to build the scene. They come up with concepts and sketch out fabrics or just ideas. We give them our feedback and then they start to build these costumes. Sometimes, we have just pure vintage costumes, we have recreations that we make or get donated; sometimes we will purchase them. We might make changes on the costumes so it fits the person’s character and personality better for the scene because every character has their own personal style,” Mrs. Amy Hayes, director said. 

Being a senior in her last play, Madison knows the drill for the musicals through and through. 

“The students don’t actually say what we do, but a lot of it has to do with cost to buy the rights to do it without getting copyrighted legally and just what the amount of people that we have to do with our budget. They usually will do a play that would seem entertaining to us and be something our audience would love to see,” Williams said. 

Thinking everything through for a musical is practical. 

“Because you have to pay for the rights before we do anything, what can we do here? So I look first at our students. Do I have a group of students for each role that I could pick from? I have to know that I can do that. They are always surprises, so we never pick a role beforehand. We also look at what we think the students will like and what our audience will like because we want to expand past just the school and we want to see what’s marketable,” Mrs. Hayes said. 

The Thespians make changes to plays occasionally, and when they do its more entertaining for the audience and the actors. 

“I sure hope we have some type of change in the story because that is always fun. Making a plot twist is something that makes us more entertained while acting it or just being in it,” Williams said. 

Adding lines and music to spice things up can make the audience more entertained. 

“We are adding to the story. I will say it’s not a plot twist because it is 50 years old but the musical Grease is a little different. So we are blending the movie and the musical. Everyone has mostly only seen the movie version, but the musical version is different from it. Sandy and Patty are very different characters, and some of the music is different,” Mrs. Hayes said. 

Being thorough when cutting things down will be essential in the end. 

“Yesterday was our dancing audition. We learned dances, and then we performed like we  would perform them in the audition. Today we have lead auditions. It’s five minute time slots where you go and you’re standing in front of the directors alone. Then, we have choreography. That’ll be anywhere from 5 to 10 people, and you sing in front of them. They might ask you to sing something else; they might ask you of other skills that you might have. We also have ensemble callouts, but they usually decide based on how committed you seem to be to your work ethic and your skill. Occasionally they will look at you and observe you seeing if you have the look of the character. Then, you might get that character,” Williams said.  

Picking who is going to be backstage or on stage requires careful consideration.

“Directing is a staff position, and it really just comes down to who brings something to compliment our team.When it comes to roles, it’s a complex process for the musical. There is a singing and a dancing portion. Wednesday was a two hour audition for dancing, and the whole time it was mimicking a rehearsal. We will move people through the scene or move people from front to back so we can see everybody. We’ll switch partners so we get to see how everyone moves with each other. Yesterday was our singing audition and it was supposed to be five minutes, but it ended up being a lot longer. That just shows you have to go with the flow in the theatre. We don’t have people just come in and sing. We ask them questions and try to find out exactly where their skills are because it’s surprising to me how many people don’t think that they’re good at one thing, but it’s actually what they’ve been needing to do all along,”Mrs. Hayes said. 

Making sacrifices for others’ happiness can be a blessing in disguise. 

“I auditioned because my mom wanted me to. My mom loves Grease and Kenickie was her favorite character when she watched it. So we talked about it and I decided to give it a shot. My mom and I are close and I like to do what makes her happy,” sophomore Lathan West said.

Performance will be mid March.