Slick Back Your Hair And Grab Your Saddle Shoes! 

MIS/HPMS found its groove with ‘Grease: School Version’

Highland Park fifth through eighth graders brought the hit musical Grease to the stage in April in an electrifying production filled with vintage style and some new twists.

Grease: School Version combined elements of the original Broadway show with favorites from the blockbuster movie, including the Academy Award nominated melody “Hopelessly Devoted to You,” and the title song “Grease.”

“We had to get special permission from each of the movie companies to be able to perform these songs, because they’re not in the original Broadway version,” said McCulloch Intermediate School/Highland Park Middle School theater director Genevieve Croft. “So, you’ll see certain elements that are the same, and then you’ll look at things and go ‘I don’t remember that from the movie.’ Well, that’s probably because it was in the musical.”

Croft said that staging a performance of Grease has long been on her bucket list. She grew up with the musical, and thought its explosion of color and fun would resonate with children and their parents.

“I thought it would be a great time to do it, here and now,” she said. “We just have a bright group of kids, and sometimes, as a director, you kind of feel what you have.”

The production’s cast and crew included 115 fifth through eighth graders. There was a place on the team for everyone who wanted to be involved.

“Middle schoolers, more than ever, need a place to belong,” Croft said. “My space is safe for anybody, and I’ll take anybody from wherever they come from. I just want them to feel like they’re at home.”

Croft had high expectations, both for students, who began rehearsals at the end of January, and for the production. She worked with parent volunteers to make sure that every item on stage was time-period appropriate, from the pompadours and pigtails in students’ hair down to the Keds and saddle shoes on their feet.

At about two hours long, this production of Grease: School Version wasn’t a typical middle school musical, Croft said. In fact, it wasn’t a middle school musical at all. Because there is no junior Grease, the Highland Park students performed a version created for high schoolers and community college students.

But despite the professionalism, audiences weren’t the only ones having fun. Students said they enjoyed preparing for the show.

“I love theater. I’ve been doing it all throughout middle school. Mostly, all of my friends do theater, and they’re just so fun to hang out with,” said eighth-grader Brooks Buis, who plays greaser Danny Zuko. 

Eighth-grader Arabella Frizell called playing newcomer Sandy in the production her dream role.

“I think we all really work well together,” she said of the cast. “We pull together well.” 

Watching Grease: School Version might have been nostalgic for audiences, but Croft said that she hoped bringing the iconic musical to the stage also created memories for students.

“I want them to have a great experience, learn something, but think back fondly on it,” she said. “Like I think back fondly on my days in high school.”