A little greasy

A week ago I had the opportunity to return to Par Ki and revisit the place I spent much time in my teenage year - a small stuffy theatre. Unfortunately I was unable to visit the infamous upstairs dressing rooms but my father and I had some superb seats to see the musical Grease.

Through some new theatre booster marketing scheme, my Dad entered a car show and received 2 complimentary tickets to the show.

I don't recall how many times have attended a perfomance of Grease. I actually appeared in a condensed version of the musical with the guy who did sound and lights for this show. Arch rivals Woodbury did it when I was in 9th grade. Hastings put it on my senior year in high school. Somewhere between those I think Rosie O'Donnell came through the TCs with a touring company. My friends and I won the a school talent show with a rendition of the song "Summer Loving." I think I saw it one other time but I cannot remember where. Needless to say I know the musical pretty well.

The Park cast did not disappoint. It was a well acted and executed production in all aspects. The set in particular was a creative way to gain more space in this small theatre. I found it surprising that they did not use a curtain, scrim, or backdrop at all except for the wings. Simply back wall of the stage area provided the background. A black sheet of some kind masked the double doors in they were in the center of the wall.

Another surprise was the resurrection of the revolving stage in a smaller more containable form. A full size revolving stage had been envisioned numerous time during the 80s and 90s in order to combat the lack of stage space. The director known as D.O. perhaps championed this technical aspect the most. However, it never materialized during his tenure. [A revolving stage did appear in Park's 1993 production of Hello Dolly which I believe is the ancestor of the one used in this show.]

The house was packed out and thereby rather hot due to no air conditioning. Theatre decorum has dwindled since the 90s as hoots and whistles arose from the audience during the show. Nothing drives teenagers crazy as a much as a musical.