GREASE - June 08 - June 11, 2023
Chillicothe Civic Theatre
Director's Notes
Grease remains special to many of us for multiple reasons: it was the first movie or play we ever watched (both for me!), or we were a high schooler and it's nostalgic, or we just really enjoy the music (me again).
Grease is relatable. We remember the high school dances, the sleepovers, the making up and breaking up with highschool sweethearts. The setting may be different, but the feelings are the same.
Grease really is the word! It's the word that throws us back to simpler times. Times when the world revolved around the football game. Times when TV was black and white, and had three channels, and *GASP* commercials you couldn't fast forward through. Times when relationships were face-to-face. Times when you had to wait your turn to use the phone or even write a letter, put a stamp on it, and send it in the mail. Times when you had to wait for the letter to come and not knowing when it would be. Grease is the word that brings us closer together, lets us forget the complications of our lives even if for only a couple of hours, and helps us reminisce about our pasts.
Highlighting the characters' relationships with each other was the priority in my vision for this production. I wanted the cast to feel more than the superficial surface connections the script says they're supposed to have. They were challenged to find their why in what they did onstage. This prompted thoughtful conversations, encouraged character development, and promoted deeper bonds for the cast to carry with them onstage.
Soon this cast will check Grease off of their bucket list and move on to their next project, but I hope they always remember the love they shared with each other throughout this process. My wish for them is to support each other for the rest of their lives through their anxieties, depressions, successes, and accomplishments. Grease will mean something different to them now. In years to come, they will remember the last time they sang "We Go Together" with their castmates and realize Grease was a fleeting piece of magic, too fast to hold onto and too sweet to let go of.
I want all of you to remember no matter what, "We'll always be together."
All my love,
Amanda Elaine Harper
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