grease is the word... is the word... is the word!

Here's one of my favorite shots!

I just love this whole "Stranded At The Drive-In" vibe - with 'Danny' telling 'Sandy' that "No one walks out of the Drive-in!"

Guess he shouldn't have pushed his luck with copping a feel - hahahaha!

My thanks to The Historic Savannah Theatre for the loan of "Greased Lightning" to Savannah Arts Academy for this production - very nice move!

How did I manage to get a photo, anyway?

Well, I'd asked David Poole at intermission and he gave me permission, as long as I didn't use flash.

Major coolness!!!

I really wanted a photo of that car, and I got one!

Here's another one that I loved getting!

I snapped this right at the start of Act II. 

Yes, this is the dance contest at the high school, with 'Vince Fontaine' (Benjamin Watts) as the TV celebrity officiating as judge.

That's him, on the bandstand, in the hot peach suit with his hands on his hips - good one!

Then there's 'Doody' (Trey Wilner) dancing in the center with 'Frenchy' (Asa Clark) as 'Rizzo' (Maisy Oliver Smith) puts the moves on 'Danny' (Desmond Chaney) in the forefront on the right.

A moment later, I caught the second dance, "Born To Hand-Jive", 'Danny' burning up the floor with 'Cha-cha' (Constance Zaller).

Wow, that was some mighty fine dancing going on!!!

One thing this image drives home is the huge cast for this production - wow.

It reminded me of the time the Armstrong Masquers put on "Amadeus", which had forty actors and crew members for it.

We had all thought John Suchower would have had an easier time herding cats than all those in the cast and crew!

My guess is Becky Lieberman, the new director, had at least that many.

Good for her for keeping it all tight!

And I don't know who was in charge of getting Roger Moss to guest star as 'Teen Angel', but that was a superb choice!!!  

The man was such a hoot, thriving off the energy not only of the cast, but of the audience.

I made sure to hoot and holler and let him know I was enjoying his James Brown-esque spin on that character!

"Beauty School Dropout" was fresh and new, and perfect!!!

Then there's "Rock'n'Roll Party Queen", a song which truly was new to me!

Yes, that's my guy, Trey, strumming the guitar and singing along with 'Roger' (Richard Nguyen) in a scene set in "Jan's basement", where the Pink Ladies and Burger Palace Boys have gathered to listen to albums on Sandy's record player.

Yeah, that wasn't in the movie, but it was a great scene!

There was another song that Trey sang as 'Doody', "Those Magic Changes".

That was about him just learning to play guitar and trying to explain the chords to the other guys.

That reminded me of his starring role last summer! 

Really fun song!

But time to get back to the movie songs, right?

Here we have 'Roger', 'Kenickie' (Austin Bradford), 'Doody', and 'Sonny' (Jonah Rendon) on the left, backing up 'Danny'...

as he faces off against a revamped 'Sandy', with support of 'Jan' (Eden Sinoff), 'Frenchy', and 'Marty' (Hanna Richmond), as she tells her summer love that he needs "to shape up"!

"You're The One That I Want", she tells him, in no uncertain terms...

and he echoes that sentiment right back at her!!!

Super fabulous!!!

And what a great set design!!!

David Poole can always be relied upon for innovative pieces that serve multiple purposes and for this musical, those pieces are the letters that spell out the name of the production.

Wow.

I mean, W-O-W!!!

I'm so glad that I've been watching the weather.

I had an event already scheduled with One Hundred Miles for this evening, but the musical won out over an advocacy update.

Of course, that decision was made easier when OHM sent an email about posting the meeting on youTube later...

but I still would have come to see "Grease" tonight.

Yes, even though the temperatures would be in the low forties by the end.

I'm glad Linda Runge - the woman from my Lucas Theatre volunteer days, who I run into all over town - was there for this opening night, too!

She saw me and sat with me the whole time.

Yes, I will definitely see about coordinating my schedule with hers!

Right place, right time!

(smile!)