Join Danny, Sandy and the rest of the Pink Ladies and T-Birds at Concord High School this weekend to enjoy the performing arts department’s presentation of “Grease.”
For those not familiar with the popular musical comedy turned movie, here’s the deal. The musical takes place in the ’50s at Rydell High School and follows the love story between Danny and Sandy. Boy meets girl during the summer. Boy and girl fall in love but must say goodbye and go separate ways. Lo and behold, girl somehow ends up attending the same high school as boy. Girl is excited to see boy once again. Boy is, too, but must hide his feelings because he’s just too darn cool to be in love. Add two cliques, The Pink Ladies and the T-Birds, some high school hijinks, lots of signing and dancing and you have “Grease” in a nutshell.
In Concord High’s production, sophomore Andrea Pickering, 15, plays the naïve and bubbly Sandy, and junior Dionigi DiSaverio, 17, plays greaser Danny. Last Thursday, the two stars found time in their busy schedules (they have been rehearsing since March) to sit down with me and talk about the upcoming show and life as totally famous high school students.
Well, maybe not quite famous yet, but as I was interviewing Andrea and Dionigi, several cast members walked by playfully teasing the students for being celebrities. Apparently I was Dionigi’s second interviewer of the day.
However, if they’re not pushing aside the paparazzi yet, they may be someday. Both Dionigi and Andrea have been acting since elementary school and plan to continue in theater after leaving Concord High. Andrea plans to pursue her passion by going on to college for musical theater, whereas Dionigi plans to study medicine but still wishes to be involved in community theater on the side.
After meeting Andrea and Dionigi, I have no doubt that they will be successful in whatever it is they do. Both students were tremendously polite and well-spoken and gave really solid handshakes (which is quite impressive for teenagers and even most adults.) Hey, a good handshake can take you far in life.
Best of all, it hasn’t all gone to their heads. Dionigi and Andrea agreed that they would certainly remember all the little people in Concord, even if they suddenly wound up on the cover of People. “Every great actor has to start somewhere,” Dionigi said.
Attending the show will not only give you an opportunity to say, “I knew them when,” but you may also find yourself having a good time while singing along to such favorites as “Summer Nights,” “We Go Together” and even “You’re the One That I Want”– a song that appears in the movie, but not in the original musical. The performing arts department decided to scrap “All Choked Up” from the musical and replace it with the catchy and well-liked, “You’re the One That I Want.”
“I mean, people are coming to see ‘Grease’ so of course they are going to want to hear songs like ‘You’re the One That I Want,’ ” Dionigi said.
The musical will be held in the Christa McAuliffe Auditorium at the high school, 170 Warren St., on May 15 and 16 at 7:30 p.m. and May 17 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the door or by calling 225-0800, ext. 270. Poodle skirts and leather jackets are not required attire, but I’m sure you’ll earn some extra cred from the Pink Ladies and T-Birds for wearing them.
