Lauren Rizzo, joined by co-director Samantha Stevens, was directing her first musical with this one. Perhaps it was fate that Lauren’s directorial debut would feature namesake character Betty Rizzo. Although the fates weren’t so kind when a thunderstorm shorted out all the theatre’s lighting cues the night before the opening. But the techs came through, and the show went on surprisingly smoothly, lights and all.

The cast is led by an excellent singer in the form of Katelyn Schlosser as Sandy who, in this newer version of Grease that incorporates some of the hit songs from the film, gets to sing the Olivia Newton-John classic Hopelessly Devoted to You. Katelyn later lets her hair down nicely opposite Danny (Eric Wolff) in the popular You’re the One That I Want. She also adlibs pretty well when her cheerleading outfit suffers from a wardrobe malfunction, with Sandy saying that she thinks she needs a new uniform as she holds up her skirt, and Patty Simcox (a fun Allison Dunn with good acting and dancing) follows up quickly, explaining “well, that’s why we always wear shorts underneath” as she fixes Sandy’s skirt.

Eric Wolff has a cool confidence about him as Danny Zuko, making a good team with Sandy and as leader of the Burger Palace Boys, as well as hitting some of the tough notes with style in his Alone at the Drive-In Movie song. The other Burger Boys turn in some good performances including Kenickie (Spencer Gatwood) leading the gang in Greased Lightning (dirty towels hanging over the sides of the car allow them to quickly convert the clunker to a more sporty-looking vehicle that Kenickie drives with his feet Fred Flintstone-style), Doody (Chris Jennings) learning the guitar in Those Magic Changes, and physical comedian Seth Bargaheiser as Roger who delivers laughs throughout – especially as he describes his Mooning skills to a very interested Jan (Christinna Oley).

Other fine performances come from Jamie Roy as tough girl Betty Rizzo, Louisa Lundgren as Frenchy who uses her voice well and brings her guardian “Teen Angel” (Matt Timm) scene to a halt with her unhappy look at being called a hairstylist fit only for a hooker, Ashley Cook as an amusingly aggressive Cha-Cha Digregorio, Larry Wymer as a cool, nerdy Eugene, and Jill Maseman as a stuffy Miss Lynch who cuts loose on the dance floor and proves to have some of the best grooves on the dance floor.

Performed May 10-12, 2007.

Rob Hopper
National Youth Theatre