Coastal Carolina University’s production of the musical Grease brought a fresh and modern feel to the classic story while still connecting the audience with the iconic characters and songs.
Props mentor and assistant professor Daniel Hobbs described CCU’s set of Grease as realistic but also flashy and colorful. There were a lot of complex moving parts in the set, such as a turntable, which was difficult to coordinate but fulfilling in the end.
Drew Bellah, a sophomore theatre production major and the show’s prop coordinator, explained the process of bringing such a well-known story to life at Coastal.
“It was intimidating, but at the same time, since it’s so popular, Grease has been done a lot, so it did kind of give me a little bit of freedom to go where I wanted to go with my designs, because there are so many different ways, I can do it my way,” Bellah said. “But at the same time, it was pretty intimidating, because if you mess up Grease, it’s Grease.”
One of the biggest challenges regarding props was sourcing a car, a prop that is especially important for numbers such as Greased Lightning. The car had been difficult to come by, but Mill Town Players, a performing arts theatre located in Pelzer, SC, allowed the department to borrow their own Greased Lightning pro. This made for a delightfully unexpected collaboration.
The realistic take on the iconic musical was not only difficult for the production team, but for the performers as well. Olivia Otto, a senior BFA musical theatre major portraying Betty Rizzo, described striking the balance between authenticity and dreaminess as the most difficult aspect of the show.
“Grease is typically done in a very caricature way. Most people know it from the movie, and the play is a little different, but it was really about bringing authenticity and truth to this story that has a lot of wacky moments,” Otto said. “There was this need for realism and truth, especially in Sandy’s story of empowerment.”
Sandy’s role within the story of Grease has been the subject of criticism throughout the years. Many view the conclusion of her character arc as anti-feminist, believing she changed herself for a man’s approval.
CCU’s version of Grease aimed to make Sandy the soul of the musical and showcased her as an empowered, strong character instead of a passive love interest.
“We wanted to make sure that wasn’t the message that we were trying to get across in this production, at least. I think one of the most important details that really stood out about pushing that this is Sandy’s personal choice, is her relationship with my character, Rizzo,” Otto said. “The most meaningful moment is whenever I sing ‘There Are Worse Things I Could Do’ to Sandy, because that’s a moment where this wall Rizzo has is sort of breaking down and showing Sandy a little more of her vulnerability. And that’s really what makes Sandy think, ‘hmm, I don’t want this life. I think I want a different one.’”
Portraying Sandy as an empowered character was not a simple feat, as the script for the show cannot be altered due to copyright. Instead, performers were forced to rely upon acting and stage directions to portray Sandy as wanting to change for herself rather than changing for Danny’s approval. This put the story into a new, modern light.
“That really strong bond that all of us have with each other really showed off the authenticity and told the story in a way that wasn’t very telling and more showing,” Otto said.
The musical succeeded in showing a classic but empowering story, that drew in multiple full house crowds during its two-week run.
“Like, the number of the audience is more than anything I’ve seen here, so I’m hoping that will lead to people experiencing more coastal theatre in the future,” Hobbs said.
