Out of retirement
Gary Demuth, The Salina Journal
Friday, August 1, 2008
SALINA
It had to be pulled out of a field near Concordia, but “Greased Lightning” is back on the Salina stage.
The 1955 Plymouth Belvedere hasn’t been seen on stage since 1999, when it was used for Salina Community Theatre’s production of the 1950s musical “Grease.”
In the show, the creaky, rust-covered hunk of metal is the pride and joy of tough-guy greaser Kenickie, who lovingly refers to the car as “Greased Lightning.”
Before the 1999 production, the Plymouth was featured in productions of “Grease” at Kansas Wesleyan University and at Cloud County Community College in Concordia. Now, nine years later, Salina Community Theatre is staging the musical again, and the Plymouth is once more a featured player in the ensemble.
“It’s the most experienced actor on stage,” said the musical’s director, John Henningsen, also education director at Salina Community Theatre.
Henningsen, a Salina native, graduated from Emporia State University’s theater program in 2003. During his tenure here, Henningsen was well-known for physical comedy such as Stanley Gardner in “Run for Your Wife.”
In Salina, “Grease” will be performed this weekend and Aug. 8-10 at the Salina Community Theatre, .
Set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High in Chicago, “Grease” focuses on the budding romance of greaser king of cool Danny Zuko and sweet, naive Sandy Dumbrowski, as they and their friends experience sex, fast cars, drive-ins, school dances and first love, all set to a catchy 1950s rock ’n’ roll score.
“It was written as a spoof and not meant to be taken seriously,” Henningsen said.
However, when “Grease” was first produced on Broadway in 1972, it was a raunchy and raw show filled with about as many profanities as an average episode of “The Sopranos.”
Through the years, however, the show became cleaner and more family friendly, especially after the release of the popular 1978 movie version starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.
Today it has become a staple of regional, community and high school theaters.
“Grease” also has one of the catchiest scores of any musical, full of 1950s-era rock ’n’ roll and doo-wop influenced songs that pay homage to the music of Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Paul Anka, the Cadillacs and the Penguins.
Familiar songs include “Summer Nights,” “We Go Together,” “Greased Lightning,” “Beauty School Dropout” and “Look at Me, I’m Sandra Dee.”
“A lot of the music is tongue-in-cheek,” Henningsen said. “You can really cheese it up.”
This is not Henningsen’s first experience with “Grease.” As a junior at Salina South High School, he played the part of Roger in a 1997 school production.
Joshua Morris, the current show’s set designer, was in the same South High production. Morris, who has a master’s degree in set design from the University of Florida, created a trio of performance spaces that incorporates a 1950s burger palace, the front doors of Rydell High School and an automobile garage that houses “Greased Lightning.”
“John wanted a fun set, not super-realistic, one that evoked the nostalgia of the musical,” said Morris, curator of exhibits at the Smoky Hill Museum.
Morris said his design for “Grease” was markedly different than what he was used to creating at school.
“I tend to have a darker, dirtier design style,” he said. “This is a lot of bright colors, an almost cartoony look. It was nice to work outside my comfort zone.”
The cast of “Grease” is made up of high school and college students.
For cast members, the fun of doing “Grease” is having the opportunity to play outrageous characters far removed from their own personalities.
Being in the show has been a dream come true for Mike Claman, who plays the tough greaser Kenickie. Ever since the day he dressed up as a greaser in the third grade, the Salina Central senior has wanted to play a role like Kenickie.
“I feel like I got the best part in a way,” he said. “I get to be cool and a tough guy. He’s everything that I’m not.”
The same is true for Marilyn Haines, who plays the role of the tough, sarcastic Rizzo, leader of the Pink Ladies gang. The Bennington High School graduate, who will be a sophomore at the University of Kansas this fall, said she’s used to being cast as “the good girl.”
“I think it’s my dimples,” she said. “It hasn’t been a hard role to get into. I think every girl has that bad side to her. And it’s not a huge stretch for me to be sarcastic.”
Getting into the role of super-cool Danny Zuko hasn’t been easy for Chaz Coberly, a Salina South graduate who is about to begin his sophomore year at Friends University in Wichita.
“(Danny’s) basically a goofy jerk who thinks he’s way cool,” Coberly said. “I’d never have envisioned myself in this kind of role before. But I’m having a blast.”
Coberly said he’s surprised at how many people have told him that “Grease” is their favorite show.
“It’s intimidating in a way,” he said. “But we’ve got such a strong cast that I’m sure everything will turn out great.”