I just received an email from a former castmate who is in her high school production of Grease in the next few weeks. She informed me that this is the first musical their school has done in 20 YEARS!!! I was shocked and amazed by this admission. If there is one thing I frown upon it is the decrease in the amount of arts related activities in schools (large or small). However, it sounds as if this school is at least making an attempt to reestablish an artistic presence. As our biggest rivals in what seems everything (at least in my day), I well remember the fun competitiveness between the schools. I knew the music director from the school reasonably well who has since retired from the position. Not sure who inherited the reins, but hopefully they can reinvigorate the program.
I remember assisting Emily direct several musicals after I graduated from EHS. I remember The Wizard of Oz (basically the 1939 movie with a few added sequences), The Sound of Music (which I helped from BGSU and on weekends I was able to make the trip home), Bye, Bye Birdie, and South Pacific. There was talk of doing Annie again. I emphatically offered my two cents on this. Not only had it been done (at that point) only 3 years previously, but at the time, it seemed that every high school were taking turns performing it. I remember watching a larger school’s production a year after ours. I was not trying to be biased but their Rooster did not even crow. He simply said “Cock-a-Doodle-Doo.” However, musicals at my alma mater have also not seen the light of day for some time.
