Nipmuc Drama Guild’s production of GREASE was ELECTRIFYING!

A little slice of Broadway hit Upton last weekend; Nipmuc Drama Guild’s production of Grease packed the Nipmuc auditorium all three nights. The community is still buzzing about how awesome the show was.

The production was slightly different from the movie most of us remember.

Directors Nick LaPete (band director at Miscoe Hill) and Ann Marie Tremblay (chorus director at Nipmuc) said audiences have loved Grease for it’s rough and tumble characters that they can all see a little bit of themselves in, “whether we dreamed of becoming a rock-and-roll star like Doody, been hopelessly devoted like Sandy, or like Frenchy, wishing for a Teen Angle to come in a tell us what we do.” The Nipmuc audience loved it for the same reasons.

The cast put on a wonderful show. Meghan Clark and Alexandre Martin gave a solid and heartwarming performances as Sandy Dumbrowski and Danny Zuko. Daniel Burke-Perez portrayal of wisecracking Kenickie was spot on. Jan and Roger played by Karley Collins and Kyle Gazoorian were hilarious while performing their rendition of “Mooning.” Patty Simcox played by Sarah Prescott was a riot, especially in the cheerleading scene while playfully disrupting Danny Zuko and Sandy Dumbrowski. Emily O’Connell was outstanding as Rydell High School’s principal Miss Lynch. Rizzo played by Molly Gould flawlessly transitioned from being playful with the mocking, “Look at Me I’m Sandra Dee”, to poignant with the remorseful, “There Are Worse Things I Could Do.” Marty played by Samantha Brower and “Raining on Prom Night” performed by soloist Hannah Nielson were both strong performances. The crowds reaction to “Grease Lightening” was electrifying and they loved “Rock and Roll Party Queen” performed by Doody played by Matt O’Brien and Roger.

For me, Ateha Bailly’s performance as Teen Angel was the showstopper. During his solo of “Beauty School Drop Out” I felt as if I was at the Gershwin Theatre on Broadway, not a high school auditorium; his performance was flawless.

It would be impossible to name everyone. This cast was totally solid and you could tell they enjoyed every minute of the performance.

The set was amazing!

You can find the program with the complete cast list, including principal dancers and backstage crew here inside of program and here outside of program.

Here is what the community is saying about the show.

“I loved it. I could watch it again. The singing was fantastic!” Adele

“It was great!! The best nipmuc musical I’ve seen!” – Jaime Leigh

“My boys and I loved it! Direct quote from both my 10 and 13-year-old as we left “that was AMAZING!” The singing was fantastic!” – Mary Ann LaBonne

“ It was so good the first time we went twice! Awesome job by the Nipmuc drama guild!” – Karen Ober

“This was by far the best high school musical performance I’ve seen (andI’ve seen many). Well done! We were very impressed!” – Kate Cronin Merten

“Unbelievable job , great singing, dancing and acting . We went all 3 nights” -Kathleen Gordon Peters

“My 6th grader went for a class trip. She said it was a fantastic show and Frenchies wigs were great.” – Donna Williamson Shilale

“Awesome job!!! Their hard work shows!!!” -Tracie Murphy

“Just wanted to give a HUGE shout out to the Nipmuc Drama Guild.OH MY GOSH. We just got home from seeing their production of Grease @ the HS and it was amazing. So much talent and totally impressed with the set quality and singing and everything about it.” – Alycia Braga Miller