Grease is the Word

*This article was originally posted on the first DHS news site in December of 2020*

On the evening of Dec. 3, an audience sat in lawn chairs and truck beds in the far parking lot of Davenport High School, wrapped in blankets to fight temperatures in the 40s. But the cold couldn’t kill their excitement when the music began and the parking lot transformed into a stage. Despite all the odds, Davenport’s theatre program had managed to put on a show.

Three months before, Mrs. Jessica Bentley, the theater director, invited any and all interested students to come to auditions. A grueling process that spanned one and a half weeks weeded through these hopefuls and determined the cast and crew for the newly selected Grease musical. Many of these members were inexperienced in the theatre world and earned their spot with raw talent alone.

“The biggest challenge [was lots of young] actors, and by young I mean new to the program, and even many new to the stage in general,” Bentley said. “There is so much natural talent here. I don’t know what I expected, but I have been pleasantly surprised with the amount of talent and dedication the kids have put on the stage.”

This talent and dedication was put to good use when practices began in the first week of October. While the rest of the school was going to football games and planning Halloween, the cast was waking up at 5 a.m. to start putting the show together.

“Practices can look like learning or running a dance routine, vocal focus, or acting intensive,” freshman Rebecca Hunter said. Hunter, who has previous experience in musical theatre, played the lead role of Sandy Dumbrowski in Grease.

But these were not your typical rehearsals. Because of the pandemic, changes had to be made, and unfortunately, sometimes these changes came at a cost.

“[Blocking was] severely affected because we have to try to socially distance as best we can,” Bentley said. “The love stories suffer, because there obviously can’t be much physical connection between actors.”

The cast made the most of it, however, using the social distancing as comical relief during the production. For example, Sandy, when Danny tried to kiss her at the drive in, exclaimed, “Danny, whoa…COVID restrictions!” which earned a collective laugh from the audience.

As they approached the opening night, a new problem arose. With Davenport being a brand new campus, there was very little resources for the program’s disposal, and performing the musical as a makeshift drive-in meant that there was a lot of work to do to create the set.

“[W]e are a brand new program, so we had zero props, costumes, lumber, paint…so we had to get a lot of sponsorships and parent involvement to be able to put the production up,” Bentley said. The Theatre Boosters and parents came to Bentley’s rescue and helped both fund and put together the sets for the musical, even though it meant getting some paint on their clothes.

With their help, the students’ dedication, and Bentley’s direction, the theatre program was able to host five performances of the musical in December. Their success proved, to not only Davenport but to the rest of the district, that it was possible to put on a show during these uncertain times.

This was especially important to the members of the cast since most had spent the first half of the year in quarantine. In the program, they found a community of like-minded peers to socialize with.

“Theatre is like a family. Being able to connect after this year’s COVID mess was absolutely amazing,” freshman Sophia Blunt, who played one of the Pink Ladies, said. “We had each other’s back and knew we were there for each other whenever.”

The theatre family is welcoming of new members, too. Anyone interested is encouraged to audition for upcoming musicals and plays.

“I would say if you are thinking about doing theatre, you should totally do it because it is so fun and the time you put into it is so worth it,” Hunter said. As long as you save the drama for the stage, they would “be so glad to have you as an addition to our program!”

So whether you’re looking for a place to sing and dance for an audience or just a place to fit in, the theatre program at Davenport will always have room on stage (or in a parking lot) for those willing to give it a shot. It can be “hard and stressful,” Blunt said, “but go in with a smile and you are good to go.”