This year South El Monte High School is doing a Grease play in collaboration with Mountain View High School. Try-outs were held on January 10th and callbacks were on January 12th. There was not a play last year so this is a new experience for many students and it was an opportunity for some students to try something new and put their theatrical skills to the test.

 For auditions students had to sing a song, and for callbacks students had to read scenes and dance. There are three teachers working on this play, Ms. Wessel, Mr. Buckner-Rodas, and Mr. Bier from Mountain View High School. Ms. Wessel is helping with choreography, props, and costumes, Mr. Buckner-Rodas is doing music directing, and Mr. Bier is the director and is in charge of sets. There are also lots of students who are helping with costumes, helping build the set, and more. There are high expectations for this play, “I expect it to be the best play that we’ve done since I’ve been here in the past 6 or 7 years,” said Ms. Wessel. The play will be performed in the Little Theater at SEMHS beginning on March 23rd and it will be performed for 5 days. 

Grease is a musical romantic/comedy film that was released in 1978. It is based on the musical, also named Grease, made by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey in 1917. When the musical film was released, it was instantly a hit and became the highest grossing film at the time. Grease is still a very popular film and it is loved by many people. “We wanted to pick something that we knew students would enjoy doing and already know,” said Ms. Wessel. Grease is a high school love story that has many relatable topics for teens which is why it’s the perfect choice for a high school play. “There’s lots of different character types that many of our students who watch it or are performing it can relate to,” stated Ms. Wessel.

This play is definitely something to look forward to this school year, and it’s clear to see that there is a lot of hard work and dedication going into it.