It has been a while since the Maret community experienced the exuberant release of a great musical. Last week’s performances were at capacity, and Friday and Saturday nights sold out far in advance. Nobody wanted to miss Grease.

From the moment the actors burst through the doors of the theatre, the cast and audience were energized. Danny and Sandy’s “Summer Nights” and “We Go Together,” and the heavenly crooning of Teen Angel Sebastian Gervase were fan favorites, eliciting spontaneous cheers.

With the theatre doubling as Rydell High School’s auditorium, the ensemble spilled into the aisles at several points in the show. Synchronized dance moves and choreography were evocative of the time period and helped convey the drama of high school hopes and dreams, first loves, rivalries, and losses. Everything behind the scenes seemed to run like clockwork, too, thanks to an efficient tech team taking care of lighting, sound, costumes, and props. Once drawn in, it was hard to let go at the end of the 90-minute show.

Isaiah Longstreth and Aarti Sabharwal embodied Danny and Sandy and were supported by a talented cast of Pink Ladies (Blaire Batista, Dariyana Mitchell, Cynthia Jacobson, and Courtney Pine) and charismatic T-Birds (Dominic Feder Di Toro, Olivia Berman, Jack Pagano, and Finn Trainer). And no production of Grease would be complete without key personalities like Miss Lynch, Eugene, Patty, Johnny Casino, Vince Fontaine, and Cha-Cha played with such commitment!

According to Music Director Rolando Sanz, one of the best parts of this production was seeing the seniors “take complete ownership of the show from day one.” In particular, the dance captains helped choreograph the show and really brought the cast together. “They worked very hard, and hopefully, Grease will be remembered as a high point of joy and community during an otherwise complex year.”

Putting on a musical after two nearly years of the pandemic was not without its challenges. Would kids even want to audition? Can you sing and dance and tell a story from behind a respirator mask? What if singing needs to be suspended on campus a month before the show is scheduled to open? What kind of hurdles would the tech team face? How can we safely accommodate everyone who wants to see the show with limited seating in the theatre?

Turns out, you can overcome all this if you’ve got enthusiastic students and a supportive faculty. Director and Choreographer Eser Ozdeger says, “Talk about community effort! Yes, this show was pure joy from start to finish, and I want to emphasize that the students were key in keeping the process full of positive and creative energy.”