THE 2017 four-night season of the Coonamble Amateur Theatrical Society’s production of GREASE brought big crowds to Chris Gray’s Plaza Theatre in Castlereagh Street.
This year’s production was something of an experiment for the Coonamble Amateur Theatrical Society (CATS), being a well-known title with songs and a story beloved by millions since it was first released in 1978.
“The cast far exceeded their own expectations,” said Director Bill Burnheim.
“It was an enormous amount of work because of the amount of dialogue and dancing,” he said.
“It takes a lot of practice to make something look easy.”
Mr Burnheim has now directed all four shows at the Plaza Theatre and was cracking the whip early in the year.
Weekly rehearsals started in February, ramping up to at least twice a week in the past two months.
“There were no prompts and no pre-recorded vocals,” said Mr Burnheim.
“So there was no safety net.”
Where there is risk, there are also rewards
The first night is traditionally for under 18s and other residents not seeking the full theatre restaurant experience of later shows and usually attracts around seventy or eighty people.
This year the seats were close to full with an audience of around 220 people.
The Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights were similarly packed, with the weekend nights fully booked ahead of time so that a total of over 800 people saw the show.
Hailed by audiences as “one of their best” for the CATS, this production of GREASE provided many moments to chuckle about over the coming weeks and portrayals that will go down in local theatrical history.
Siobhan Fagan took charge of her tough-talking Rizzo character with disturbing relish.
Not just the triple-threat performer (singing, dancing, acting), Siobhan was also responsible for the choreography for the entire production.
The vocally-talented Cindy Parsons’ interpretation of the mild-mannered Sandy was also thoroughly convincing.
Who else could carry off a twin-set and those legendary tight pants?
The general consensus was that Hugh Beveridge ‘nailed’ his lead role as Danny and almost out Travolta’d John.
He is a natural and had all the Danny Zuko moves down pat.
Hugh wore his wedding ring all the way through, probably to remind himself he doesn’t actually live at the Plaza Theatre and has a life away from the stage.
Andrew Fisher got the pulses racing as Kenickie leapt from his Greased Lightning vehicle and ground his hips through his solo number.
Fractured finger not withstanding, his performance was both physical and his character adroitly executed.
Some of the local talent allowed what were traditionally minor characters to step into the spotlight through their own quirky interpretations.
Patty Simcox was taken to new heights of hilarity by Rebecca McIntyre.
Both Mim McKeown and Emily Ryan have obviously spent excessive amounts of time observing the male of the species.
It wasn’t just the painted on sideburns and stubble that allowed them to inhabit their on-stage male characters, Roger and Sonny, with an entertaining ease.
The genius of this production was definitely in the casting.Steph Ryan seemed to transform effortlessly into the awkward Frenchy and Emily Warner fully inhabited her unflappable, coleslaw-chomping character Jan.
James Nalder again allowed his wild side to emerge on stage and took his Doody character where he’d never gone before.
He refused to allow his inability to play guitar or sing in tune to dampen his solo performance – and the crowd responded in spades.
Kerryn Ryan took charge as Principal Miss Lynch, Tanya Farrell got her character Eugene figured out, and the polished performances just kept coming from Leesa Brian, Pip Fisher, Simone Austin, Sarah Carswell and Alix Scolari.
Kaelyn Ward was perhaps the eye-opener of the show.
She threw off her former Peter Pan persona (Coonamble High School production 2014) and revealed that she really has grown up.
Director Bill Burnheim is credited with teaching Kaelyn how to walk in high heels, and she certainly brought some siren moves to the role of Marty.
It is hard to pinpoint a show-stealer but the crowd went to water when Chris Gray took the stage as the Teen Angel.
Fearless and fabulous in his shiny white form-fitting costume, Chris showed the youngsters how to own the spotlight.
It has been reported that if Director Bill Burnheim had asked him to appear naked Chris would have obliged.
As always the on-stage talent was backed by the stalwarts behind the scenes with clever costuming, creative staging, magical lighting and deft handling of the logistics to make it all seem seamless.
Another coup for CATS and lots of laughs to remind the rest of us why we love living here.
