Set in 1959, it debuted in 1971. When Grease debuted, it was fondly looking back at a period that only a dozen years in the past. A dozen years in the past for us featured the birth of Facebook in a world of iPods, Usher and so on. It’s kind of weird to do comparative retro pop culture history. It was almost a dozen years ago when Mad Men debuted on TV . . . a retro TV series which began its first episode only about a year after the events of Grease would have happened. While Danny and Sandy were singing “You’re the One That I Want,” Donald Draper and company were only a few months away from trying to figure out a marketing strategy for cigarettes in the first episode of Mad Men. Of course, time will have a way of congealing all of this retro together into a hazy kind of mid-twentieth century.
To new generations, 1971 will seem as distant in the past as 1959. And so it is that another production featuring actors who were born towards the end of the 20th century makes its way to a local stage. The NewTheatre on Main looks to cast for a production of the beloved musical later-on this month.
Grease runs (okay, that sounds messy...) Umm...Grease...is onstage with NewTheatre on Main in Oconomwoc Jul. 22 - Aug. 14. Auditions for the production take place May 23 and 24. Callbacks are held on May 25.
From the official announcement:
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“ Please bring 16 to 32 bars of a song to sing in the style of the show and wear clothes suitable for a short dance audition as well. There may also be cold-reading from the script. If you do not have your audition song memorized please bring TWO copies of your sheet music, one for you to read from and one for the accompanist. “
For more information and the link to sign-up for an audition slot, visit the auditions’ events page on Facebook.
