Transition Year Newsletter Issue 3 2023 - The Grease Edition

GREASE

S U P E R B I S T H E W O R D

BY ELLIE BOURKE

With the opening night of "Grease: the Musical" complete it must be said the TY's made their mark with dazzling dances and outstanding performances all around. From the incredible cast to the teams in the wings, they really knew how to put on a show

The impressive "T Birds" and the fashionable "Pink Ladies" ran the night with flair and professionalism and, of course, our two leads, Danny Zuko (Gus Dolan) and Sandy Dumbrowski (Laura Hogan), were shining stars. These two lovebirds demonstrated their talents through their exceptional voices and terrific acting abilities.

The main cast rose to the task of taking this show to the next level These talented stars really blew the audience away under the stage lights: Holly Danaher as Rizzo, Christopher Kelly as Kenickie, Johnny Harkin as Rodger, Nancy Quiney as Marty, Liam Finn as Sonny, Grace Roche as Jan, Pippa Bellows as Frenchy and Otis Glynn as Doody.

There were a few performances that simply cannot be overlooked for their hilarious and entertaining twists on the characters: Isabella Stewart as Patty, Patrick Chen as Eugene,Turlough McCracken Brown as Vince Fontain, Adam Butler as Teen Angel, Odhran Hoey as Johnny Casino, Nicola Harmon as Ms Lynch and Tim Langan as coach

The atmosphere was electric as they took the stage and it seemed the show exceeded all expectations. From the first shimmy in the opening performance to the final bow these students should be proud of putting on such an incredible display of talents representing Transition Year 2023!

BY PIPPA BELLOWS

Pre-musical, I got to interview Ms Olohan and Róisín, the powerhouses behind our fabulous show. Both are so excited for the performance and have put so much effort in, so a big thank you to them!

I began by asking when the preparation started and Ms Olohan told me that she started prepping in September! She then held 6 weeks of musical auditions and then Róisín came in at the start of January to help us get underway with dancing.

Róisín then told me that coordinating the dancing took a long time because she had to make sure that everyone was visible during the dances and that they had a partner.

When asked what their favourite number was, both said the hand jive, so the audience should be excited for that one! Róisín's favourite scene is the infamous Sandra Dee scene followed by an angry Sandra. Their favourite part of getting ready for the musical is being together, awwww! Roisin would take dancing over lines and singing and no surprise, Ms Olohan would pick singing. Both Róisín and Ms Olohan are super excited for the musical and think the cast and the year are going to be great.

MUSICAL PREP

BY HARRY OWENS

There were many highlights and laughs throughout the rehearsals and the show

The dress rehearsals were so much fun as everybody got into their costumes and makeup for the first time. The boy’s hairstyles looked very silly at first and many of the boys were reluctant to get gel in their hair and makeup on their faces.

The girls hairstyles were equally as funky and American as you can imagine They were curly and tied back with bows or bobbins. The girls had to wear big fancy dresses and some of them wore cheerleader costumes They really brought Rydel High to St Gerard's

There were lots of laughs in the rehearsals, especially at the Grease Lightning song. The choreography was great and the solo dancing was very funny. Lots of funny moments were created on the top of the stage by Turlough and Odhran Hoey as well. It really brought us together.

MEET THE LEADS

Sandy Dumbrowski: Laura Hogan

Costumes: Opening costume: yellow cardigan with white skirt and shirt, a belt, white socks and shoes.

Prom dress: floral dress.

Freddie my love scene: silk pyjamas and robe

You're the One That I Want Scene: leather jacket with black trousers and red high heels

Songs to sing: Hopelessly Devoted, Summer Nights, Sandra Dee reprise, You're the One That I Want and It’s Raining on Prom Night.

Personality: Shy at the beginning, more confident and romantic towards the end

Favourite line: “Tell me about it stud.”

Favourite dance routine: “You’re the One that I Want.”

Highlight of the show: “Hopelessly Devoted”

BY KATIE FENELON

Danny: Gus Dolan

Costumes: blue jeans, boot cut tight jeans, white shirt, leather jacket, biker jacket with T-bird logo on the back with black converse.

Prom night: black jeans, white shirt, tie and turquoise blazer.

Track star outfit: white socks, baggy t-shirt with the number 11 on the back with white and red shorts. Songs: Summer Nights, Sandy, You're the One that I Want.

Personality: Cool, calm, confident high school bad boy.

Favourite line: Kenickie: “thank God” after Rizzo realised her "friend was visiting".

Favourite dance number: Hand Jive.

Highlight of the show: The energy of Grease Lightning

.

GREASE

Rizzo: Holly Danaher

Costumes: Day wear: A black pencil skirt with a buttoned shirt and collar, a red neck tie, a black belt and black high heels.

Prom Dance Scene: A plain black top with a red and black polka dot skirt with a red underskirt, a belt and silver hoops

Beauty School Dropout: Gold skirt and white top.

Freddie My Love Scene: blue shirt with white shorts.

Songs to sing: “Sandra Dee” and “There are worse things I could do.”

Personality: Rude, mean, misunderstood, witty, sarcastic and romantic.

Favourite line: “look Sandy, if you think you're gonna be hanging around with the pink ladies, you gotta get with it, otherwise… forget it and go back to your hot cocoa and Girl Scout cookies.”

Favourite dance number: Hand jive contest.

Highlight of the show: Bedroom scene (Freddie My Love)

Kenickie: Chris Kelly

Costumes: T-bird costume: leather jacket, white shirt, jeans and converse.

Prom scene:wine colour blazer, white shirt and black jeans.

Songs to sing: Grease Lightning

Personality: Chill laid back, loves his car and women.

Favourite line: “ You get all the neats”

DIARY OF THE SHOW

BY NICOLA HARMON

Opening night of the TY Musical - Grease

After months, weeks, days, minutes and seconds, the opening night of our TY Musical, Grease was finally upon us. The anticipation, the nerves and excitement was surreal. You could taste the energy backstage!

The morning of our big show night we did a dress rehearsal for the 1st and 5th years As predicted we left the audience walking away stunned and amazed at our performance. But before the dress rehearsal there were definitely nerves as it was most people’s first ever ‘big show production ’ Thankfully performing the dress rehearsal really helped get rid of nerves for the big night ahead.

We went home walking on air and came back rejuvenated ready to perform again! We got dresses and stage ready and then did our warm up as a year group. I really enjoyed the time before the show to go around and talk to everyone The atmosphere was electric

At the end of the show everyone got their time under the spotlight and did an outstanding performance The costume changes were the hardest part but really gave a feel of what is like in the ‘showbiz’ world.

Seeing the crowd cheer, laugh and clap was fascinating and the reaction we got taking our bows at the end was phenomenal. Right then and then we knew we had put on a terrific show that we should all be proud of.

This will go down as one of the most memorable experiences of TY. I felt we really bonded as a group I learnt that hard work really does pay off in the end and this really wouldn’t be possible without the tremendous help from our teachers, production team (band,light and stage crew) Ms. Ní Mháirtín, Mr. Wall, Ms. Scallan, Roisín, Ms. Olohan and last but not least the enthusiastic effort and performance from my fellow classmates.

Inside the Wardrobe

Grace Roche

For our TY musical, Grease, I had the opportunity to be part of the costume team. At the start I thought I would have very little to do but turns out I was very wrong and we were always busy.

Firstly, we had to get every body measurements to make sure that all the costumes would fit once they arrived. This was more of a challenge than the first imagined. It was very hard to get everybody because they were so busy learning lines and rehearsing. Also I was put in charge of making sure that all the boys got the same type of footwear. This proved impossible for them, so we ended up ordering the shoes. Worryingly, not all of the shoes came the first day of the show, then the rest arrived the next night. It was very stressful making sure they all arrived on time. When they did it, made the show just right because we all looked the part.

The day all the costumes arrived there was great excitement seeing and trying them on for the first time. It felt like the show was finally coming together and that we were back in the 1960's with all the colourful and puffy costumes. Then we had to make sure they all fit properly or make the necessary adjustments if they didn’t. I relearned how to hand sew and how to use a sewing machine. For the dress rehearsal we had to make sure that everybody had the right props and costume, and if they needed something new they got it. When the show was going on we had to pin people’s costumes to make sure they looked good on stage.

The boys were against the idea of wearing makeup but secretly I think they loved it. Also they looked very funny with all their hair gelled back it really looked like they were from the movie.

Yvonne was such a great help with all the costumes and props and we couldn’t have put it together without her. My favourite costume was the prom because everybody looked great in their suits and fancy dresses. I think that everybody can agree that all the costumes looked great and really brought the musical to life.

We would just like to start off by acknowledging the amount of tremendous work and dedication that went into making our 2023 Transition Year musical such a success, so we would like to thank a number of people who helped make it all possible

I would like to extend our sincere gratitude to Ms. Magee who put endless hours of work and dedication into our fabulous sets that you can see behind us. It really helped our show come to life. We would like to show our appreciation for our amazing production team who we could not have put on our show without so on that note I would like to thank Paul Macken (lighting), Noel Dicker (sound), our amazing band who helped the show come alive, Mathew, Muiris and Cosmo on doors, Hugo on spotlight, Sarah, Tara, Orla, Jessica and Aisling on make-up and costumes and Max on props. Also, the super pit singers need to be acknowledged: Charlotte, Kate, Eva, Kevin, James, James, Sadhbh, Charlotte and Katelyn.

Thank you Dr Farrell, for accommodating us and providing us with such a wonderful stage.

Thank you to all of the teachers who have set aside their time to help pull this all together. Special recognition must be given to the TY team of Ms Ni Mháirtín, Ms Scallan and Mr Wall for their constant help and support.

To Mr Geraghty, thank you for providing twitch your support and encouragement, without which this show would have been impossible.

To our families for their support, listening to our singing, watching our dancing, getting us to and from rehearsals…thank you for everything.

A massive thanks to Róisín, who has truly done the impossible by getting us all ready to dance, act, and perform for tonight. Between Róisín's guidance and Ms Cassidy’s stage management no one missed a step. Thank you Róisín and Ms Cassidy

And finally, last, but most certainly not least we want to thank Mrs Olohan, who has worked tirelessly as the backbone of 2023's TY musical She has done a tremendous amount of work, and has managed to bring out the best in all of us. Thank you for everything.

These past few weeks have been some of the best of my entire year It has been such a wonderful experience working with past friends, and even making new ones in this experience that has been new to almost all of us, and I am absolutely certain that we will all look back on this show fondly for the rest of my time at St Gerard’s. We are all so grateful for the tremendous amount of time and effort spent on making this show come to fruition, and for the audience we have had the chance to perform too. Thank you everyone, and goodnight!