On Thursday, November 13th, and Saturday, November 15th, the Southeast of Saline Music Department performed the musical Grease, which was directed by Mrs. Boley.

This play follows the story of Sandy Dumbrowsky (Olivia Swenson) and Danny Zuko (James Friesen). New to town, Sandy begins to navigate her way around Rydell High School. With the help of Frenchy (Abigail Pearson), her next-door neighbor, she is introduced to Rizzo (Ava Rupert), Marty (Hannah Thiel), and Jan (Jaleyanna Poullard). As they begin to get to know her, Sandy talks about what she did all summer and who she spent it with. While this is going on, we meet the other half of the cafeteria, which consists of Danny Zuko, Doody (Adam Thiel), Roger (Elizandro Figueroa), Sonny (LaVone Hopkins), and Kenickie (Casson Klover). Danny also starts talking about his summer, and the girl he spent it with sounds very familiar. Just then, both Danny and Sandy break out into a song about their summer love. After the song ends, the two finally reunite. Sandy is super stoked to see Danny again, but Danny tries to play it cool in front of his friends and brushes her off. He runs away with his friends before he gets embarrassed, and that gives Sandy a strange feeling. She doesn’t know what she did wrong and leaves with Marty to get her mind off of Danny.

Danny ends up hanging out with Kenickie, Doody, Roger, and Sonny. Meanwhile, Sandy decides to have a sleepover with Marty, Jan, Frenchy, and Rizzo. Both Sandy and Danny try not to think about each other, but this becomes difficult when Rizzo sneaks away from the sleepover and hangs out with the boys. She tries to get under Danny’s skin and tease him about his relationship with Sandy, which clearly works because they both end up fighting each other. 

When Sandy comes to school the next day, she decides she wants to be a part of the cheerleading squad. While practicing, Danny ends up coming to talk to her. He apologizes for acting weird the first day of school, and asks Sandy to forgive him. She does, and tells him that she never wants anything to come between them ever again. Just then, Patty (Isabella Owen) walks in and forces herself right in the middle of them. Sandy tries to brush this off, but gets super upset when she hears that Danny was with Patty the other night. She ends up yelling at him and tells him the only reason she became a cheerleader was to impress the cute letterman. Danny gets jealous and tells her he is going to join the track team to impress Patty. Sandy ends up leaving, frustrated that Danny isn’t noticing her. She sings about being hopelessly devoted to him, but is still angry with him.

A little while later, everyone decides to throw a surprise party for Frenchy, congratulating her on getting into beauty school. Sandy didn’t come because of Danny, but ended up walking by with Eugene (Tiernan Ptacek) so she could collect leaves for Biology. Danny sees this and scares Eugene off so he can talk to Sandy. However, Sandy doesn’t want to talk to him and ends up leaving with Sonny. Rizzo sees this and ends up making fun of Sandy for being a goody-two-shoes. When Rizzo is singing, Sandy comes back and hears the song. She is frustrated that they are making fun of her, but even more disappointed in Danny for not sticking up for her. She tries to tell him how she feels, but Danny plays it off, claiming that he wasn’t the one saying those things. She can’t believe he was saying this, and tells him she doesn’t know why she ever loved him in the first place. This makes Danny angry, so he asks Rizzo to go to the dance with him. 

While everyone goes to the dance, Sandy stays home and sings in her bedroom. She is still hurt about the things that were said about her and decided to skip the whole dance. Sandy listens to “Raining On Prom Night” and ends up thinking about Danny. She wants to go see him, but also wants him to feel the same heartbreak that she is experiencing, so she doesn’t go to the dance.

After a couple of days, Danny and Sandy go to a movie together to try and reconnect. While here, Danny tries to kiss her, and she freaks out. Sandy thinks things are moving way too fast and tells Danny that it’s better if they just stay friends. However, Sandy goes through a major change, no longer wanting to be a little Miss Perfect. She goes to the diner, knowing Danny is going to be there, so she can show off her new outfit. She no longer feels scared about being with Danny, and they end up dating each other again, which concludes the musical.

Overall, lots of hard work and late nights were put into the production of Grease. The students came together to make this musical enjoyable for everyone. Great job, cast and crew!