By Harlan Rose
[email protected]
From the halls of MHS to those of Rydell High, several students participated in Diamond in the Rough’s (DITR) junior production of “Grease” on Aug. 8 at the Paliku Theatre at Windward Community College. Under the direction of MHS alumna Kristi Kashimoto-Rowbottom, the show featured two different junior casts, one of which featured Freshman Spencer Thomsen portraying the role of Danny Zuko and the other of which included Junior Christian Howe as the lead character.
“I like performing for the community. I got more reactions from other people and I got to see how other perspectives (differ) rather than in one group, like Mililani people. I got to see outside perspectives (in theatre) as well,” said Senior Lance Eves, who portrayed Doody in the second performance.
Interest in participating in the production stemmed from various sources, such as interests in theatre and positive peer pressure from friends and family. “I (auditioned) just because it’s fun. There was a lot of people I knew this time, so it was fun,” said Thomsen. Howe added, “My brother was in shows with (Kashimoto-Rowbottom) before, and then since it was a junior show, there’s an age limit to it, and my brother was too old, so (Kashimoto-Rowbottom) asked my brother if I wanted to do it, and I was like, ‘You know, it might be a fun new experience.’”
After initially being uncertain on which role they would want to portray, Thomsen and Howe were both able to land the role of Danny Zuko following auditions. “I don’t know much about the musical, because the musical is a little different than the movie, so then I was like, ‘I’m just gonna put any role,’” explained Howe. “(Kashimoto-Rowbottom) had me read for different roles and I was actually kind of surprised when I got Danny.”
On the other hand, Eves chose to audition for the role of Doody because he felt he was able to relate best to that character. “To me, Doody was a nice guy, and I like the nice guy. It’s fun being another character that I can relate to,” said Eves. “I had to put myself in the mindset of Doody and how he would see Danny as a friend and how the boys would react to each other.”
In preparing for “Grease,” each of the cast members received extensive assistance from their director. “(Kashimoto-Rowbottom) kind of set little deadlines for us like, ‘By this time you got to memorize your lines,’ and then, ‘By this time you have to memorize all your songs,’ and stuff like that,” explained Thomsen. Howe added, “She pretty much let the cast create their characters how they thought they would be, but gave us guidance and certain directions.”
Since “Grease” premiered at a community theatre, the cast was able to experience performing for a broader community audience. “It was a little like, not really intimidating, but at first I was just like, ‘Okay, (my) first musical’s going to be in a theatre, an actual theatre,’ so that was just a little bit nerve-wracking. But it was a fun experience,” expressed Howe.
In the end, the cast members felt the production was a success, and were able to gain knowledge from their experience in the theatre that could be applied to personal and academic goals. “I learned that if you practice a lot, then you won’t have to be nervous about anything because you know you’ll do good,” said Thomsen. Eves added, “I feel as though theatre is a step towards (gaining) confidence in helping me talk to other people, socialize. It’s like a step to helping me discover myself.”
Many of the cast members involved in “Grease” plan to participate in future productions put on by DITR and the Central Theatre Arts Academy.
