When we were teenagers, how many of us thought about adopting a different persona during a summer vacation?
It would be so tempting to change economic status, career goals and more when meeting, and perhaps falling for, someone who lives far away. Of course, that’s all premised on you not seeing the person again after you each return to your separate lives at the end of summer.
That’s exactly what high school heartthrob Danny Zuko and classic good-girl Sandy Dumbrowski thought until, unbeknownst to Dumbrowski, she transferred to Zuko’s high school. Instead of the classy guy who attended a private school, Dumbrowski discovers Zuko is the working-class tough-guy and member of the T-Birds at her new school, Rydell High.
By now, you’ve probably recognized this as the plot of Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey’s “Grease,” one of the longest-running musicals on Broadway and England’s West End. These writers brought to life the raw, aggressive atmosphere of a Chicago high school in the 1950s.
Full of peer pressure, sex and lots of teen angst, “Grease” (named after a teen working-class subculture known as the greasers) has been claimed and modified by one generation after another, substantially so when it was transformed into the 1978 film starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.
Zuko finds himself caught between his feelings for Dumbrowski and his greaser image with the T-Birds and their female counterpart the Pink Ladies. Jacobs and Casey managed to capture the many parts teens play as they try to figure out who they are and where their lives are going.
The Altarena Playhouse in Alameda has taken on the popular musical and will I’m sure add its own spin to the iconic piece with performances in the intimate playhouse where audience members are often just a few feet from performers.
Jacquie Duckworth directs with musical direction by Armando Fox and choreography by Shelly McDowell. In a surprise move, Fox will also appear on stage as Johnny Casino, a rock ‘n’ roll singer whose band plays at the school dance. Cast members also include Luc Leffe (Danny Zuko), Kit Town (Sandy Dumbrowski), Liam Cody (Kenickie), Seana Nicol (Rizzo) and Sarah Elizabeth Williams (Frenchy).
“Grease” will run Friday through April 27 in the Altarena Playhouse at 1409 High St. in Alameda. Don’t wait too long because, according to the box office, tickets are selling “like ‘greased’ lightning.” For tickets or more information, call 510-523-1553 or visit altarena.org online.
Berkeley: A “heavy dollop of silliness in these hectic times” is promised from the Berkeley Rep as it presents New York Times bestselling author W. Kamau Bell in “Who’s With Me?”
Bell returns to the stand-up stage full of questions, thoughts and more as he asks: “Who’s with Me?” He began his national tour Feb. 13 at the Kennedy Center and has a special limited local engagement scheduled for April 8-13 at Berkeley Rep’s Peet’s Theatre. For tickets, call 510-647-2949 or go online to tickets.berkeleyrep.org.
Danville: Laurie Roldan will use her beautiful voice to benefit Hospice East Bay this April. The singer has volunteered with the organization for the past 12 years, singing for their annual Tree of Lights in Brentwood as well as co-chairing the event.
Now she hopes to help the organization even more with her evening celebrating the timeless music of Karen Carpenter in this special benefit concert April 10 in the Danville Village Theatre at 233 front St. in Danville.
Joining Roldan will be Ken Bergmann (drums), Aaron Germain (bass) and music director Kenji Harada (piano). Featured vocalists include Debra Del Mastro and Chris Vettel as well as a surprise kid’s ensemble. For tickets, go to bit.ly/4isROEB.
Oakland: You can still catch Oakland Theater’s Project’s (OTP) “I Am My Own Wife,” continuing through April 6 at FLAX art and design,1501 Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Oakland. Renee/Ryan Mannequin plays Charlotte in Doug Wright’s Pulitzer Prize-winning one-person play.
Based on a true story, it tells of a trans woman who survived World War II, a Nazi father and the Gestapo in mid-20th century Berlin. According to OTP, the show is “a testament to trans resilience throughout history, an indictment of our complicity in immoral systems and a warning not to repeat the mistakes of the past.”
For tickets to the 90-minute, no-intermission show, go to oaklandtheaterproject.org/wife.
Audition and apply: Ghostlight Theatre Ensemble in Brentwood has announced auditions for its teen theater production of “Chicago: Teen” (April 5) and its mainstage musical “Urinetown” (April 8-9). “Chicago” runs July 11-13, and “Urinetown” will be performed Aug. 1-10. For complete information, go to ghostlightte.org.
In Danville, the Eugene O’Neill Foundation is taking applications for its free Studio Retreat 2025, at which teens learn from acting and playwriting professionals.
This year’s theme is “Seeking to Belong.” The 10-day retreat will take place June 18-29 at the Tao House of the Eugene O’Neill National Historic Site in the Las Trampas hills. For more information, visit eugeneoneill.org/studio-retreat-application online.
Reach Sally Hogarty at sallyhogarty@gmail.com, and read more of her reviews online at eastbaytimes.com/author/sally-hogarty.