Letter: Grease opens tonight at HMB High

By Natalie Moyce

Natalie Moyce is a Senior at HMBHS and can be seen as "Frenchie" in the Spring musical Grease.

You can always tell when musical season is about to start just by walking through the halls of Half Moon Bay High. Rumors of possible plays run high, whispers of audition dates spur excitement, and a general nervous buzz fills the air. Auditions roll around, and you wonder how you’re going to sing in front of an audience when your legs shake in front of just a few fellow singers. Mr. Ward, our faithful director, will smile at you encouragingly, and you walk away practically positive that you didn’t make the cut. If you’re lucky, you will be off to callbacks, and audition again, this time with other, often older students, wishing you were brave enough to act the way they can. Soon, the day comes, and you see your name on the list! Regardless of what part you get, you still end up with your heart jumping at the prospects of the journey you’re about to embark upon. You learn lines slowly but surely, often letting one slip impromptu in every day conversation. You hum songs to yourself between classes, and practice dance steps while sitting at your desk. Before you know it, opening night is approaching fast. Costumes haven’t been fitted, everyone’s forgetting lines, props are missing, songs haven’t been choreographed, and you’re sure that this play will never come together in time.

But then the last week comes along, and suddenly, everything falls into place. Not only are lines remembered, but they make you laugh when hearing them, though you know them like the back of your hand. Dance numbers gain a rhythm they never had before, and fill you with an energy to make every step count. Costumes, the band, and the lights make everything seem larger than life, and hit you with the realization that this is a real theater now, and the audience is going to love this show.

Such is the experience of participating in the musical at Half Moon Bay High, something that many people choose to do annually. "Every year that I do the musical, I get to work with the same group of people that I’ve always known, with some new faces and talent each time, and it’s great when we all get together to make something worth seeing," says Erinn McHale, a senior this year who has participated in the musical throughout her high school career. She plays the part of Jan, one of the Pink Ladies in this year’s Grease, a popular movie and musical for all. The title alone will draw an enthusiastic audience, who will discover that, although the well-known plot and quirky characters are the same, some of the songs from the movie are missing. However, they will be even more entertained by this original version of the musical, which includes songs and scenes not present in the movie and avoids the clichés of the same-old Grease that everyone has seen on the small screen.

Tickets are on sale at Bay Book for $8 for students and children $12 for adults. Grease opens this Friday night, at 8 PM in the Student Center at Half Moon Bay High School. Shows will be Friday and Sat at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm this weekend and next.  All those students will be standing behind the curtain, awaiting your eager eyes and ears, so that they might have the opportunity to entertain you. We hope to see you there.