Toi Lyn Flick, Special to the Beacon, It’s 1959 and the Burger Palace Boys and the Pink Ladies rule Rydell High School; at least they think they do!
Grease-School Version is a rollicking look at high school life in 1950s middle class, midwestern America. And who better to bring this show to life than the middle class, midwestern students of Belle Fourche, South Dakota?!
Grease will slide its way on stage April 25th, 26th, and 27th in the theatre at the Belle Fourche Area Community Rec Center.
For just $5 for adults and $3 for students, audiences will spend a lively 2 hours enjoying one of America’s favorite musicals. Activity passes are also accepted for the shows.
Danny (Logan Willert) and Sandy (Trinity Hostetter) have just wrapped up a dreamy summer romance, parting ways for their senior years at two different high schools.
What should have been a joyous reunion at Rydell High turns tricky when Danny feels compelled to hide his feelings for Sandy from his fellow Burger Palace Boys: Kenickie (Timothy Thompson), Sonny John Hale), Roger (Derek Scott, and Doody (Kale Wil-liams). Heartbroken Sandy is befriended by the Pink Ladies: Frenchy (Sonja Cropper), Jan (Iva Hale), Marty (Alexa Stone), and Rizzo (Kate Blair).Add in to the mix jealous cheerleader Patty (Aoloni Stone), interested nerd Eugene (Trevor Welles), sassy English teacher Miss Lynch (Madisyn Carson), champion dancer Cha Cha (Kaeli Thompson), and radio DJ Vince Fontaine (Dillon Streeter) and life at Rydell High School is a chaotic adventure! Fellow students (Tace Hartman, Avery Mastin, Trey Shan-non, Chelsea Zinke, Mollie Collins, Abigail Schmidt, and Mercedes Madison) just try to stay out the Burger Palace Boys and the Pink Ladies way and have fun.
While the characters draw us into the story and capture our attention and imagination, Grease wouldn’t be Grease without the iconic songs we love to sing along with at work, home, or on the road. To that end, Belle Fourche High School has assembled a rockin’ pit band lead by music director Micah Pennel and pianist Lucy Cole. The rest of the pit is as follows: drums/percussion-Raif Parmeter and Elsie Adams, bass-Stephen Stein, guitar-Ainsley Nelson, and tenor saxes-Brahnson Brink and Merik McNeese. While some of our favorite songs from the movie may be missing, many other popular tunes remain such as Summer Nights, We Go Together and Born to Hand Jive. No production can go on without the aid of a competent and skilled tech crew, and this show is no exception. Filling those roles are Wyatt Lesmeister (the single senior involved with the production), Hunter Brown, and Madison Dalton. Michael and Raya Meemken have graciously stepped in as sound techs for this show.
In doing a bit of research before selecting this musical, directors Toi Lyn Flick and Allie Jusso-Verry could find no record that Grease has ever been performed by Belle Fourche High School. If this is accurate, it makes the 2025 production of Grease even more exciting this young cast, crew, and pit band are making a little bit of theatre history at BFHS and really leaving their mark! If Grease has been performed by Belle Fourche High School previously, Toi and Allie would love to hear about it and compare notes. So, please join the Belle Fourche High School cast, crew, pit band and directors on April 25th and 26th at 7pm and April 27th at 2pm for Grease-School Version. As Vince Fontaine would say, “So, ok cats, wrap your mittens around your kittens…and AWAY WE GO!”
Read the full issue of the Belle Fourche Beacon by clicking here.
