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NHS students prepare for March production of ‘Grease’

By
Avery Chick, NLJ Intern

E
ach year, when class registry rolls around and everyone is scrambling to fill their class slots with electives, choir is in one of two places in people’s minds. Kids either see choir and their eyes light up with an opportunity for an easy A, or two, their eyes light up because they have true passion for singing. I find myself in the latter category. Choir has been a part of my schooling since I can remember, tracing my singing roots all the way back to Mrs. Sarah Whipple’s third grade music class when we started having early morning practices twice a week. From there, I pretty much hit the ground running and never looked back.
This year, when class registration rolled around, several more kinds of kids found choir to be filling their elective slot. That was, in large part, because Mrs. Jan Ellis had decided to insert a production of the well-known and loved musical “Grease,” in addition to her other concerts into the schedule. I have never really labeled myself a so-called “theater kid,” but, in true Mrs. Ellis fashion, she convinced me to keep an open mind. For the entire first semester, it was business as usual, preparing content for our veterans, as well as Christmas concerts, but when the second semester rolled around, it was all hands on deck.
With partial auditions underway and practices occurring each day during the 2B block slot at Newcastle High School, our choir group started rehearsing the “Grease” musical. We will have performances on March 21 and 22 at 7 p.m. in Crouch Auditorium. Until then, we will be practicing every other day, with some extra enhanced recovery time, plus after- and before-school practices for soloists and main parts. 
Mrs. Ellis helps us immensely, showing us what she expects and how it can be the best that it can possibly be. We block each scene once as a rough sketch and then work on learning lines, finding props and what-have-you in order to give each scene its full potential. The NHS choir is very excited for the community to experience what we have prepared, and I expect that it will be a fun twist to one of the very last times that this old senior will be performing in Crouch Auditorium.

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