From Greased to Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
The decision has been made to change the school musical from Grease to Mary Poppins
While some are still prancing around in their poodle skirts, stuck back in early October, the rest of us have moved onto jumping about with umbrellas and singing about spoonfuls of sugar. If you’re totally lost, let me explain: City’s Spring musical has been changed from Grease to Mary Poppins, and not everyone is floating with elation (and magic umbrellas).
Earlier this month, on October 14th, the rights to Mary Poppins became available after several years of running on Broadway and going on national tours. The drama department quickly applied for these rights to perform the show, and was granted them. The decision was made to replace Grease with Mary Poppins this year, pushing Grease back to be performed in the Spring of 2016.
“We’ve been waiting for this for many years,” City Drama director Troy Peters said, “If we were to do [Mary Poppins] in 2016, everybody and their dog would’ve performed this show by then.”
Some concerns about the change in plans have been voiced by this year’s seniors, but positive attitudes are being held up.
“It’s really disappointing for seniors because we won’t get a chance to do Grease,” Elena Swanson ‘15 said. “Everyone else can do it next year, but this was our last chance to do Grease, and we missed it. After some time I’ve adjusted to the change and accepted it, I’m excited now.”
Senior Arielle Soemadi describes her feelings about the situation when first hearing about the change, and how she’s feeling looking forward into the Spring.
“At first I was really upset because I was so pumped to do Grease,” Soemadi ‘15 said, “now, I’m excited again. Musical time is so fun, I’m with my closest friends on stage, I know it’s going to be such a fun time and I encourage everyone to try out because these past 2 years for me has some of my favorite memories.”
Being part of the drama department for many years, senior Libby Fischer tries to help herself and other stay positive about the switch.
“If Grease hadn’t originally been said to be the musical, everyone would be super excited about Mary Poppins,” Libby Fischer ‘15 said. “That’s the way I’m spinning it to people that come to me complaining. Mary Poppins is still going be really awesome.”
One other possible effect of the change in musical is the change in audience turnout.
“Mary Poppins is pretty kid-friendly show,” Will Barker ‘15 said. “There are always people who don’t like that, there are always people who want to do the raunchiest, sexiest show that we can do.”
“The student body likes the raunchy shows,” Swanson ‘15 said. “But I think we’ll draw in a larger outside audience if we do a kid-friendly show, which Mary Poppins definitely is.”
Despite all the hullabaloo following the switch in plans, Peters is in high spirits about the upcoming show.
“[Mary Poppins] is a great show, it’s filled with magic and special effects and flying and all kinds of stuff,” Peters said. “It’s going to be a challenge as far as sets, lighting, sounds, and special effects, and we love those challenges. It’s going to be a different production, probably bigger and more dazzling than Grease.”
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