Grease is the word.

Huh?
What?

*snuffle*
*cough*
*slips out of bed*

Is it a new month already?

*checks calendar*
*runs to the window*

You there, boy!

-Yessir?

What day is it, lad?

-Why, it's Christmas Day!

*re-checks calendar*

No it's not, you filthy little lunatic. Get the hell off my lawn!

*turns back to computer, realizing the joke has gotten old*

Whew. That was an adventure.
It is indeed a brand new month. Women's History Month. Bah! Givin' dames a whole month. Next they'll be lettin' 'em drive and -- gasp -- vote.

I jest! Don't send angry letters.

So, yes. As you can see by the title, Grease is the word. And not just because I stopped washing my hair a month ago.
No, friends.
Grease is the word because of the spectacular show Westfield State put on last weekend. A spectacular show made so to no small degree by a spectacular lady: Lil' Miss Martina Desnoyers.
'Cept there was nothin' little about her performance as Betty Rizzo.
Martina, well known to us for her caricatured shrewish tough girls has grown some serious chops as an actress. Her Rizzo, despite the comedic script and light-hearted tone of the show, was startlingly fleshed out. She was real and raw and very adult in nature. Yes indeed. Ms. Desnoyers looked unsettlingly at ease puffing airily on a cigarette, shaking her hips, or furiously kissing every boy in sight.
Now, we all know Martina is every inch an angel. Hence the high caliber of her performance. She turned Rizzo into something other than a two-dimensional symbol, and so rose above the hokey production to bring the character to life. She played that famous she-devil with unflinching sincerity.

The rest of the cast was in fine form as well. The numbers moved with sprightly ease. The fairly sparse set was offset by the frequent use of the area around the stage and audience involvement.
The show opened my eyes as well. I had seen Grease on stage before. Or, rather, seen half before I broke down and ran away in disgust. And my theater companion, one Mr. Anthony Celi, had seen the show twice. The boy has a very strong stomach.
Anyway, we were both in agreement that is was one of the worst musicals ever.
Westfield State proved us wrong. The show was fast, funny, and damn nice to look at. Why, it was greased lightning!

The highlight (aside from Martina's emotional "Worse Things I Could Do" number) was a solid five minutes or so of fantastic improvisation due to what I can only dub a wardrobe malfunction.
Indeed, the show was rife with spontaneity and on-the-spot, off-the-cuff humor and adaptation.
Well done, Westfield.

More importantly, though, the show was poignant.
The movie-- still a definite classic and not to be missed-- is very much an old-school love story. Plain n' simple.
The stage production, however, is much more of a social commentary. It is much less centered on Danny and Sandy. The show sprawls over every character to create a fascinating look into the cliques and quirks of high school in the '50's.

Lemme stop there, as I seem to be about to plunge into something of a thesis.
And let us look to the horizon.
Or, rather, the front doorstep.
For Bye, Bye Birdie has kicked off in rollicking good form.
Last night marked the first performance by the Rigdgedale Players of this old favorite, with a Ms. Kit-Kat Szewczyk filling out the chorus and filling out a pink cardigan (hey now, fellas) rather nicely.
I know few of us here on the East Coast will make it there to see her, and the others of us scattered across the rest of this great land may have trouble gettin' there as well. So be sure to send Ms. Sez your love and support.

Andrew Menard will be lighting director of something at some point somewhere. So, be sure to be there. (Contact Herr Goddu for more details. I am in the dark here, people.)
Or, better yet, drop Andrew a line or two.

Lucy McRae will be many performances comin' up.
On March 22th through the 25th she'll star as Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet, at Manhattanville College.
Then, on April 18th through the 22nd, she'll be performing in a senior thesis, and also having her's performed, during the Drama Department's Senior Thesis Festival.

I, for one, think that a concerted effort should be made to view these theatrical treats. Would anyone like to journey with me to the city of New York so that we may imbibe some culture?
I know some of you will want to. Don’t be shy, now, my little Sugar Plums. Let’s have every man jack of you ready and rarin’ to go.

And, with that gauntlet thrown, I leave you for the sunny shores of dream land.

Nighty night.