MEET THE CAST OF ‘GREASE: THE MUSICAL’

‘Grease’ – The Musical 2019 will take place from the 1 st to the 4 th of August 2019 at the Lionel Wendt Theatre

Pics by Waruna Wanniarachchi

Tickets are now available for the 3.00pm Shows on the 3rd and 4th of August and are priced at Rs. 4000, Rs.3000, Rs. 2500, Rs. 2000 and Rs. 900 (Balcony -Unreserved). Limited tickets are available for the 7.30pm Shows from the 1st to the 4th of August are priced at Rs. 5000, Rs. 4000, Rs. 3500, Rs.3000, Rs. 2000 and Rs. 900 (Balcony -Unreserved)

Tickets are available at the Lionel Wendt Box Office

1. Tell us about your character and what you like about him/her?
2. What has been the most challenging part of performing in Grease?
3. Favourite line by your character?

‘Grease’ hits Colombo this August as Cold Theatre 7 (CT7) brings this spectacular musical alive in special association with Theatrical Rights Worldwide at the Lionel Wendt Auditorium.  Directed by Kevin Cruze with choreography from Umeshi Rajeendra and musical direction by Nishantha Warnakulasuriya along with some of Sri Lanka’s veteran actors – CT7 is ready to take you back in time. 

Just days to their opening day, we catch up with the cast about their characters: 

Daniella Perera and Trudy Herft 
as ‘Sandy Olsson’

1. Sandy is the character everyone is familiar with. She’s down to earth, conservative and naïve. She’s the typical good girl and coming to Ryders’ is a culture shock for her because it’s a whole new world so she finds it difficult to fit in and there is a lot of peer pressure. She struggles with who she wanted to be and who she wants to be. I really like the songs the musical has and I try to bring out that struggle that isn’t scripted so you as a character have to bring it out. 
2. The challenge is playing her character. She’s a very laid-back person with a very mellow personality and I’m used to playing loud personalities and my own personality isn’t like Sandy. So, restraining myself and balancing the character is a new thing for me. 
3.  “Tell me about it Stud”. 

Vinuri Weerawardena and Agalya 
Kotigala  as ‘Betty Rizzo’

1. The musical portrays a side of Rizzo that the movie doesn’t. She’s super playful but when she feels intimidated and the status quo changes she will get aggressive. Grease has always been a bit of a fantasy, it’s like the original high school musical. I really want to show her character arch because I feel like it’s very relatable to the contemporary times and I think it’s a lovely character to bring out along with the contemporary issues. 
2.  The most challenging is getting her attitude across! I’m nothing like her personality so developing her attitude, her vibe and personality has been a day to day thing. Rizzo is feminine but also rough around the edges and this is the first time I’m portraying a feminine character in a modern way because she’s got swag and that’s a little difficult to get across! 
3. “Nah, we can still see your face.”

1. Rizzo in my eyes is the saucy minx of Rydell High, especially when it comes to Danny Zuko and Kenickie. She’s also a headstrong lady who likes to lead but also with a softer, mellow side which she doesn’t like to bring out much. The best part of playing Rizzo for me is being able to live the life of her character at least for a few hours!
2. Given the fact that this is my first ever lead role and only the second play I’ve been a part of, playing such a big character like Rizzo is a huge challenge since I’ve never had proper acting lessons. But thanks to my director Kevin, my counterpart Vinuri, my fellow co-stars Wayne and Julian and all the others who guide me, overcoming that challenge has become much easier.
3. “Elvis, Elvis let me be! Keep that pelvis far from me”.

Wayne White and Kovindu De Seram as ‘Kenicke Murdoch’

1. He is sort of the second in command. He’s the guy who is always there because Danny is always off with some girl and he essentially watches over everyone so he’s the big brother. He is not very emotional, he keeps everything inside and his boys are his main focus. For me playing his character is about exploring the laid back, show no emotions kind of guy so it’s interesting and I like getting the brotherhood connection through. 
2. It’s challenging to be staying a bit reserved. I’ve had my fair share of comedic and serious roles but Kenicke is the first teenager I’ve played on stage so it’s challenging to realize this is what a normal teenager would do.
3. “Get out of here with that dog food!”.

1. Kenicke is Danny Zuko’s best friend, and second in command of the T-Bird, and he’s supposed to be the ideal Greaser. What’s fun about playing him is I see a lot of myself in the character and it’s pretty awesome having to be the one singing Grease Lightning.
2. The most challenging part of it would be having to immerse myself in the role, which is quite taxing having to get in and out of the character, especially since the play has a lot of fast paced dances as well, leaving this frenzy-like energy afterwards.
3. “It’s Greased Lightning!!”