Grease is the word: Musical set for opening performance at Jesse C. Carson High School
Published 12:00 am Thursday, April 10, 2025
Two of the lead characters, Sandy Olsson, aka Maggie Cross and Danny Zuko, aka, Tyler Madden, pose in front of the school sign. – Karen Kistler
The greasers and the character ‘Eugene’, front row, at right, perform this dance number. – Karen Kistler
Maggie Cross, center, who plays the role of Sandy, is surrounded by Pink Ladies, from left, Jada Greene, Sari Lewin, Makenna Hinson and Emily Mattsson; and the girls on the floor, looking up are Cheyenne Talley, left, and Renna Davis, – Karen Kistler
In this scene from the musical, Teen Angel, aka Josh Trexler, sings to, from left, Makenna Hinson, Jada Greene, Sari Lewin, Renna Davis and Emily Mattsson. – Karen Kistler
Greasers pose, from left, Brayden Carter, Cohen Jones, Tyler Madden, Grant Hayes and Logan Bryant. – Karen Kistler
The cast of “Grease” performs one of its dance numbers. — Karen Kistler
Members of the cast pose around the play’s high school sign. — Karen Kistler
Karen Kistler
karen.kistler@salisburypost.com
CHINA GROVE — Grease is definitely the word in the Jesse C. Carson High School theater department as they will be performing “Grease” for their 2025 spring musical.
The show features lots of singing and dancing and many of the students performing in this year’s production said it is fun.
“They’ve learned the music fast, and they worked really hard on the dances,” said Megan Wyatt, the school’s chorus teacher and is the music director and costume designer.
Chuck Carte is the school’s theater teacher and serves as the director and lighting/set designer, and dance teacher is Morgan Scarborough, who choreographed the show.
Fifty students, serving as members of the cast and technical crew, have been working to present the show to the community and it will be performed at the school’s auditorium, 290 Kress Venture Drive, China Grove, on four different occasions including April 10-12 at 6 p.m. and April 13 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased online at www.carsontheater.org.
“Grease” has been a special production to work on for multiple reasons,” said Wyatt, who said she grew up watching the movie.
“We were like this is so good because it’s a lot of singing, a lot of dancing and the audience will be familiar with almost every song that we do. So we chose it because we thought the kids would really like it because their parents would really like it,” she said.
“This is one of those shows that we knew would be really, really fun for the audience and for them. And it’s good for all ages, said Wyatt.
While the roles are shared by seniors and underclassmen, Wyatt noted that many of the lead roles are held by seniors. For this group, “Grease” will be their final performance on the Carson High School stage, and for some, they have been performing plays on it most or all of their high school years.
Makenna Hinson, a senior, has been in theater all four years of high school and will be playing the role of Rizzo in “Grease.”
Reflecting on this being her last performance, she said, “it means a lot to be able to do this and to be a part of something one last time is really heart touching and honestly hard to come to terms with because it’s your last time ever doing anything and it means a lot because I’ve been doing this with basically all these people that’s in the cast right now for these past four years.”
She said that it is an amazing feeling to give back, from “being that freshman in the first show to being that senior leading other freshmen for a show.”
Senior Grant Hayes, who will be performing as Sonny, has also been in theater all four years and expressed several emotions about this being his last year.
“It’s kind of sad because I’ve been here for a while, but I have more opportunities lined up for the future,” as he mentioned some roles in some films that he will be a part of. “I’m really excited to see how my experiences here at Carson push me into the future,” said Hayes.
Logan Bryant, who will play the role of Roger, has performed in every single show from his freshman year to his senior year, numbering 14-15 shows, he said.
Thinking about this being his last spring performance, Bryant said that it’s interesting because musicals are different from other plays “because you do it for such a longer period of time. It’s so many more months so you really develop like a cast and with your friends. It’s fun to have a final time.”
For Sebastian Butchart, who will play Eugene in the musical, said that this being his fourth year and final year of theater is weird and motivating.
“I’m not afraid to be a little silly because I’m Eugene, he’s a bit weird. So I guess it helps me embrace my character more,” he said.
Maggie Cross, a senior, has been performing at Carson for three years, beginning when she was a sophomore and has played multiple roles throughout those years from Sophie in “Mama Mia” to Wednesday in the “Addams Family” to Sandy in “Grease.”
“I’ve been challenged. They are all different roles,” she said, noting how her role as Wednesday, a somber character, was completely different from her outgoing, bubbly personality.
“I couldn’t smile the whole show,” she said.
Cross added that it would be hard for her to pick a favorite show and role that she has performed throughout her high school career, but if she had to, it would be Sandy, adding that she grew up watching the movie and her mother and grandmother also like Sandy.
Several of the seniors, Sari Levin, Devin Doby and Zachery Thomason, are all first-timers on the Carson stage.
While the first time at Carson, Levin, who plays Marty, one of the Pink Ladies, is not a newcomer to the stage in general as she has been actively involved in drama, she said, since she was nine. She has performed seven shows at the Norvell Theatre.
She said she was really proud that she was able to audition and get a lead her first time.
“It’s really exciting. It’s been a long journey, a lot of sweat, blood and tears, but we’ve made it and we’re here now,” said Levin.
Doby, who will perform the role of Vince Fontaine, a radio talk show host, said he had taken a drama class his freshman year which dealt with basics and improvisation, but this was his first play, and “it’s been a very, very good experience.”
He said he had been wanting to audition previously but certain circumstances prevented him from doing so; however, this year nothing hindered so he wanted “to push my comfort zone a little bit and talk to some people I don’t know and spring out of my little box,” he said.
Thomason, who is Johnny Casino in the production, said he has never done anything like this before. He learned about the auditions from his friends and thought, “why not, this is my senior year, and it’s been fun.”
The students shared that they have enjoyed “Grease” and for several, it has been a favorite.
Cross said that “Grease” is a classic and that it offers fun, bright colors, dancing, singing and “so much expression. It’s just a wonderful show. Even if you don’t know the show, it’s cool.”
“This show is very dance heavy,” said Hinson, “so as a dancer, it’s fun.”
Doby also mentioned the choreography as being really fun, plus the people in the cast.
The singing and dancing were also what Thomason said he enjoyed noting that “Ms. Scarboro, our dance teacher, is really engaging and breaks it down really good. And the songs are just fun to sing.”
Getting to know people he didn’t know before is something Hayes said he enjoyed about the musical, and Bryant echoed that as he said, “it’s fun, there’s a lot of dynamics and chemistry between the actors on stage and we get to play off each other a lot.”
Students are not the only ones practicing and preparing for the performances as Josh Trexler, athletic director at the school, has a cameo role in the musical, playing the part of Teen Angel.
This is not his first time on stage as he said he had a small role in another of Carson’s productions, “The Wedding Singer.” His role this time is a singing one.
Trexler said he has enjoyed seeing the students sing and dance.
“The kids, they do such a great job. They work so hard,” he said. “I was here on Saturday with them all day and obviously I’m just in one number, but they’re running back and forth, changing clothes, doing different numbers, dancing and singing. They are a really talented group. So, I’m really lucky to be a part of what they’ve got going on for sure.”
Trexler said that it is a common thing for a staff member to have a cameo role in the productions, and he would appear again if they asked him. “I’m glad to help out,” he said, noting that the school’s principal had been in one himself.
Through their years of performing, the students said they have had some favorites, some being “Grease,” and some had some other memorable ones at Carson including “Dracula” for Hayes, “The Crucible” and “MacBeth” for Bryant, and “Almost Main” for Butchart. Levin mentioned “The Lion King,” which she performed elsewhere.
This will be the final curtain call on Carson’s stage, and for some of the students, they don’t plan on continuing in college. However, for others, there just might be an encore performance in their future. Levin said “this is what I’ve always wanted to do.”
Others, like Cross and Hinson, might possibly perform in some community theaters, something Cross said she has done since she was six. Bryant said it might be a hobby, Doby might do some drama in college, and Butchart isn’t planning on it but is still open to the idea.
Now that he has tasted being on stage, Thomason said he was not opposed to doing more as well.
Wyatt said that she was proud of her students, who have worked really hard.
One thing that she always wants, she said, is for them “to be proud of their product” and she will always ask them, “is this something you’re proud of? Have you worked hard enough where you feel like presenting this to your family, to strangers, to an audience, are you going to be proud of it? If they say no, then we’ve got work to do. If they say yes, then we know we’ve done something right in teaching them.”
