STUDENTS HAVE THE CHILLS!
Seán Black and Jack King, two of the stars of the St Joseph’s Secondary School production of Grease, held in association with Our Lady’s, Greenhills.
‘I saw my problems and I’ll see the light We got a lovin’ thing, we gotta feed it right There ain’t no danger we can go too far We start believin’ now that we can be who we are, grease is the word.’
MONTHS of hard work came down to just a handful of shows last week in the Barbican when the students from St Joseph’s Secondary School and Our Lady’s Greenhills combined to put on a spellbinding performance of ‘Grease’.
The Transition Years from both schools were simply extraordinary and they had the whole audience enthralled from start to finish.
Maybe some of their teachers would remember the original Travolta - Newton John film from 1978, but for many of these youngsters, this was a chance to travel back in time and they delivered.
There were so many highlights - Jack Connor’s wings as the Guardian Angel will go down in history - but overall, the sheer enjoyment was evident.
Matthew Leech and April Judge were superb leads while John Prendergast, Joella Dhlamini, Stan Goodwin, Jack Duff, Jack King, Anna Savage, Conor McKenna, Lucy Campbell, Sean Black, Caoimhe Doherty, Jacob Levins, Karolina Sionskyte, Liam Murray, Emma MacDonald, Jack Connor, Javier Chapella Ortiz, Emmanuel Nayarko, Roisin Kearney, Felix Jacob, Coalinn Davern, Meghen Reid, Ciaran O’Connor, Glyn Kenny, Daniele Vitalie, Shane Lynch, Thies Hassmann, Timo Riehm all played their parts.
The backstage staff were equally as important in all of this, from Peter Meegan, Josh Fitzpatrick, Sean Healy, John O’Connell, Daire Sharkey to Cian Byrne, Ben Moonan and Simon Dehove.
Produced by Kate O’Connor, this was a first production for St Joseph’s and it also included set design and props: Tracy Murray, Musical Director: Michelle Foy, choreographer: Cathy Kirke.
The band included Paul Brennan, Edward Holly, Liam Reilly, Niall Shortt, Shannon Branigan, Jack Keane, Gene Carolan and Wayne Floody.
Thanks was given to everyone who did their bit, from ticket sellers to Tracy Murray’s amazing artwork.
Ms Murray remarked in the programme on the night that the part played by the set builders and designers was top class and so much of the students’ own time when into it.
Ms Foy added ‘ huge dedication and commitment was shown by all these young performers throughout the year and it has been a huge pleasure to see them develop musically and most especially in confidence. These are a special cohort of students and have done themselves and their schools very proud. May there be many more performances to come from them.’