Peddie School will remount “Grease” for the first time in over 20 years this month. The musical, set in the 1959, follows a group of working class kids as they navigate peer pressure, teen pregnancy, gang violence, cars, and rock and roll. One of the longest running shows in Broadway history, “Grease” continues to be relevant because of its music and frank take on teenage life.
Jenna Zhang of West Windsor, a senior at Peddie, is the show’s stage manager — the person responsible for organizing the production by communicating between the director, the actors, and the crew, to keep rehearsals as well as the show running smoothly. The job includes seeing that props, blocking, lighting, sound, and set changes are realized. The professional stage manager is responsible for seeing that the director’s artistic choices happen.
Zhang’s theater resume began when she was in “Seussical the Musical” at Grover Middle School in the eighth grade. In her freshman year at Peddie she worked on “Pippin,” and has been in the theater ever since. “Being involved in the theater was completely accidental,” she says. “I didn’t know what sport to play in the winter of my freshman year so I worked on the show and decided I loved it.”
Zhang, who moved to West Windsor when she was two years-old, attended Maurice Hawk, Upper Elementary School (now Millstone River), and Grover Middle School. She has been at Peddie throughout high school and plans to major in international studies and music in college.
A singer, Zhang takes voice lessons, sings in the school’s choral group and is in the a cappella group. She has not been in a theater production since “Seussical.” “I haven’t taken any courses in theater, nor do I plan a career in it. For me theater is just something I love doing extracurricularly,” she says. “I definitely want to continue participating in theater productions in college and I hope to take some actual theater classes as well.”
— Lynn Miller
Grease, Peddie School, South Main Street, Hightstown. Thursday to Saturday, February 18, 19, and 20, at 8 p.m. $10. 609-490-7501. www.peddie.org.
