2-17-2023 4:06am

"We'll Always Be Together": 25 Years Later "Grease" '98 Cast Reunites

Lesley Misko Editor

by Lesley Misko

Uh-oh! Several citizens reported seeing twice the usual number of Pink Ladies and T-birds roaming the streets of Boyertown.

Rumor has it that some of these folks, spotted wearing black jackets and pink scarves, are planning to crash the Rydell High School reunion being held on the Boyertown Area Senior High (BASH) stage Saturday night.

Will there be a battle to determine the real Greased Lightning? BASH music director Jeffrey K. Brunner declined to comment. But memories of reunions from days gone by played a key role in his decision to bring the hit musical “Grease” back to the stage this year.

It was the last night of “Oklahoma,” in March 2022. Even though he was exhausted, Brunner was thrilled by the students’ performance and contemplating possible choices for the 2023 high school musical production.

As the curtain came down and the audience excitedly milled around cast members, exchanging hugs and pats on the back, Brunner had narrowed down the list two options. But he was unsure which one to pick. “When I am struggling to decide,” Brunner says, “I usually kind of look for some little sign that points me in the direction of one over the other.”

A few moments later, Brunner got that sign. A woman approached him to congratulate him on a great show. “Do you know who I am?” she asked. Apologetically, Brunner said that he did not. “I’m Kaitlin Hipple,” she replied, adding, “I was Sandy in Grease on this stage in 1998.”

Grease was one of the two shows Brunner was contemplating, and he was fairly certain the decision had just been made.

As a result of that fateful exchange, this weekend, 25 years after the 1998 production, the gang from Rydell High School has once again returned to the BASH stage.

In the audience will be many of the original BASH cast of Grease, who are excited that the T-Birds and Pink Ladies are once again in the limelight. Now in their early 40s, the cast members’ paths have diverged and each person has had a unique journey. But they remain unified in the enthusiastic belief that starring in the 1998 production of the show was one of the best experiences in their high school years.

Shana Harris Bigham, now a teacher at Boyertown’s New Hanover Upper Frederick Elementary School, played the role of Marty in 1998. One of the lovelorn Pink Ladies, she vividly recalls how a last-minute illness nearly scuttled her memorable performance of the love ballad “Freddy My Love.”

“It was the day the show opened and we were going to the junior high schools to do a short scene from the show. I woke up that morning and I couldn’t even talk. I had horrible laryngitis,” Shana explains, adding that for the assemblies “my lines were cut and everyone tried to cover for me.” After school, Shana raced to the doctor. “He gave me some wonderful medicine, and that night I was able to sing my heart out for the real performance!”

When Shana heard BASH was going to stage Grease this year, so many great memories were revived for her that she created a Facebook group to get the original cast together and attend the new production. “So excited to meet up with my fellow “Pink Ladies” and “T-birds” from 25 years ago to watch the newest BASH musical production of Grease! If you haven’t gotten your tickets yet, you won’t want to miss out,” Shana wrote on the group page. Soon enough, 25 cast members discovered and joined the group.

Tara White, now Wroble, works as Day Program Director for Community Services Group Concepts, and served as the Facebook group’s co-administrator. In Grease ’98 she had the role of Jan, another one of the Pink Ladies. “Performing in Grease was the highlight of my senior year,” says Tara. “Music played a huge role in shaping me as a teen and it has played a large role in my personal and professional life,” she continues. When Shana reached out to let me know that it has been 25 years since we performed in Grease and asked me what I thought about working with her to get a reunion together, I was all in.”

Like others from the original cast, Tara is most excited about reconnecting with cast mates. “For some, it will be 25 years since I spoke with them! I cannot wait to re-live the musical as a group when we watch the students perform. I am excited to see how far along technology has come in assisting with developing the overall vision of the show now!”

Scott Heydt, one of the 1998 T-birds, shares similar feelings. “Grease was a highlight of my senior year that created such a vivid emotional memory that I still carry with me. To revisit that in some way through the eyes of current BASH students will be special. In addition, through my work as an educational consultant, I’ve had the opportunity to work first-hand with the 2023 Sandra Dee, Grace Major. She is an asset to the community and I’m looking forward to being in the audience to support her.”

Kaitlin Hipple Robinson, a project engineer and mother, may not know how influential she was in bringing Grease back to the Boyertown stage, but as the 1998 female lead, Sandy, she shares everyone’s great memories. “I am excited to be able to reunite with the original cast of Grease! We all worked so hard to prepare in 1998. We spent a ton of hours together and became a family of sorts as a result. My love for theatre and music continues to live within me and any chance to get to do something that I love with people that are dear to me is a blessing.”

Mike Gregory, T-bird Sonny in 1998’s Grease, is now the Director of Instructional Design at Cabrini University, and regrets that he cannot make it to the show due to a conflict, but he doesn’t hesitate to share, “I think the Grease cast was a pretty special group. We had a great cast who really got into their roles 100%. It was one of those times where the whole ended up being greater than the sum of its parts.”

The hit movie based on the show first debuted in 1978. Like BASH’s original cast, lead John Travolta is a bit older now, but he recently reprised his role as Danny Zuko in a Super Bowl commercial for T-Mobile, singing to viewers, “Tell me more, Tell me more!” Further underscoring the enduring cultural relevance of the show, Paramount+ will soon debut a new streaming series titled "Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies."

But nostalgia for the 1998 production and the lasting friendships that they created while producing it is what most excites members of the original BASH cast.

In a nod to the show’s memorable refrain that “we’ll always be together,” Tara predicts that “despite it being 25 years since we performed, I think we will reconnect in the BASH auditorium, and it will feel like just yesterday since we were up on that stage together back in 1998.”

Hipple agrees. “I very much look forward to being back with my Grease family and sharing stories, laughter, and making new memories together,” she says. Twenty-five years from now, the current cast of Grease 2023 will hopefully experience those same feelings.

Whether or not the original cast breaks out in song remains to be seen. But Scott Heydt adds, “I’m looking forward to singing along (at least in my head) with my fellow cast members as we enjoy the show.”