Wop ba-ba lu-bop and wop bam boom! Pull out your poodle skirt and plenty of hair gel, grease up your ride, and get ready for some 1950s fun. The Niagara Falls High School theatre department is presenting the musical “Grease” today through Saturday at 7 p.m. at the high school’s performing arts center. On Saturday, there is also a matinee performance at 1 p.m.
With the recent passing from breast cancer of Olivia Newton-John, the actress who played Sandy in the movie “Grease,” the students have selected Roswell-Park Cancer Institute to receive the proceeds from a donation drive at their upcoming performances.
“Originally, we were going to donate to the Olivia Newton-John foundation,” said ‘Grease’ producer Tom Vitello, “But because so many forms of cancer hit our friends and family in Western New York, we wanted to keep the money local. So, we decided to donate to Roswell Park Cancer Institute.
“We hope that the community will come out and support our students and find it in their hearts to donate to such a worthy organization to help those battling this horrible disease. The donation will be made in Ms. Newton-John’s name to honor her memory.”
In 2017, the Niagara Falls High School Theatre Department started the tradition of collecting donations from its patrons. To date, the department has donated over $3,500 in cash to charities, including the Heart, Love, and Soul Food Pantry, Casey House, The Theresa A. Insana Memorial Scholarship, and the national organization Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. The theatre department matches the monetary contributions collected at each performance.
“We believe that in addition to teaching our students how to create a high-quality theatre experience from the ground up, we must instruct that giving back to the community is essential,” said Dennis Wilson,…
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