Backstage at the Egyptian: Beth Fowler talks ‘Grease & More’!

The Egyptian Theatre is welcoming back the Beth Fowler School of Dance for their production of “Grease and More”! Check out this interview with Beth Fowler, conducted by Jon Warrick. Jon: Grease and More will be presented at the Egyptian Theatre on June 10th, 11th and 12th. With your current season coming to its end shortly, what would you say your favorite part about coming to perform at the Egyptian Theatre this season has been? Beth: This season is our 30th Season of performing at the Egyptian Theatre which has become our home away from home.  This season has been great just performing live again after producing our dance shows on film in 2020 and in the summer of 2021. It was great to see a full house at our live performances for our annual “The Nutcracker” in December of 2021 and at our March 2022 Ballet, “Sleeping Beauty.”  It was apparent that our audience missed live theatre as much as we did! Jon: Is there something that’s special about this production of Grease that’s different from the other productions in the past that you would like us to know? Beth: Grease is a classic and a favorite of many people of all ages!  Because Grease is a story about The Rydell High Jocks, Cheerleaders, T-Birds and Pink Ladies, we opened up the show to all community boys to portray the Rydell High Jocks and T-Birds. This has been a great opportunity for these boys of all ages that would have never otherwise had an experience like this.  Many times they come in as a favor to a girl that may have asked him to be her partner, but are quickly surprised how much they love the show! This happens often and then these boys end up asking to do multiple parts because they love it so much!! Next June of 2023, we will be staging “West Side Story” and will again be opening this opportunity up to all community boys!  These Greasers have already committed to “West Side Story” next year!  All these opportunities for boys are free of charge! Jon: So the name of the show is Grease and More, and previously you had a statement that the Dance Company Members will be joined by all of the class dancers, as well as the Competition team dancers. What can we look forward to from these dancers as a part of the “and more?”. Beth: The “& More” portion of our “Grease & More” Show is featured in the first half of our show.  Performing in the show opener will be our Award Winning Competition Dances, and also the dancer’s class dances in many different styles of dance.  The show is kept down to an enjoyable length and moves quickly because the show is fun, high energy and very entertaining!! The second half of the show (and show closer) is “Grease” and performed to the sound track with Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta. Jon: How long have you coming to the Egyptian Theatre both as an individual and as the School of Dance and for Theatre productions, and do you mind talking a little about what this relationship means to both you and to the performers over the years? Beth: I remember attending the Egyptian Theatre as a young child to watch the movie “Grease” and telling my friend, “It was so good that when you come watch it, it will be so good that you can’t even believe it!” This was when Grease first came out! Little did I know I would be presenting 3 shows per year through my own dance company at that same theatre, including Grease!!  We present 3 shows per year at the Egyptian Theatre and have been performing at the Egyptian Theatre for 30 years!  It is our home and will always be!  The staff at the Egyptian is our family and we all work so well together.  Everyone knows their part! Our Beth Fowler School of Dance Staff is 100% our alumni dancers so everyone is family and we all have been at the Egyptian Theatre since a young age!  It works perfectly! Jon: Are there any classes or competitions coming up past Grease and more, that you would like to talk briefly about? Beth: After our June show of “Grease & More” we will be going up to the Wisconsin Dells for our National Dance Competition June 19th thru June 24th!   We always look forward to this at the Wilderness Waterpark Resort where we are on a Dance Family Getaway Vacation, watching our talented dancers perform and compete! We will have a couple weeks to relax, travel, and vacation then will get back to the studio for our 4-week Summer Dance Camp starting July 5th!