There’s no question that Pentucket High School’s theater performances have done well in recent times, and everyone is happy with that. The first sign of a good show is the cast list. And who better to determine how well people were cast than the actors themselves?

“I think it’s a pretty good cast list,” says Alyssa Frederick, Pentucket junior and in Grease’s ensemble (adults and extra teens). “People got what they deserve. It’s not all seniors.”

She did, however, voice a concern, saying, “[I’m worried about] how people will speak and/or accents because everything is all jumbled right now.” Such a thing is understandable, considering the rehearsals have barely started.

“It’s the best cast list since Wizard of Oz,” says anonymous, “Previously I’ve seen casts picked by favorites, but this time I feel like the cast was picked by who worked the hardest and who put in the most effort. It’s great.”
Pentucket Junior and ensemble member Blaine Senechal says, “It’ll be a very interesting cast, and it’ll be fun to do the show.” Blaine went on to say how he wished everyone could have gotten in, but “it’s a small cast and it was cast fairly.”

Blaine, like Alyssa, has similar concerns.

“I’m slightly concerned with the amount of effort people will put into it. In past shows people haven’t put in a ton of effort. If people put in at least half the work that the leads put in then that would be good, and I think it will come out well.”

One senior, Gwen Albert, thought it was wise to have a diverse age group in the cast. “You need freshman and sophomores,” she says, “Because if it’s all seniors then there’s nobody experiences enough to take on lead roles in the next year.” The prime example of this is how the freshman Josef Allen won the lead role of Danny Zuko, a casting that surprised many people, most of whom were thrilled.

Despite this, the majority of lead roles went to the upper classmen, with only one or two roles going to lower classmen. Others had named roles, but were cast as more of a supporting character.

This, in itself, may be a wise choice, as some lower classmen are not ready for leads, but supporting roles are perfect to prepare them. Yet when only three underclassmen are chosen out of the first eleven lead roles, it’s bound to raise a few eyebrows among the fellow underclassmen in the cast, at the very least.

Amber Richard was quick to add to what Gwen said, saying, “I think it’s stupid how some seniors think seniority will work to get them the part.” People who work the hardest for their part should be the ones who get it, and according to the cast of Grease, this is exactly what happened.” This would seem seniors and juniors worked the hardest for their parts, which in all honesty is not surprising, considering they are more experienced in the theater department and have prepared for such roles before.

Phoebe Law, Pentucket senior, who was cast as Sandi, and mentioned that, “It (the cast list) was interesting. It’s kind of what I pictured, but then again it surprised a lot of people.”

“I think it’ll be a great show,” an anonymous cast member responds, “My only problem is the same people are getting the leads over and over. Some people deserved better parts, and there is a lot of talent in this school that goes unnoticed.”