Grease Lightning Float Ideas
Written by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey in 1971, "Grease" is an American musical taking place in 1959, following the exploits of several high school-aged characters. If your town is having a parade, create an entire float around the musical. This is an especially suitable idea if your school or community is performing the musical at a later date. It can help publicize the show and sell tickets to people in town. Does this Spark an idea?
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Born to Hand Jive
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Create a dance sequence that can be performed on the float and taken out to the audience if you are in a parade that will stop at various places in the route. The "Born to Hand Jive" set piece is a dance routine that takes place within the musical when the characters are all at a traditional high school dance. The participants should be dressed in 1950s attire such as poodle skirts and blouses for females and jeans, T-shirts and leather jackets for males. The music can be projected through speakers and the dance performed for the audience watching the parade. There is no set "hand jive" dance, so you can choreograph your own, or look to the 1978 movie for inspiration on the movements.
1950s Car
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Many parades use old cars in mint condition. Instead of having cars from the 1950s drive along in the parade, place a convertible on a flatbed and make it the center of your float. The characters around it can be in period dress and wave to the audience; some can be sitting in the car. If you have the chance to perform, the males can wear microphones and sing the popular tune "Greased Lightning" (a "clean lyrics" version suitable for a family audience) from the float.
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Burger Palace
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When you think of the 1950s, one thing that comes to mind is the explosion of diners and hamburger shops across the country as places where kids hung out. In the musical "Grease," the very last scene takes place at the Burger Palace. "Sandy" walks in, having completely transformed from the poodle-skirt-wearing naive girl to the leather-pants-wearing woman who totally blows "Danny" away. Create your own Burger Palace in the style of the 1950s, complete with a counter, stools, jukebox and other 1950s decor. Have the characters act out the final scene when "Sandy" walks in. The characters can actually perform the scene repeatedly throughout the parade.
Live Band
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"Grease" is filled with such crowd-pleasing music that you can place a live band on the float to play the entire score throughout the course of the parade. Provide band members with the music book for their specific instrument and rehearse several times before the day of the parade. On the float itself, place risers so the band members can be seated and seen by the parade watchers; then, decorate the rest of the float with 1950s-style decor. The characters from the musical can hang out and wave to the parade watchers from the float or walk alongside in character and interact with the audience.
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References
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