Set for greased lightning
LANDING the role of the Pink Lady in the world premiere concert version of Grease 2 is a dream come true for singer Hayley Piterman.
“Grease is my favourite movie, so when my agent told me about the concert version of the film, I could not say ‘no’.”
Piterman, 24, has been a Grease fan for many years – she celebrated her bat mitzvah with a Grease-themed disco party.
It has been an exciting time for the former Bialik College student. In December, she married Josh Piterman during a break from his starring role in the touring musical West Side Story.
And then she scored the Pink Lady role in the world premiere of Grease 2: Live in Concert which is being staged at the Gasworks Theatre as part of the Midsumma festival.
“It will be a challenge since it has not been staged before, but we are sure that it will be great,” she says.
The concert production will feature 16 singers and dancers backed by an 11-piece orchestra, re-creating the magic of Grease 2, which was released in 1982 as a sequel to Grease and set in Rydell High School two years later.
Piterman attended Bialik College and her acting blossomed under the guidance of drama teacher Eli Erez.
“I got my first leading role in Bialik’s Little Shop of Horrors playing Audrey and that was when I realised I wanted to be a performer.”
She studied musical theatre in Ballarat for three years and also undertook a dance course. She also appeared in a production of Rent a couple of years ago, and toured with a theatre education company for children called Alpha Shows.
Last year, she was one of the key performers in the Jewish musical theatre company JYM’s production of The Witches of Eastwick playing Sukie, one of the town’s three witches.
West Side Story played in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, and Piterman saw her husband perform in each city. “I’ve been lucky to be able to watch it in each state, although it was tough seeing your man lying dead on the stage!”
Will it be a juggling act in the Piterman household if both are touring in shows? “We have done it for the past four or five years, so we can handle it,” she says.
“It would be great if Grease could tour, but at the moment it is just for the Midsumma festival.”
Hayley and Josh’s wedding was held in Melbourne on December 12 during a break from West Side Story, and while she describes it as “perfect”, Melbourne’s fickle weather led to some rain while the couple were under the chuppah.
“People say that when it rains it means that it’s good luck, but I’m not so sure,” she says.
“While Josh was in Melbourne for six weeks with West Side Story, we organised most of the wedding, and the rest I did by myself with my mum.”
They spent their honeymoon in Langkawi in Malaysia, with unspoiled beaches alongside tropical mountain forests.
“We woke up in the morning with a stunning view of the tropical beach,” she recalls.
Piterman has had two throat operations in the past two years, but now her voice is back in perfect condition.
“The first time was because I had overused my vocal chords touring three shows a day and I developed polyps on my vocal chords and needed them removed,” she explains.
“The second time I was working in a theatre restaurant and because there was a lot of smoke on stage, I got a cyst on my vocal chords and had to have it removed. But now I am in my best vocal shape ever.”
Grease 2: Live in Concert is being staged at the Gasworks Theatre, Albert Park, from February 10-19. Bookings: (03) 9699 3253 and www.gasworks.org.au.
REPORT: DANNY GOCS
PHOTO: Josh and Hayley Piterman.
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