Fresh off a residency in New York City, Bear Grease is ready to take over the E.A. Rawlinson Centre, beginning tonight.
The play is helping raise funds for the First Nations Cadet Corps program which is led by Rick Sanderson, the director of justice for the Prince Albert Grand Council.
In an interview with the Herald, Sanderson says the plot of the musical is about the original Grease but through an Indigenous lens.
“This parody is kind of set in the eyes of a First Nations person on First Nations land.” Sanderson explained. “So instead of poodle skirts, it’s ribbon skirts, and just a bunch of incorporating First Nations humor into the show and stuff like that.”
Bear Grease has roots going back to the Enoch Cree Nation in Alberta, which is located near Edmonton. The performance infuses both hip-hop and comedy. It has had over 200 performances over four years and is only the second all-Indigenous musical to ever debut off Broadway in New York City.
Sanderson says it’s exceptionally special to have the performance come to Prince Albert.
“They started doing the show after a couple had the idea. They toured all over Alberta, then it went across Canada, then all across the USA. They picked up new actors and all staff from different states and provinces around to have the cast that they have now. There’s representation from First Nations all over North America, basically. They were such a popular show that they were offered a three-month residency in New York City off Broadway, which they just completed here not too long ago. They’re back on the road. Fortunately, we got them here in Prince Albert for two shows.”
While the show has an Indigenous focus, Sanderson says the show can be enjoyed by everyone. He says it’s important for other people to understand the Indigenous sense of humour, especially in today’s day and age of social media.
“The most important thing to me is showing everybody the humor that First Nations people have. You get to learn to laugh together because I see stuff on Facebook and different social media pages where people don’t understand one another and they’re always insulting each other. It’s about time we come together. This is kind of like a breaking down barriers show where First Nations and non First Nations get together and laugh and have a good time and get to know each other.”
Show times are scheduled for 1 and 7:30 p.m. today and tomorrow.
editorial@paherald.sk.ca
