Miles Morrisseau
ICT
WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Canada — Following a wildly successful off-Broadway engagement in New York City, the musical “Bear Grease” is playing sold-out shows on a Canadian tour.
Creator and performer Crystle Lightning spoke to the audience following a matinee performance at the venerable Burton Cummings Theatre in Winnipeg and shared the importance of shooting for the stars.
“We’re the first Indigenous musical to have our own playbill. We are the longest-running Indigenous musical on Off Broadway as well,” Lightning said.. “I tell you guys this because for the kids and the young people in the audience .… Anything is possible. There is no silly idea. Nothing is too big for you.”
The show is an Indigenous interpretation of the classic 1978 movie, “Grease,” starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, with high school hijinks in the late 1950s when leather jackets and greasy hair were all the rage.
The adaptation of the familiar story shares some uniquely Indigenous music, dance and humor.
Pride in identity
I took my 86-year-old parents to the show. My father suffers with dementia but he enjoys live music and dance just as much as my mother.
The show starts with the lead actor singing in a gorgeous falsetto a classic doo-wop song from that era. I thought, “This is a time when my parents were young.”
The show is filled with great music, great dancing and plenty of laughs. Some of the jokes were definitely hitting the Indigenous audience members.
It was a wonderful feeling to connect with my parents in our shared love of life theatre and our pride in our Indigenous identity. “Bear Grease” was an amazing experience.
It was magical to be sitting beside my mother and listening to a version of “Stand By Me” in her language of Cree. The song is literally timeless but speaks to her generation when it first was a hit,and then to my generation when it was the title song to a movie.
My mom’s mother, Lydia, went to residential school, and although my mom didn’t go, schools continued to openly punish children who spoke their language. Mom was trying to protect us from that pain. It was something that she had expressed with regret to me. She wished she had given us the gift of language.
When my grandfather Stanley died, he had lived those last few months without the English language, which he lost to the stroke that would ultimately take his life.
He called my parents’ house in Winnipeg and I answered the phone. I was greeted with, “Tanisi, boy.” I responded with, “Tanisi, Grandpa.” He then started to talk with happiness and relief in his voice, but whatever else was being related was unknown. I knew a literal handful of words in Cree. Soon Grandpa stopped talking and waited.
“I’m so sorry, Grandpa, I don’t know how to speak. I only know how to say ‘Tanisi,’” I said.
When I stopped talking, he started chuckling at the absurdity of the whole thing. He said a few more words in Cree and then, “Goodbye, my boy.”
In the years since, I have been involved in language revitalization projects and continue to work on developing and practicing my language. I know I have much to learn but the opportunities and resources are available and continue to grow everyday.
“Bear Grease” is an example to all of us that our languages are still alive.
All-Indigenous case
Lightning produced the show with her company, Lightning Cloud, which she started along with her partner, rapper MC RedCloud, who also spoke to the audience about what the show represents.
“The ‘50s and ‘60s weren’t the same for our people as they were for White people,” RedCloud said, with the cast of “Bear Grease” standing behind him. “You see, in the ‘50s and ‘60s we faced the harsh realities of residential schools, and the Sixties Scoop and boarding schools.”
He continued, “The fact that you have an all-Indigenous cast standing before you, that’s because of our elders who paved the way. So make some noise for them. And we hope these beautiful brown faces, dressed in 1950s and ‘60s regalia, honor you.”
The show received great notices during its run in the Big Apple. The Queer Review called the show “profoundly moving and soul soaring.” La Voce di New York said it was “the best party you can find off-Broadway” and Broadway World proclaimed the show was “filled with heart and humor.”
Having an Indigenous show earn accolades in New York is the result of years of dreaming, but Lightning reminds dreamers that they need to go out and get it.
“Here we are an Indigenous cast,” she said. “We work our butts off, we rehearse, we stay focused, we’re dedicated. We had a dream, we had a goal, and we chased after it. We didn’t follow our dreams. We chased them down with passion.”
Lightning and RedCloud have been making music as a duo and had a hit with the song, “Meet Me at the PowWow,” 10 years ago, charting on the Indigenous music countdown. It is now part of the show’s soundtrack and is the sing-along song that wraps up the production.
Lightning said that Indigenous people need to fight to get their space in creative industries and tell stories beyond stereotypes.
“Did you guys know that Indigenous people in film, television and theater take up less than 1 percent?” Lightning asked, telling the audience that included many children and youth.
“We had to create this opportunity for ourselves because it doesn’t exist,” she said. “We didn’t want to be on the back of a horse in buckskin. We wanted to make something exciting and happy and make you guys laugh.”
Looking ahead
Lightning and RedCloud had appeared in earlier versions of the show, but now get to watch other performers take over.
“It’s such a gift for us to be backstage and to hear you guys laugh, and it’s just like medicine for us, and to have this beautiful energy exchange with us performing, and then hearing you guys laugh and seeing your beautiful smiles is such medicine for us,” Lightning said. “ And we’re so honored to be able to perform for you guys. So thank you so much for coming out.”
“Bear Grease” is currently on a tour of eastern Canada with stops in Halifax, Moncton, Fredericton and more. The troupe then heads across the country to a number of dates in British Columbia, including Duncan, Nanaimo, Courtenay and Vancouver. It will wrap up the year with a week-long engagement at the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton.
The show also have a date in North Carolina but details are still to come on the “Bear Grease” website and social media.