The Chanhassen Dinner Theatres’ cast for its production of Grease. Photos: Dan Norman Photography
Grease: The first musical that made Dayle Theisen want to do musical theater. So it’s perfectly apropos that the Maple Grove native would one day find herself in the role of Sandy.
“I watched it hundreds of times,” Theisen says of the movie, starring Olivia Newton-John as a newcomer to Rydell High in the 1950s. “It is such a special, nostalgic, important piece in my theater journey.”
Theisen was cast as the female lead in Chanhassen Dinner Theatres’ (CDT) production of Grease late last year after a successful run as a swing in CDT’s White Christmas.
Theisen auditioned for the role of Sandy, unsure if she would receive the part. “My heart wasn’t set on it, but I knew it would be an incredible opportunity,” she says.
Kris Howland, director of public relations for CDT, says Theisen proved her worth during the winter run of White Christmas. “Dayle is a versatile performer—great singer, dancer and actor,” Howland says. “A swing has to be ready to go in for any one of a number of multiple female characters at a moment’s notice … The swing has to know everyone’s lines and unique dance tracks. When you think about it, that is probably the scariest responsibility there is.”
Now, Theisen is responsible for bringing Sandy to life. “[She] is the quintessential Sandy,” Howland says. “She has the perfect amount of sweet, paired with the perfect amount of sass.”
While it’s a tall task, Theisen was up for the challenge. “There is so much pressure to make it similar to the movie,” she says. “But you have to listen to what the script tells you. I’m not trying to imitate Olivia Newton-John. I have to trust my instincts.”
Dayle Thiesen, a Maple Grove Senior High School alumna, sings Hopelessly Devoted to You.
Theisen has been building up those instincts since she started dancing at age 9. “I remember not wanting to ever stop dancing,” she says.
From dance, it was a natural leap to singing and acting, and during her sophomore year at Maple Grove Senior High School, Theisen was cast as the lead in the school’s production of Cinderella.
By the time she graduated in 2017, Theisen hadn’t kicked her love of the stage, so she took a leap of faith and set sail for the Chicago College of Performing Arts where she earned a BFA in musical theater with a dance emphasis. “I really found myself,” she says.
It’s that experience that Theisen brings to Sandy in Grease. “The understanding is that she is a young woman, trying to figure herself out under a new set of circumstances,” Theisen says. “She wants to do what’s right. She’s really come into her own as a woman.”
“Director Michael Brindisi took an ever-so-slightly modern-day approach to the characters of Danny and Sandy at the end scene,” Howland says. Brindisi unexpectedly passed away in February, and CDT honored him with a tribute attended by nearly 700 people that ended with the cast singing We Go Together. Howland says of Brindi’s approach, “Audiences might not even notice, but Danny meets Sandy halfway. Sandy doesn’t have to compromise herself to make Danny like her. Sandy is a strong female character in her own right.”
Grease is showing through October 4.
Chanhassen Dinner Theatres
501 West 78th St., Chanhassen; 952.934.1525
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