This was not a typical dress rehearsal for the students at the John Jay Middle School. Butterflies and nervousness set in as they sang and danced in front of a packed auditorium Tuesday night.

There is serious competition given the school's reputation for a great performing arts program. Only 75 actors were chosen out of 160 students who auditioned in November for "Grease" which opens Thursday at 7 p.m.

"I try to always put on my best performance even for a dress rehearsal just so I'm that much more ready; and about the applause I like it," said eighth-grader Jessica Stewart.

Stewart has been acting since the age of 6 and has done over 20 shows since then.

"I like being in front of people, I like making people laugh," she said.

Dress rehearsals don't usually draw crowds, so this one has especially helped prepare them for how they are really going to feel on opening night, Stewart said.

Eight-grader Keely Bochicchio- Sipos, who played Sandy, started singing when she was little. She remembers her first show "S.W.A.K" (Sealed with a Kiss) and has gone on to do other shows with the company The Pulse, as well as shows in the city with the Little Fig Stage theatre group.

"In theater I can do whatever I want," she said. "I can step away from school."

Her biggest challenge in acting is finding her character, taking in her lines and seeing what they mean, but she said in the end it all comes together.  Bochicchio-Sipo does not usually get nervous when performing, but during the dress rehearsal she said there were a lot of things happening backstage, which stressed her out.

"I have a lot of costume changes so that was a little crazy, and a girl in our show hurt her finger, so she had to leave and we had to cover," she said.

"When they get the costumes on, that's when they become other people," Director David Fritsch said.

 Seventh grader Jack Wedge, in the role of Kenickie, has been acting for the past seven months after he and his uncle David Markel were in a Shakespeare play over the summer.

"I like the thrill of it, showing off," he said.

This was the fourth show for 8^th grader and stage manager Max Sabo.

"I have to explain to the crew where everything is," Sabo said. "I'm like the ring leader of the circus. It makes me feel important."

He has had to start at the bottom and work his way up to his position of stage manager, and he knows his craft.

"We had a lot of issues with breaking stuff," he said. "Everyone needs to be on time, especially for the 'Beauty School Drop Out' song.  We had to get everything where it needed to be, spin the triangle onto the right side, and get a chair right in front to sit down.  We need to work on getting that much faster."

His mother, Marcia Daley-Sabo, teaches social studies and English at the middle school and is also the set designer.  With the help of other production members, she built a go-cart for the set, using pots and pan for its engine and painting it over. It looked like it could have been part of the "Transformers" set.

"We built the coolest go-cart ever!" Fritsch said.

Fritsch has been 11 years at the middle school and this was his 17^th show.  With a background in theatre, he did not pursue acting after graduating college because he was afraid of rejection.

"It wasn't until I was about 30 that I got into community theater," he said. "I came back to it and it was great, because I had a job that I loved  but I didn't have to pay the rent on it, and I could just do it all for fun. I acted a little bit, but I mostly learned how to light shows and I got into directing and I found out that I loved doing that."

Among the dress rehearsal audience were LES art teacher Spencer Eldridge, students from the district and Girl Scouts groups invited by the school.

"I really liked it," 4^th grader Lucy Siegel said. "I thought they did a really good job at turning it into a modern language that we could understand."

After the rehearsal, students enjoyed dinner at the cafeteria. Fritsch addressed the young actors by telling them they have done a great job.

"We got a show," he said. 

But it was back to reality for the children.

"Tomorrow is school," Fritsch preached to the students. "Go to school. Do your homework."

Music Director Kurk Ehrenreich's advice to the students was to "relax and enjoy the experience."

"It's a three month process that brings everyone together, including singing and dancing, painting of the building, and it all comes together beautifully at the end," Producer Gloria Miller said.

"We are getting a reputation here as doing some quality work and lot of people are coming out here," Fritsch said. "People are extremely happy with the arts program."

As far as who will be the biggest star of the performances, Fritsch simply said "the cast."