Social media is playing a special part in one Cherry Hill high school.
Locals Jermaine Jones of “American Idol” fame and Ukee Washington, a news anchor with KYW, have signed on to play special guest appearances as the role of “Teen Angel” for Cherry Hill High School West’s spring play, “Grease.”
Facebook and Twitter have been key in the process of casting celebrities for each showing.
As of publication, students are still hoping to fill four more dates.
“Cherry Hill West needs your help. Will you be our Teen Angel?” has been the mantra tweeted by cast members, classmates and friends throughout the school since December, said Carole Roskoph, an English teacher and the student activities coordinator.
Roskoph herself began sending Facebook message inquiries the week after Thanksgiving.
While the play will strictly follow Samuel French’s script, Roskoph wanted the school to lay host to celebrities to help draw in audiences based on an experience she had a couple of years ago.
Roskoph and her mother headed over to Philadelphia to watch a performance of “Grease” that had teased an appearance by Taylor Hicks as the teen angel.
“Taylor Hicks was literally on the stage for three minutes,” she said. “It seemed kind of annoying to me at the time.”
The teen angel, she said, sings one song.
However, she said, as she discussed with other staff the plan to do “Grease,” the guest appearance idea made more and more sense.
“It’s fun,” she said of the play. “There’s a high interest in the community.”
The teen angel sings, “Beauty School Drop Out.”
“He’s this old, dead pop idol who comes down from heaven in his angel suit and sings to the character Frenchy,” she said.
Jones will play the part at the 2 p.m. show on Feb. 24.
Washington will be on hand for the part on March 2 at 2 p.m.
For the remaining spots, there is no deadline, however, in theory, Roskoph would like to have the line up set by the first week of February to allow for practice time.
“We also decided (recently) that we are trying to get 1,000 tweets to Tony Danza,” she said. “I do know that Mr. Danza’s manager now has the information on the show. It was forwarded from Random House.”
In addition to Danza, students are hoping for Kevin Bacon, Bradley Cooper, Chubby Checker and Scott Baio to sign on, all of which have a connection to the area in some way.
There are 80 students involved in the production.
Last year’s spring play was “The Wedding Singer.”
“Assuming Kevin Bacon might be busy,” she said, there is a plan B.
Freeholder Jeff Nash is on the horizon, as he has an audience in the Cherry Hill community, she said.
“We have lots of feelers out there,” Roskoph said.
Anyone who might have a connection to a celebrity should contact her, Roskoph said. Her email address is CRoskoph@chclc.org.
For any local celebrities who might be reading, she has some sentiments to share.
“Our productions are really good,” Roskoph said. “They do not look like high school kids up there on the stage.”
Show dates
Cherry Hill West High School will perform “Grease” in the New Auditorium on Friday, Feb. 22 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 24 at 2 p.m., Friday, March 1 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, March 2 at 2 p.m. and Saturday, March 2 at 7:30 p.m.
Regular tickets are $12, while students and senior citizens are admitted for $10.
Visit http://chwtheater.wordpress.com/ for more information.
