Bear Grease – The Musical

The Trail & District Arts Council invites you to buckle-up for the toe-tapping spectacle Bear Grease – The Musical, a fun Indigenous twist on Grease. Part of the Performing Arts Trail series, on Friday, November 15 at 7:30 pm in The Bailey Theatre.

Get ready for a jaw-dropping show as Bear Grease - The Musical reimagines the classic 1978 musical, Grease for an electrifying experience that celebrates Indigenous cultures through fashion, humour, and music.

Bear Grease will have you grooving along to this cool, rez makeover that breathes new life into familiar characters, keeping the authenticity alive while adding a burst of cultural flair. This hilarious musical makes you feel like you’re cruisin’ downtown on a Friday night in a ‘57 Chevy with the top down. A one-of-a-kind adventure that is fun for the whole family.

The very first Bear Grease show was the fastest-selling show for the 2021 Edmonton Fringe Festival and sold out in under 15 minutes.

Watch the trailer

The creative minds behind Bear Grease are hip-hop duo LightningCloud, Crystle Lightning and Henry Andrade (MC RedCloud). The initial idea for the show came about when they were watching Grease on TV. As teenagers they’d loved it, but as adults, they noticed how VERY WHITE the film was and had the idea of a Native Grease.

As well as creating the show, Crystle Lightning (Canadian Screen Award Winner for “Best Actress in a Drama Series” 2021) is an Indigenous Actress from the Enoch Cree Nation in Alberta. Crystle’s Film and Television appearances include “Outlander”, “The Good Doctor”(ABC), and more.

MC RedCloud (Huichol/Wixárika) is also an Actor (“Yellowstone” and more), Recording Artist and former Guinness World Record holder for “Longest Freestyle Rap”. Cloud is also the Author and Illustrator of Amazon's #1 selling Coloring Book “Indigenous Legends”.

We would like to acknowledge that “Bear Grease the Musical” was written in Treaty 6 Alberta, land and traditional territories of the Nehiyaw (Cree), Denesuline’ (Dene), Nakota Sioux (Stoney), Anishinaabe (Saulteaux) and Niitsitapi (Blackfoot).

80 min - no intermission.

Everyone welcome."

Photos by KGE Photography.

Single tickets are $40. Under 30 years is $20.

Last year's season subscribers get first access to season passes until May 20.

Renew or buy a Patron Membership for 2024-25 until May 17 and get advance access to Performing Arts Trail Series tickets starting from noon on May 20. Make sure you choose the 2024-25 membership from the drop-down menu.

Public Sale of Series starts June 1st.

6-show pass $168 or Pick Your Own season by becoming a Patron Member for $25 and get 20% off Trail Arts Council presentations and other benefits. All tickets available online at tickets.trail-arts.com, by phone at 250-368-9669, and in person at the Bailey Box Office at 1501 Cedar Ave., Trail.

Buy Tickets

Reminder - please do not wear strong smelling perfumes or colognes to the Bailey Theatre as the building is a scent free zone. Thank you for your cooperation.

This performance is made possible thanks to the support of our sponsors Century 21 Kootenay Homes (2018) Ltd., Pharmasave Trail, Teck Trail Operations, and Tourism South Kootenay and our funders the BC Arts Council, BC Touring Council, and the Government of Canada. We also gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Province of British Columbia.

Other shows in the Performing Arts Trail series this season:

Social Tango – Wed., Oct. 30 at 7:30 pm - Founded and based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Social Tango invites you to a beautiful immersive evening of dance, music, projections, and documentary film. Ten dancers bring this love story to life with the rhythm of their steps, accompanied by four musicians and a singer who reproduce the traditional melodies of the milonga.

Ô-Celli – Sat., Nov. 30 at 7:30 pm - Ô-Celli is a magnificently unique Belgian cello ensemble whose concerts travel through time and beyond stylistic boundaries. These eight classically trained musicians, reinvigorate classical music to enchant the audience through a repertoire of both original and arranged pieces, from Tchaikovsky to Strauss, via Piazzolla and Nino Rota.

Sechile Sedare – Tues., Jan. 28 at 7:30 pm - Sechile Sedare (seh-chee-leh’ ‘seh-dahr-eh’) means ‘my younger brother, my older sister’ in the Dene language. This contemporary roots duo of sibling songwriters, Leela Gilday and Jay Gilday, hits notes of nostalgia, hope, humour in songs about their family history, connection to the land and water, and the twists and turns of fate.

Barka by Girovago with Original Music by Gypsy Kumbia Orchestra – Tues., Feb. 25 at 7:30 pm - A celebration of life where Afro-Colombian percussion, Balkan melodies, dance, and circus merrily intertwine in a show filled with delirious energy, sound, and visual richness. BARKA uses the boat as a metaphor for humanity in search of going faster, higher, further, without consideration for the problems in a dancing circus filled with hope.

The Knitting Pilgrim April – Tues., Apr. 15 at 7:30 pm - A multidisciplinary one-man show that combines personal storytelling, image projection, and three huge, knitted panels that look like stained glass windows. Following Kirk Dunn’s fifteen-year artistic and spiritual journey the play explores why people struggle to get along, the meaning of art, and the power of love to overcome major obstacles (and minor mishaps) through hand-knitting.

Buy Tickets