HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL.
Tour.
HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL
based on the original book by David Simpatico
Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton To 15 March 2008 then tour.
Runs 2 hr 20min One interval.
Review: Ranjit Khutan 10 March.
Several hundred screaming teenagers can't be wrong.
As you enter the theatre the atmosphere is electric – the house is packed full of young people,excited and eager to see the show. As you take your seat, young girls (and boys) shake their pom-poms or glow sticks and practise their dance moves in the aisles or as they fidget on their seats. When the safety curtain rises, the young people scream and cameras flash, echoing their excitement - but it only reveals a secondary safety curtain. The audience isn’t disappointed - not even because the show is starting a few minutes later than scheduled; never before has a safety curtain received such a warm welcome. If you didn’t know what all the fuss was about three large words on the second safety curtain reveals all – it’s a production of “High School Musical”, the wildly popular show that has swept the US and now the UK like a storm.
Based on the Disney film of the same name, High School Musical is a Romeo and Juliet comedy in which peers exert more pressure than parents. It is packed full of fantastic one-liners and superbly choreographed scenes. The story line is simple – Troy Bolton, a highly popular jock and the captain of the Wildcats basketball team discovers that he has a mutual attraction and a shared love of singing with Gabriella Montez, a braniac science whiz and transfer student. But this simplicity in plot allows the expertise of the cast and the brilliant stage effects to take centre stage.
At its heart this is a feel-good modern musical sensation that has been likened to a modern-day Grease. It carries an important message for young people: of going for your dreams and being who you want to be despite what other people try to confine you to. OK, this is a little clichéd and coming from these bright, young, ‘perfect’ actors on stage, one could argue that this promotes unachievable goals for young people (and old) but it’s a positive goal and better than the many negative messages young people are bombarded with.
It's particularly echoed in the catchy songs “Get’cha head in the game” “Bop to the top” and “Stick to the status quo” – tunes that you’ll be humming to long after the show has ended. No wonder that something this good is sold out weeks before the run has even begun.
Ashley Day: Troy Bolton
Carlton Connell: Chad Danforth
Dominic Tribuzio: Zeke Baylor
Lorna Want: Gabriella Montez
Hannah Levane: Taylor McKessie
Cathryn Davies: Martha Cox
Helen George: Sharpay Evans
Lee Honey-Jones: Ryan Evans
Jennifer Tanarez: Kelsi Neilson
Claire Machin: Ms Darbus
Mark Dickson: Coach Dickinson
Richard Vincent: Jack Scott
Director: Jeff Calhoun
Music Producer: Bryan Louiselle
Choreographer: Lisa Stevens
2008-04-09 09:01:18