High School Musical (Review)

Disney's 'High School Musical'
Published: May 8, 2008
Go back to 'High School'
By STARLA POINTER
Of the News-Register


It's a classic story - a handsome young man from one world and a lovely young woman from another meet while on vacation and fall in love. Reunited during the school year, they're torn between being their true selves and fitting in with the crowd. Love wins in the end, and everyone in the whole school is better off.
And they all do the hand jive and sing a lively finale, "You're the One that I Want."
Oops, that's the version of the story from my generation, when "Grease" was the word and we teens were nostalgic for the 1950s, a decade we hadn't actually lived through ourselves.
This generation's version is Disney's "High School Musical," which started as a TV movie and now is a stage play and marketing tour de force. Writer David Simpatico cleverly gives a nod to the genre's genesis by making HSM's much-auditioned-for, but never seen, play-within-a-play a tap-dancing, musical version of "Romeo and Juliet."
This generation makes up almost the entire cast of Gallery Theater's version of "High School Musical." And this generation, along with a good number of parents and grandparents, practically filled the theater for the first three performances - one of the biggest opening weekends ever at Gallery.
The audience, which probably would have loved the show no matter what, was rewarded with a visually appealing production filled with pleasant music and some really good performances.
I may have been the only one in the theater who minded that the show started 15 minutes late or that the intermission stretched almost twice as long as advertised. And even I almost forgave those faux pas when I saw that the school colors in the show were the same as those of my own high school, and the mascot the same as my college. Go Wildcats, indeed.
Once things got under way, director Adam Ewing and his cast did a great job using the entire stage and, in fact, the whole theater.
The set looked great. Even if it hadn't been painted red and black, I would have loved the multiple levels and rolling carts that allowed for quick, effective scene changes.
I enjoyed Kathleen Fraser's choreography, especially the group pieces - the "Head in the Game" number with basketballs, in particular. The dance numbers featuring drama queen Sharpay and her twin also were a treat to watch.
The twins (Jasmine Klauder and Justin Roisom, both excellent) play a central role in "High School Musical," not only in the plot but also in the way the whole story is shaped to be positive and uplifting.
Yes, Sharpay is willing to "improvise" a lie to beat out her rival, and yes, she and her brother act like they are better than everyone else. But we also learn that they, too, are motivated by the same teen angst as their peers. If she can't be the school's star, Sharpay worries, all she'll be is herself, and how boring is that? Naturally, this Disneyesque script teaches us, she deserves understanding, too.
Gabriella (Brittney Hoskisson, who has a lovely voice) and Troy (Jesus Gomez) are the Sandy and Danny of "High School Musical." They would be perfect for the leads in the school play. But to take the parts, they not only will have to out-do Sharpay and Ryan, they'll also have to step out of the roles in which they've been cast in school society - Troy as the basketball whiz and Gabriella as the academic one.
Seth Renne practically steals the show as the "Voice of East High School" who reads announcements over the intercom - a clever way to use a narrator to set the scene.
Pat Meyer and Terri Swanson, who have the only significant adult roles in "High School Musical," do a great job as the coach and the drama teacher. Swanson, in particular, plays her role with all the flamboyance and frustration of an arts-lover trying to promote drama in a sports-oriented world.
Others who stand out were Nick Quinteros and Chris Helwig, Troy's affable basketball buddies; Jaimie Meyer and Michelle Sanchez as members of the academic clique; Lindsay Harrop as the young composer and playwright; Austin Ewing as the Wildcat mascot; and the ensemble as a whole.
Because the cast changed somewhat in the weeks between auditions and opening night, the names of several members were omitted from the article previewing "High School Musical": Jesus Ordaz, Katie Cocchi, Cassie Gamble, Stephanie Sulak, Chelsey Manning, Brittany McKinney, Lamont Jarvis, Stacey Jarvis and Tricia Harrop, who also was stage manager.
The initial cast list also didn't mention the musicians who provide the live soundtrack for the show: pianist Anne Britt; guitarists Aaron Knudson and Seth Schwebs; bass player Shelly Sanderlin; drummers David Quillen and Eric Fellows; saxophone players Ron Bork, Max Dixon and Duane Bond; and brass players Bob Thornburg, Mike Quillen, Richard Manning, David Clark, Doug Ausmus, Larry Hake and Tom Adams.