Review - High School Musical
February 17, 2009
Venue: Sunderland Empire
Date Reviewed: 16th February, 2009
On the day Disney’s orginal High School Musical settles in to the Sunderland Empire, High School Musical 3 is released on DVD, showing how long a shelf life this show has, as the “Grease” of today.
Not only has the this show been converted from TV to the stage, there is an ice show version and Disney released the third version at the cinema rather than on TV. On top of this there are the computer games , merchandise, clothing, bags, lunch boxes and toys, in fact the list of merchandise is endless.
From tiny tots making their first visit to the theatre (and judging by their behaviour many were too young to be there) to mums screaming after Troy, this show certainly packs in the audiences. Although when the music stops and there is more than a few minutes of dialogue the young audience grow restless. Somehow, I think the fact that they could not pause their favourite TV show while they popped to the toilet, as they can at home, was lost on several members of the audience.
The story is simple and familiar, with Troy Bolton being the school basket ball star, whose Father, the basketball coach who wants him to focus totally on the sport. Meanwhile Troy meets new girl Gabriella Montez and together they audition for the School Musical Juliet and Romeo (yes it is that way round). This really upsets twins Sharpey and Ryan Evans who are used to having their own way and go out of their way to stop Troy and Gabriella winning the lead roles. But we know good will conquer in the end and Troy will get his girl and the lead role in the school musical.
The stage version sticks fairly closely to the TV version, which allows the audience to identify with the characters and to be familiar with the songs. Although the first few minutes that set the scene are not too clear, no one really cares as they are there to hear the songs.
The original TV cast are replaced with lookalike actors with Troy being brought successfully to life by Ashley Day while Lee Honey-Jones is a credible Ryan. Both of these actors have toured extensively with this show and capture the essence of the TV counter parts. Less successful are the female leads Claire-Marie Hall as Gabriella and Emma Kelly as Sharpay, who both miss bringing their TV personas to the stage. However the younger members of the audience did not seem to care about that.
With this show aimed at young children there was one particular line in the second half that Sharpay uses which I felt was totally unsuitable for the young audience regarding a dogs skull.I had hoped this line had been cut during the tour but it was still in and just as unsuitable for a young audinence as it was many months ago. I do feel that this upsets the whole family feel of the show and is just not required, as it is neither funny or appropriate.
The staging and the dance routines are slick, as you would expect, but it somehow seemed dated, that maybe due to High School Musical 2 and 3 having taken over from this show and being so accessible on TV and DVD now.
This is an in your face show, that while sending people away happy at the end of the performance somehow does not deliver the overall quality we have come to expect from Disney and that maybe to do with the long tour this show has had.
John Dixon
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