I was thrilled to be going to watch a production of one of
my all time favourite films, High School Musical, at St Helens Theatre Royal.
Put together by Regal Entertainments and Royal T Drama Academy – a local group
for ages 7-18 years. This Disney smash hit is as well loved today as it was
when it came out 12 years ago. Often referred to as a modern day Romeo and Juliet
by critics it follows the story of two young love birds. Gabriella, an academically
gifted geek and Troy, all round cool guy and star of the high
school basket ball team The Wild Cats. After previously meeting on holiday to
Troy's surprise Gabriella is a new student at his high school. They quickly
become close friends and accidentally audition for the school's new musical. The
social cliques they belong to don’t approve of the new friendship and try to
come between them. Meanwhile jealous drama queen Sharpay Evans and her sidekick
brother Ryan conspire to further hinder their chances. The two must struggle to
make it to auditions whist also meeting their existing obligations and not
letting down their friends.
I felt the set worked well throughout. It was always clear
where we were with quick efficent set changes. The changing of scenes was also
helped along by short bursts of fitting music. A lot of the scenes were in the
school gym hall which had tiered seating at the back which worked great
visually as students could sit and interact on these in the background without
distracting too much from the main actors on the stage. The levels were also
put to good use in some of the dance routines – particularly by the
cheerleaders.
The story was easy to follow and I felt all the cast did a
great job. Gabriella was played really well and the actress in that role
excelled in both singing and acting. I felt she out shone Troy somewhat in
parts and carried him a little in the
singing department. However the twosome were a joy to watch as a whole had the
audience captivated none the less. The
actress playing Sharpay was perfect for the role. It was clear from the off who
she was (helped also by fabulous costumes and blonde hair of course) she nailed
the character giving her plenty of sassy attitude. Her body language was
excellent throughout, eye-rolling, hair-flicking and generally bossy, strutting
around the stage. I felt she did her job well as when she was on stage the
audience were drawn to her. Ryan, her brother, was well received by the audience
too. His was a very camp character and the actor portrayed this with little jokes
throughout and a cheeky kiss blown to Troy at one point. Also worth a mention
here is the character Jack Scott – he was the news reporter linking the
story together. He delivered his lines with great animation and was very funny.
'Get Ya Head In The Game' was a fantastic number performed by
Troy and the basketball guys. It is not easy to sing and dance at the same time
but add in basketballs too and that is some fairly tricky choreography. The
actors remained in time with the dance moves and the basketballs all bounced at
the same time and went in the air together too. They also made there way off
the front of stage and down each side of the audience whist singing, with the
audience happily clapping along. I felt this was a nice touch. Aside from this
the scene the whole audience seemed to love the most was the audition song. It raised lots
of laughs as everybody performed their auditions so over the top. There were
many on stage at this time and it was lovely to see much younger children in
the groups singing and dancing along.
Only in one part were some lines messed-up but the cast went
with it and made a further joke to the audience's delight. Troy came on stage
looking for Gabriella but accidentally asked Sharpay “Do you know where Sharpay
is?” Sharpay went with it and said “Why I’m right here Troy” and the audience
laughed whilst Troy said he meant Gabriella.
Then as he walked past Ryan he made a further joke of it by stopping him
in his tracks and telling him he was right there too with a cheeky look on his
face to the audience. The audience were in stitches and even Sharpay struggled
to remain composed. So funny and well recovered.
Of course the production was full of all the High School Musical songs, strongly performed by the cast with the dance routines to match
– I recognised the same choreography as the film in songs like 'Bop To The Top' and 'All In This Together'. High School Musical will remain a classic for Disney
and this production of it certainly didn’t disappoint. The audience were clearly
entertained throughout. When we thought it was over like many we stood up to
leave but then the cast came back on and finished with a medley of all the songs which was perfect as it left the
audience on a high. I thoroughly enjoyed this production and would definitely be
interested in seeing other pieces from this budding young theatre group.
Reviewer - Rachael Scott
on - 23/8/18
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