Reviewed by Jerry Kraft
"Disney's
High School Musical" is a genuine phenomenon, generating the largest audience for an
original made-for-cable movie ever, over seven and a half million viewers on its
first run and countless more on its endless repeats. It also spawned a sequel,
the biggest selling album of last year, and the inevitable franchise of
merchandising tie-ins. A good part of the original film's success had to do
with the hot teen idols in the leads, Zac Efron as the sensitive jock, Troy,
and Vanessa Hudgens as the brainy, new girl in school, Gabriella. Additionally,
though, the story borrows the classic plotline of "Romeo and Juliet,"
substituting social cliques for family enmity and giving it a rousing happy
ending that's all musical comedy.
As
one would expect, the entire production has the Disney gloss of manufactured
expertise and a surefire balance of catchy tunes with reassuring messages about
being true to yourself and not allowing others to define you. I don't want to
sound like I'm dismissing or trivializing this, because it is actually a very
solid show, and it's clearly in tune with the voice and attitude and expression
of this generation. Besides, what isn't artificial about a musical? If it
delivers entertainment, energetic music and dance, and sympathetic characters
then it is to be admired regardless of its barely hidden corporate
premeditation.
Still,
a Broadway musical belongs on stage, not on television, and Seattle Children's
Theatre has
mounted an extremely competent and entertaining production, under the solid and
expert direction of Linda Hartzell, with excellent musical direction by Mark Rabe and surprisingly complicated and
interesting choreography by Kathryn Van Meter. The cast is disciplined and
invested (and mostly the right age to be playing high school kids) and the
leads are all very good. I saw the show with two eleven year old girls who were
a bit unsettled when they looked at the program and saw that the actors didn't
really look like the stars from the movie. It didn't take them long to
recognize that this was not a recreation of the film on stage, but something
new. By the end of the performance, the entire audience was enthusiastically
appreciative of what they had seen, and completely won over by the show.
As
the clique-crossed romantic pair, Jason Kappus and Kasey Nusbickel were talented and pretty
convincing. Kappus has an athletic build and just the right sincerity for the
school sports hero who wants to sing in the school musical. The synchronized
ball-handling and dance number, "Get Your Head in the Game" was really quite an excellent
piece of theatrical choreography, combining sports, teamwork, individual skill
and musical performance with dance. As the brilliant new student, Gabriella
Montez, Nusbickel was delightful, with a sweet, strong voice and terrific
energy, combining an attractive wholesomeness with sheer vivacity. There was a
good romantic connection between them that managed to be about attraction but
without much real sexual tension, perfect for this material.
Of
course, the baddies had to be represented as well, and Khanh Doan has a great time with the
incessantly fabulous social diva, Sharpay. Her reluctant partner and factotum
was comically played and danced by Don Darryl Rivera. Jayne Muirhead has great fun with the Drama
coach and artistic entrepreneur, Ms. Darbus, and I also enjoyed John Patrick
Lowrie as the
self-centered Coach Bolton, who happens to be Troy's father. He carries about
the only dramatic weight in the show, and he has just enough gravitas to make
that thin thematic strain work.
I
don't think it's worth looking too deeply for great consequence or even the
remotest innovation in this show. It's formulaic and completely traditional in
terms of musical theatre. It's also extremely well-done. This highly
professional production team has shaped a talented and entertaining cast into
just the right ensemble to make the show feel like it's happening to these
characters for the first time, and to make us feel like we're seeing these
problems and values and resolutions being achieved for the first time. This is Disney's "High School Musical,"
but Seattle Children's Theatre makes us believe this story belongs to these
kids, and that lets the show belong to this audience. It all works, almost like
it's happening for the first time once again.