High School Musical

Put more than 50 HATS Kids on a stage and you will be transported to a world of thorough enjoyment, happiness and entertainment and this show did exactly that!  What a super evening it was and immediately I must congratulate everyone involved, not only the Kids themselves but all who supported the production, and my spies tell me that the cast thanked the latter from the stage at the end of the final performance.

I was impressed by the imaginative direction of the production and the use it made of the auditorium thus giving the audience a different perspective on things.  Separate areas were used for the four groups of students – the Brainiacs, Drama Club, Cheerleaders, Jocks and Skaters and this worked well.

Troy, the Jocks’ star athlete at the High School, was very well performed by Connor Wilson and he grows in confidence every time I see him.  His chosen one, Gabriella, a Brainiac, played hard to get initially and her performance, which was quite gentle, grew stronger as the show progressed.  Their duet, ‘I Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You’, set at the side of the theatre, was really good.

Sharpay (Millie Barkworth Brown) and her brother Ryan (Matt Shaw) from the Drama Club formed an excellent partnership whilst trying to stop Troy and Gabriella auditioning for the school musical and, at the same time, to wreck their relationship.

I really enjoyed a strong interpretation of the stern drama teacher, Ms Darbus, played by Mabel Moon who controlled things well when she was on.  Milli Chaffe as Taylor Mckessie and Amber Kidd as Martha Cox gave some great support to Gabriella and the Brainiacs and Charlotte Kubicki was lively as Jackie Scott the resident DJ. Chad (Harrison Mead) and Zeke (Noah Bloomfield) did the same for the Jocks whose coach was Jack Bolton, Troy’s father.  His was another very good performance.

The composer of the School Musical was Kelsi and here was a fine performance from Freya Tudor.  Her “playing” of the keyboard was wonderful with the page turning totally in sync with the music.  We’ve seen her several times in recent years and she is really growing into a super performer.  Lovely to watch!

I suppose it could be easy to forget the Cheerleaders and the Skaters but not in this production as they were very important to it and worked with great enthusiasm and energy

I enjoyed the choreography which was executed well.  The costumes and lighting were worthy of the show and, whilst I don’t think the show itself is particularly strong, the full house audience didn’t seem to have a problem in enjoying it.  The future is bright for this society.

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