High School Musical

The nostalgia from the film came flooding back in this lively production of High School Musical from Johnstone Phoenix Youth Theatre.  A smaller cast of 20 filled the stage with their energy, enthusiasm, and personality.  You could tell that everyone was enjoying themselves, working well together and appreciating the fantastic reactions the audience were giving them.  The production team of Amanda, Cat and Amy should be congratulated with achieving this from each person on the stage and creating a brilliant production.

Leading the cast were the six central characters of Troy (Kayden Weir), Gabriella (Neive Shankland), Sharpay (Mya Gillespie), Ryan (Jack McKeown), Taylor (Amelia McDonald) and Chad (Kyle Blackburn).  All six showcased strong and individual characterisation and worked very well together in their respective couples.  Mya and Jack were hilarious in their scenes, had the audience in stiches and squeezed every comic moment out of their characters.  The vocals from Kayden and Neive were strong, controlled and very impressive.  Their harmony work was beautiful as they sang the iconic numbers.  Amelia and Kyle again brought comedy to their parts excellently with some well delivered one liners.

As the story progresses, we meet a variety of different characters and high school students with special mention to Ella Gillespie (Kelsi), Jorgie Allison (Jackie Scott), Emma McCulloch (Martha), and Sonny Ferguson (Zeke).  All captured their characters well, with clear dialogue and facial expressions.

Completing the principal line up were the teachers in the cast, Vicke Moulds (Ms Darbus) and Ross Adam (Couch Bolton).  Both Vickie and Ross being past members of the Youth Theatre really made their appearance more special while the club was celebrating their 30th Anniversary and both gave brilliant performances, worked very well together and with the younger cast.  Vickie’s delivery of Ms Darbus’ drama class in particular was comedy gold.

Excellent vocals and movement in the musical numbers, a simple but effective set and good lighting design really supported this talented cast as they delivered a performance very fitting for marking an anniversary year. Congratulations JPYT.

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