High School Musical

Making my way into the auditorium at the Rose Theatre for Disney's High School musical, I was immediately met with a hubbub of excitement and warmly welcomed by Richard and Sally, as I always am.

High School Musical was launched in the 2000s and has entertained across the globe ever since. It's a high paced show that tells the tale of Troy Bolton, who is after the love interest of Gabriella Montez. Trouble is Troy loves Basketball and Gabriella loves musical theatre. You can see where this is going...

The set was well laid out, very colourful and a vibrant feast for the eyes. Flats to the sides left much open stage space for the dance routines and (errant!) basketballs.  The lights dimmed and the music began. The first thing that struck is the standard of singing from the chorus to a backing track was very good. It's difficult to remain in time as you can often loose pace or gather pace and be ahead of the music. With an orchestra the MD will slow down or speed up to cover any shortfall, but all the cast were on point from the start. This was also coupled with good diction, and in an American accent, which befits the setting very well. 

The choreography, set by Gemma Conner was challenging in places but the cast rose to the task set and delivered very well on Gemma's vision. They all looked as if they were enjoying themselves and this came across very well into the audience and we were suitably entertained. The lead characters of Noah Clayton-Harty as Troy Bolton, Hattie Funnell as Gabriella Montez, Jasmine Mabey as Sharpay and Jacob Calder as Ryan were all very confident in their delivery. No lines seemed rushed and all coped well with the action, the scene changes and mood changes with assurance. They were very ably backed by Michael Chiguvare, Immy Perrin, Chloe Osman, Paul Madden and a very cheeky Kieran Tonks. All the cast were well directed and it's obvious that a lot of work had gone into this. A credit to the directorial team headed up by director Alick Leech

The costumes, and there were very many of them, suited well and it is quite obvious that a lot of work had gone into them. They all seemed to fit well and really added to the evening well. Well done to Mandy Harrison and her team. The Lighting was well programmed and along with the sound quality meant that nothing was missed. When you add that to the bright set and great costumes it really added to the overall experience. A thorougly good evening was had by all. Looking forward to Rock of Ages and Six in January. Thanks Spot On, another great show.

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