High School Musical

This rather literally titled show - it's a musical set in a high school - was completely new to me, although I understand it began life as a very popular Disney TV film which has prompted a number of sequels. With more than a smear of 'Grease' in the show's ingredients, it proved to be a pleasant enough mixture of youthful bonhomie, energetic dance routines and lively musical numbers. With a plot you could write on the back of a postage stamp and all the devastating intellectual content of a damp cushion, the appeal of the show lies in its lively choreography and enthusiastically delivered musical numbers, both of which were effected with panache at the Hippodrome, with a large and talented cast throwing themselves into the evening with great gusto. First-time director Josh Hindle helmed a breezy, feel-good show and had obviously inspired his cast to put their hearts and souls into creating a colourful show which went down very well with the audience. 

This slight tale shines a light on teenage angst, concentrating on the tribal nature of high school life (there are the jocks, the brainiacs, the skater dudes, thespians, cheerleaders... and of course, we begin the show with each gang keeping very much apart from the others for the sake of maintaining the natural teenage order.) This conceit was an engaging way to put across the needless divisions in society and the show's central message - 'We're All in this Together' - was played out in a typically uplifting fashion, resulting in a happy ending where the disparate school gangs of course realise that they can rub along together nicely for the good of the whole: fortunately for the denizens of East High - unlike 'Romeo and Juliet' - no teenagers had to die in the process!

A very appealing set depicting the school gym formed the backdrop of the show, with clean and effective scene changes moving the action to various locations around the school as and when necessary, with a nice touch in school radio announcer Jack (played with snake-hipped panache by Jake Cordeaux) linking the scenes and keeping us up to date with the latest developments. Leading the ensemble as sweethearts from opposite camps Troy and Gabriella, Marcus Geldard and Paige Brett both impressed with reliably confident performances; singing well and really getting across both their characters' personalities, making the audience care about their dilemma. Their would-be nemesis, school diva Sharpay, was nicely played by Olivia Humpage, with plenty of sassy self importance. We who move in the world of amateur dramatics have all met at least one 'Sharpay' and Olivia did a good job in holding up a mirror to all the monstrous drama queens in the audience! Her partner in crime Ryan was well realised by James Hill who, all wrists and elbows, managed to bring this tinsel camp flower of the stage to life with just the right degree of glitter and sparkle. The combination of Olivia and James worked well, as I could imagine a less imaginative director letting those two stage monsters veer over into pantomime which didn't happen here - full marks all round.

Ryan Sparks gave a very solid performance as Coach Bolton, making what could have been a cardboard cut-out caricature into a much more 'real' and interesting character: I've enjoyed Ryan's appearances on stage at the Hippodrome in previous shows as he always brings something solid and meaningful to the stage. Cassidy Jones as Ms Darbus was the very image of the scatty and rather precious drama teacher and Georgina Smith excelled as Taylor, the friendly face for new girl Gabrielle to chum up with. Neil Salway threw himself into the role of Chad, basketballing pal of Troy and deputy-chief jock and the rest of the cast had the requisite amounts of vim and vigour to keep the story bouncing along. The large cast of rival high school groups makes it impossible to single out every member of the cast for a particular mention but as an ensemble, there was excellent teamwork and everyone played their part in making the show come together - rather supporting the 'all in it together' ethos of the show!

There were a number of interesting routines, all cleverly choreographed and - rather smartly done this - basketballs were bouncing about and flying around on more than one occasion! A couple of  interesting numbers made a neat job of skewering the vagaries of teenage life: 'Cellular Fusion' worked well with its mobile phone beeps and whistles pulsing throughout the song; 'Stick to the Status Quo' of all the numbers in the show at least attempted to make an interesting point, helped once again by some careful choreography. The audition sequence had a tang of broad humour about it and the way the narrative hurtled towards its feel-good conclusion was also nicely put across, resulting in a show which didn't outstay its welcome. Along with the engaging performances, great choreography and a lively, youthful feel, there were several flashes of humour in the show and taken as a whole, the production came across well.

Technically adept, lighting and sound helped to enhance the show rather than detract from it, with scenery and scene changes being worked as well as one has come to expect from a Hippodrome production; costumes were colourful, appropriate and in keeping with the show and where there were any issues with sound, they seemed to be from the cast's holding back rather than from any particular technical issue: true, there were a few occasions when it took a few seconds for mics/ sound levels to find their feet at the start of musical numbers but I wondered if the rather baffling experience of the volume going down during big company numbers was rather more to do with everyone assuming somebody else would carry the song and therefore being rather half hearted, rather than it being a particular technical issue! Solo numbers and duets on the other hand came across very well indeed with all the principal performers putting in a sterling effort.

However, any criticisms I may have are mainly aimed at the source material rather than the production, with the whole cast and crew putting in a sterling effort to turn straw into gold and succeeding - for the most part - admirably. Fortunately, there was a dearth of those nasty habits which for me are a blight on many a youth production; namely the tendency to assume that shrugging and slouching about whilst gabbling rapidly and incoherently in an 'American' accent equates to giving a performance. If once or twice, this insidious disease threatened to raise its ugly head, there was never a serious outbreak. I really could have done without the rather aggressive exhortation to join in with the singing, clapping and dancing during the extended finale however: perhaps on other evenings it had been easier to coax the audience into dancing in the aisles but on the night I attended, it did come across as rather forced. Despite having to wade through a musical 'mega mix' of Wagnerian proportions at the end of the show, Tim Mason made light work of the (admittedly rather thin) score throughout and his customary skills with the baton made sure that we were in safe musical hands for the evening

The production team are to be highly commended for putting together an entertaining show which sent a smiling audience home with a spring in its step. Josh's fresh and thoughtful take on things (this being an impressive debut as director) coupled with the experience of the rest of the team obviously worked well and was a good mix, resulting in a show which the cast had obviously enjoyed being a part of and whose enthusiasm worked its way into the audience. As always at the Hippodrome Theatre, the warm welcome and friendly enthusiasm of everyone involved - on stage, back stage and front of house - makes every visit here a pleasure and again, many thanks for making myself and Stuart feel very welcome.  

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