High School Musical Jr

High School Musical Jr, is a musical adaptation of the popular Disney film starring Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens.  I was pleased to accept the invitation from the newest addition to my district, Porth Community School to see their offering.

The show had a basic set to allow the large cast plenty of room to manoeuvre.  Scene changes were handled quickly and efficiently and this allowed the production to move along at pace and maintain the high levels of energy set by the cast.

The show opened with a superb, energetic performance from the cheerleaders, who did an excellent job every time they were on stage.

Sonny Roberts had a tough act to follow in Zac Efron as basketball player-turned-singer, Troy Bolton.   Sonny did a great job.  He had strong vocals and gave a performance full of energy.  I really enjoyed  ‘Get Your Head In The Game’, a musical number performed by him and the rest of the basketball team.

Opposite Sonny was Eliza Manning as Gabriella.  Eliza gave a very strong performance, showcasing lovely vocals in the musical numbers and a very good character.  A lovely partnership was formed between the two lead players; well done.

Olivia Ingram and Olivia Baldwin played the larger-than-life Sharpay and Ryan.  Both gave great performances with very good energy.

Mikah Hughes played the very demanding Coach Bolton.  Despite his diminutive stature, Mikah commanded respect as the high school basketball coach.  A star in the making, well done!

Mrs Darbus was played by Alfie Rees.  This could have proven to be a difficult casting but Alfie was great.  He really harnessed the comedy within the script; nicely played.

Maisie Jenkins was simply superb as Kelsi.  The characterisation was perfect and her diction was terrific.  Outstanding!

Other named characters – Riley Williams (Zeke), Iolo Sainsbury (Chad), Lily Davies

(Jackie Scott), Belle Williams (Mrs Tenny), Bethan Coleman (Martha), Levi Cannon (Taylor) and Jack Jose (Moderator) all gave performances that added plenty to this production.  Well done everyone.

As is the case with any production, the ensemble cast is the heartbeat of the performance.  In this offering, the large supporting cast did a great job in everything that they did with distinct groups of jocks, cheerleaders, thespians and brainiacs all adding their own characters to their performances.  I congratulate them for this.

From reading the programme, I understand that some of the main characters were double cast and whilst I wasn’t able to see their performances, I am sure that they were great!

After the show ended, the school’s headteacher gave a heartfelt speech about how proud the school was of every member of the cast and of all the members of staff that had helped to make the production a success.  Her words are echoed by me.  Well done, Porth Community School on producing a very entertaining evening of theatre.  I look forward to seeing your future productions.

 

 

The views in this report are solely of the author.

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