Wholesome High School Musical wows young audience
Milton Keynes Theatre erupts on first night return of Disney phenomenon.
YOUR opinions about whether Disney's High School Musical is worth the price of a ticket would probably be dependent on age. If you're under 12 or a young mum then this is the show for you – for the rest of us it's an unashamed rip off of countless other popcorn musicals from the not too distant past.
That's not to say anything bad about HSM which opened at Milton Keynes Theatre this week. In fact there's not an unkind thing you could say because it's so wholesome and nice that it's impossible not to get sucked into its sweet, sticky gooiness.
The leading man, Ashley Day, is less tanned, muscular, sex god Zac Efron and more your pleasant, slightly overweight, boy next door. He has the Zac smile and eyes, and a mighty good singing voice, but he's sadly not beefcake material.
But that didn't matter to the very young audience at the show's first night. Listening to the tots around me they were only interested in the songs and couldn't follow the simple plot.
They seemed to be there just for the cheesy finale when they let rip, singing and dancing and waving cheer-leading pom poms. One little blonde moppet in a box had the dance routines down pat and held her own performance.
But as someone of maturer years, who fondly remembers Grease, I failed to understand the fascination with this musical phenomenon. Perhaps if the lovely Zac had been on stage I would have capitulated but there's nothing original in the show.
I almost expected the stars to burst into Summer Nights when basketball jock Troy Bolton and new girl, Gabriella Montez, tell friends how they met during the winter break, anticipating Danny and Sandy joining in the chorus.
But HSM is Grease for a new generation and it's a superb way of introducing the theatre into their young lives.
There are lots of memorable, foot-tapping songs, some incredibly energetic dancing, an impressive and versatile set and a love story that can't fail to please.
The sound was poor on opening night making it difficult to understand the dialogue but you got the general idea.
Petite Gabriella, Claire-Marie Hall, looked more suited to junior school than high school but she was perfect as the pretty clever student who falls in love with the hero.
And there were fine performances from Emma Kelly as the bitchy Sharpay ("It could have been worse says her camp brother Ryan, they could have named you Pug"), Lee Honey-Jones as her bro and Claire Machin as drama teacher Mrs Darbus.
But the highlight of the show, for me, was David Perdue's riotous moment imitating an earthworm.
The ensemble actor, with no words in the musical to call his own, stole the show as he slid back and forth across the stage, reprising the moment in the finale. It was the funniest thing I'd seen in ages and was genuinely original.
High School Musical runs until Saturday. For tickets and information contact the box office 0844 871 7652 or online www.ambassadortickets.com/miltonkeynes
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Friday 25 May 2012
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