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High School Musical: New Theatre
3:15pm Wednesday 27th August 2008
Disney's High School Musical has a big reputation to live up to hereabouts. Last summer, 200 local youngsters took part in a highly successful Stage Experience production of the show at the New Theatre. Five performances (the maximum allowed by law) sold out immediately, and those lucky enough to get tickets are unlikely to forget the magic buzz that was created between performers and audience. Now a professional touring production has arrived in town - most unusually, Disney allowed amateurs first bite at the cherry.
As this is a Disney show, there is a wholesome moral atmosphere to the storyline. Ryan (Lee Honey-Jones) and his twin sister, poisonous snake Sharpay (Helen George, highly convincing) assume that they are bound to land the lead roles in the school production of Romeo and Juliet. But very quietly, modest Troy and Gabriella (Ashley Day and Lorna Want, both excellent) emerge from the wings. Hunky Troy is a jock (aka lynchpin of the school basketball team), while Gabriella is a brainiac, who likes nothing better than to bury herself in a book.
Sharpay fancies Troy for herself, and proceeds to scream and shout like the spoilt brat she is. She doesn't hesitate to dish the dirt either. "Troy has a flatulence problem, and is a compulsive nose-picker," she viperously informs Gabriella. Meanwhile, a subsidiary row starts up in the staff room: Troy's father (Mark Dickinson) is the school basketball coach, and plainly thinks all that thespian stuff is beneath contempt.
However, he hasn't reckoned with redoubtable drama teacher Ms Darbus (Claire Machin). There are absolutely no prizes for guessing who lands the Romeo and Juliet roles in the end: it's a splendidly romantic moment, sealed with a chaste kiss that brought howls of approval from the New Theatre audience.
But the real purpose of the torrent of pink and red costumed young ladies who streamed down George Street before the show was to act as cheerleaders. Some came complete with their own pom-poms, but waving arms served just as well. The High School Musical score may go in one ear and straight out the other in places, but it sure does provide some thumping good numbers for cheerleading - especially We're All in This Together.
It has to be admitted that the 'official' cheerleaders on stage do look a bit thin on the ground compared with last year's 200-strong cast. But what the professional company lacks in numbers, it makes up with sheer pzazz and energy. It would be a dull dog indeed - of whatever age - who didn't find something to enjoy in this sparkling production.
High School Musical continues at the New Theatre, Oxford, tonight and tomorrow. Tickets: 0844 847 1585 (fee applies), or online: www.NewTheatreOxford.org.uk
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Dylan Moran: New Theatre, Oxford
‘I was the first person to discover that if you infected a person with Marmite, he would stand up and bark at the moon.” “Everybody under the age of 35 has the intelligence of raspberry jam.” “Children can hear vegetables hiding.”
Sleeping Beauty, Chipping Norton Theatre
There’s nothing King Couer-de-Loup likes more than a good battle: “We’ll march on King Florizel’s wet and wicked army,” he proclaims. His Queen is not so sure, however. She would rather her husband stayed around: there’s the christening of their daughter Princess Aurora to arrange for a start. And he certainly can’t go out and fight looking like that: “Your chain mail’s got a ladder in it,” she wails.
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