"High School Musical"

[bgrugin]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, Petra <ms_petra_pan at ...> 
wrote:
>
> I belong to a community theatre troupe in San Francisco (where I 
live) 
> and I think the group is trying to get the rights to produce a show 
> known as "High School Musical."
>  
> We've done many musicals in the past couple years that I've been 
involved
> and have almost always done musicals that I at the very least have 
heard
> of: "The Secret Garden," "Bat Boy," "Seussical," etc.  So I've 
always 
> known just what I was getting into.
>  
> I've *never* heard of "High School Musical" (abashed to find myself 
out 
> of touch?! getting old?!) and was wondering if people here who are 
in 
> high school or have children who are have ever heard of it.  As I 
> understand it, there is even a "High School Musical" board game?!  
Ice 
> skating show?!
>  
> I ask because I'm trying to decide what my feelings are about 
getting 
> involved...and if I should sit this one out.  If I get involved, I 
would 
> have to live with the songs running 24/7 in my head for weeks on 
end!  
> Whether I like them or not.
>  
> Anyone here know if that would be a fate worse than death?
>  
> I suspect I need to get my hands on a copy of the DVD but none of 
the 
> library's copies were in at this time.
>  
> Petra
> a
> n  :)


Well, Petra, you came to the right place!  I just finished conducting 
the pit band for "High School Musical" in Marquette, Michigan.  
Essentially, it's a modern day version of "Grease," BUT much 
cleaner.  There's no smoking, swearing, pregnancies, etc. - just one 
little kiss at the end of the show.  The Disney Channel made the 
movie, and it became such a hit, that it's now been made into a 
musical, with two versions, one full-length show (which is what we 
did) and a shorter version for middle-school age kids.  All the 
characters in the show, except for about 4 adults, are teenagers.  
The story consists of a girl, Gabriella Montez, who's a "brainiac" 
(i.e., very smart) and a boy, Troy Bolton, who's a jock (basketball 
star) who meet over winter break.  They get roped into singing a 
karoake duet, even though neither says they can sing.  And of course, 
they're both great at it (can even sing in harmony to a song they've 
never heard before - wow!).  Anyway, lo and behold, the girl moves to 
the boy's hometown in January, and they meet at the high school.  The 
school is in the midst of auditions for the high school musical, and 
although they both want to try out, they're both too afraid of what 
their "cliques" will think of them.  The big adult parts are the 
drama teacher, Ms. Darbus, and the basketball coach (who just happens 
to be the Troy's father), Coach Bolton.

It's a very cute show, and the kids in your town will LOVE it.  We 
originally had booked only 3 shows, but after those three sold out, 
we added another one.  The music is cute, but very fluffy (think 
Disney Channel stuff, like Hannah Montana and That's So Raven), but 
we had a blast doing the show.  But I must admit, I'm so sick of it, 
that I haven't even watched the DVD we made of the show.  :)

You could probably find the soundtrack online and listen to snippets 
of some of the songs, if that would help you make up your mind. Also, 
I believe you can find out more about it one the MTI website. There's 
some good group numbers, such as "Stick to the Status Quo" and "We're 
All in this Together."

Good luck, and let us know what you decide!

Musically yours,
MusicalBetsy