Saturday, July 28, 2007

Theater Review: High School Musical

By Mark-Brian Sonna of MBS Productions

Theatre is a very curious art form. It can entertain, educate, and provoke. Theatre is also a business. Disney hit the jackpot when it created High School Musical. The film on DVD became one of the top selling DVDs, and developed an enormous popular following for a good reason. The tunes are catchy, the production values snazzy, the cast is very wholesome, attractive and talented, the choreography snappy, etc. It's as if the stars aligned to create a joyous musical that holds up to repeat viewing. Even though I have no kids to use as an excuse to watch this musical, I am a big fan of this show about a boy and a girl meeting, falling for each other, while they compete with two other kids for a role in a musical. I also recognize the business potential behind this musical and Teatro delle Muse's production demonstrates that they are business savvy. They double cast this show, and over 40 kids perform nightly. If every child's parents, grandparents, siblings, and friends come see the show, the show will run nearly full houses. In essence, they created a show that is critic proof and that should generate lots of income for them.

Disney has done a service -- or perhaps a disservice -- to anyone who wishes to do this show as a live performance. The cinematography and staging of the film is done in such a style that entire segments can be copied onto the stage, especially in the choreography. They also must have provided the karaoke soundtrack that all the cast can sing along to since there are no credits to musicians. This musical is packaged to facilitate the mounting of the show. The danger in recreating or copying segments of the film musical and placing it on the stage is that inevitably comparisons between the two will be made. Disney has deep pockets and can pull from a very wide range of talent to find an entire cast of triple threats. In a local show, it's hard to find an entire cast that can sing, dance and act. Teatro delle Muse found a few performers that were able to pull it off: Michelle McElree effortlessly pulls off Sharpay's nasty narcissism, Shaun Senter as her brother has a strong flair for comedy and was amusingly entertaining, Curt Mega as Zeke had a great comic timing and a very strong stage presence, and Randell Robertson was enjoyable to watch as she pulled off two different characters convincingly.

I realize these are kids, and I do not care to give negative criticism to kids, for I do not want to discourage them from their efforts. And while they were all very spirited there were two problems that stood out as it relates to the cast. The first was volume -- many of them sang and spoke too softly. On the night I came, the most egregious was the lead male character Troy played by Cam Wenrich. I knew the story line and I can quote some of the lines, but the person I attended the show with had never seen the movie or the stage show and she got lost in the very simple story line since Mr.Wenrich's volume was frequently so low. This can kill a production faster then anything else, for it makes it impossible to judge the performance. John Biggan playing Jack Scott who is the voice of East High didn't have his lines memorized and he was actually reading from the script. He sat high above the audience in a "radio booth"; he wore dark sunglasses to hide his eyes, but the lighting was so close to his face that his eyes were visible through them making it obvious he was reading the script. It didn't help that it sounded as if he was reading from his script. I know these are kids performing and are giving it their all, and I truly dislike having to point it out, but a valuable lesson must be learned by these youngsters: In this business you must learn your lines and speak up! The public is paying money to come see you. And if you don't speak up and get off book, critics will point it out.

The lighting was erratic with frequent dark spots on the stage. The set was very utilitarian, which isn't unto itself always a bad thing, but it got in the way of scene changes that took too long. Desks were kept under a peculiar trap door that wouldn't open and close fast enough. Unfortunately, the transition music was never sufficiently long, so each transition stood out as if there was an "oops" on stage. Brittany Levraea and Jennifer Obeney are credited for the choreography. In truth, much of it is taken directly from the film, and I felt that Mr. Kenny Ortega who had done the film's choreography should be credited. Mr. Ortega is a great film choreographer, but his work hasn't always translated as well to the stage; and he freely has admitted it in interviews. I know the kids involved probably wanted to do some of Mr. Ortega's signature moves, but while it may be fun for the kids, it can look extremely messy. I do want to commend Christina Flores for her costuming, and I must point out that the replica aqua dress worn by Michelle McElree was absolutely as stunning as in the film.

My opinion or any other critique will not have an impact on the success of this show. This show is successful. While theatre is an artistic and a business venture it also has a third function that is equally important: it serves the community. Teatro delle Muse is providing a show that the community will love going to. The room was full of beaming faces of proud family members and friends. This show brought and will bring much joy to many people, and, frankly, when everything is said and done, that is what matters.

The show runs until August 12, so call 972-424-MUSE for tickets or purchase online.

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• Arts > Fine Arts > Theater > Musicals
• Kids / Family > Children's Performance