Ask any millennial how they feel about High School Musical, the world-conquering made-for-Disney Channel teen movie, celebrating its twentieth anniversary this year, and their reaction will likely be equal parts misty-eyed and horrified. Nonetheless, there’s clearly big business in nostalgia, as is made blatantly clear with the brand new High School Musical stage production running at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre this autumn.
From the set recreation photo opps outside the venue to the stunt casting of a former teen heartthrob (McFly’s Harry Judd) and original supporting cast member (KayCee Stroh) in the adult roles, High School Musical (the musical) is being aimed squarely at millennials who as kids went there, did that, got the t-shirt – and the mug and the stickerbook and the CD and the novelisation of the script, in my case.
Cynicism is a natural response, particularly when it comes to a musical best described as ‘Grease, but with Sandy learning to embrace her what makes her special rather than grabbing the nearest packet of cigarettes and skin-tight lycra trousers in an attempt to be accepted’. But as cheesy exercises in nostalgia bait go, the Manchester Hope Mill production of High School Musical is about as impressive as they come. It’s a mammoth undertaking, with an astonishing ensemble, slick choreography by Aaron Renfree, and impressive leads. You can’t watch and not be wowed.
For that, the first credit must go to Andrew Exeter. After all, it's his vibrant and detailed large-scale set design that wallops you on first arrival. Last woefully underutilised by the iffy Chaka Khan musical, the empty hangar of the Troubadour has been transformed into a basketball arena – jumbotron and all – placing the audience right within the story and allowing for endless opportunities for interactivity.
Yet it’s the pairing of David Simpatico’s book with the co-direction of Hope Mill founders Joseph Houston and William Whelton that prevents this from being a scene-by-scene recreation of the 2006 Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens vehicle. The origunal UK production, the show actually expands the world of the film, making nostalgic brain synapses tingle without the audience being pandered to with memorable lines being mimicked down to the inflection.
The production also gets right something that fans have always known. As the leads, basketball star Troy (I Have A Dream winner Tobias Turley) and shy girl-in-STEM Gabriella (newcomer Leonor Correia) are the anchors of the show. They need to be sweet and sincere, with PG-13 flirty chemistry and strong voices (even if Zac Efron himself wasn’t the one on the first soundtrack) for the most well-known numbers, ‘Start of Something New’ and ‘Breaking Free’. Turley and Correia bring a tenderness to the roles, allowing their intimate moments to shine bright among the cavernous stage. They ground the production, allowing the audience to turn their attention to the really interesting characters.
I’m talking, of course, about brother-sister duo Sharpay (Caitlin Tipping) and Ryan (Luke Bayer), whose rule of the drama club is threatened when Troy and Gabriella are pushed into auditioning for the school musical. They get the best costumes – a wardrobe of co-ordinated glitters and furs and pinks designed with flair by Sophia Pardon – and the most fun numbers too, their take on ‘What I’ve Been Looking For’ a camp masterpiece. Tipping has a real mastery of comedic bitchiness, and there are points when I wished her brother had been given equal depth. Not making even the slightest nod to the canonically gay Ryan’s sexuality feels like a missed opportunity at best, deliberate choice at work.
Knowing the non-singing teacher roles they would inhabit, I was fairly sceptical about Judd and Stroh being used so front and centre in the show’s marketing. But both put on impressive turns. Judd is sharp and cool as Troy’s dad Coach (no first name) Bolton, although the visual age difference between father and son is somewhat negligible. But Stroh, who has dedicated the majority of her entertainment career to various High School Musical ventures, is an absolute scene-stealer as harem pant-wearing, scarf-waving drama teacher Ms Darbus. Producers! Casting directors! Give this woman a non-HSM role, stat!
High School Musical is a film with a simple, cheesy message about being yourself and working together as a team. It’s a feeling the production embodies throughout. It’s hard to single out individuals from the ensemble because the production is such a team effort, but they really are the MVP here. The creative team clearly knows this, upscaling many of the film’s stripped back songs into all-out whole cast productions and showing that the show knows its strengths. You’re unlikely to go see High School Musical if you don’t have at least a slight emotional attachment to the 2006 film, but even the most casual viewers will find something to love in this visually enthralling production.
