High School Musical review – Disney fave is sweet, slick and as squeaky clean as ever — SkimNews
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- High School Musical was mounted as a new stage production, first seen at Salford’s Lowry and directed by Hope Mill theatre founders Joseph Houston and William Whelton.
- Andrew Exeter created a thrust-stage, basketball-themed set that places the audience courtside, while Rory Beaton’s lighting, Matt Peploe’s sound design and George Reeve’s videography animate the Wildcats game and cheerleading spectacle across surrounding screens.
- Aaron Renfree choreographed montages moving among the school science competition, basketball game and musical callbacks as Troy and Gabriella race against the clock to reach their auditions.
- Luke Bayer co-leads “Bop to the Top” as Ryan Evans with Caitlin Tipping as Sharpay, in a sibling number the reviewer finds as entertainingly grating as its screen counterpart.
- KayCee Stroh, who played the hip-hop-loving Martha Cox in the films, plays the over-the-top drama teacher Ms Darbus, while McFly’s Harry Judd plays the austere Coach Bolton.
- Tobias Turley, playing Troy opposite Leonor Correia as Gabriella, brings sweetness to the central pairing, though their chemistry has yet to fully bloom; “When There Was Me and You” becomes a duet that avoids the high notes, while “Breaking Free” soars on a stiff-looking swing.
- David Simpatico’s book indulges stock traits in characters the reviewer calls spectacularly two-dimensional and siloed into the camps of jock, brainiac or drama kid.
Why it matters: For adoring viewers of the 20-year-old Disney Channel favourite, familiar songs, returning film actors and kinetic gym staging outweigh the leads’ unfinished chemistry. The reviewer expects fans to leave satisfied, with the romance still less convincing than the production’s polished surface.
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