The stage adaptation of High School Musical, now running at The Troubadour Wembley Park until January 3, delivers high-energy dance numbers and a vivid recreation of high school life, but falls short on emotional depth, earning 3 out of 5 stars from critic Bridget Galton.
Directed by Hope Mill Theatre founders Joseph Houston and William Whelton, the production brings the beloved Disney Channel story to life, exactly 20 years after the original movie made a star out of a teenage Zac Efron and spawned a series of films set in the fictional East High School.
A faithful but sanitised take on teen life
Plot-wise, the Disney Channel creation shamelessly cherry-picks from high school movie tropes—from Grease to Mean Girls, Clueless to Bring It On. The story follows a super smart new girl arriving at a high school riddled with cliques and rivalries, striking up a romance with the alpha jock. It is a chaste and sanitised version of teen life.
The tale centres on individualism versus the rigid social groups of brainiacs, jocks and thesps who constrain the budding love story between basketball star Troy Bolton (Tobias Turley) and academic genius Gabriella Montez (Leonor Correia). They met singing karaoke together on winter break, and when Gabriella transfers to Troy's high school, they buck peer and parental expectations to audition for the school musical.
Immersive staging at the Troubadour
The joy of this full-throttled stage version pitches audiences vividly into high school life with a takeover of the Troubadour Wembley Park. Andrew Exeter's lovingly recreated gym places audience members in the bleachers, with a pre-show featuring popcorn ads, tannoy announcements and pom-pom shaking cheerleaders teaching the Wildcat team hand jive.
Desks and pianos are wheeled on and off, and lockers pop out to create a staircase as Turley's earnest Troy defies his basketball coach dad (McFly's Harry Judd) to drop practice and rehearse with Correia's sweet Gabriella. The comic villains of the piece are Caitlin Tipping's ruthless drama star Sharpay and her slightly creepy brother and dance partner Ryan (Luke Bayer), who deliver some terrific dance routines as they try to bag the leads in Juliet and Romeo.
High-energy choreography and standout numbers
Choreographer Aaron Renfree has a blast with high-energy routines for the cheerleaders and hoop shooting and ball twirling for the basketball jocks in Get'cha Head in the Game. The Act II closing number in the canteen, Stick to the Status Quo, is a spirited jump-on-the-tables manifesto about the burden of social expectations—neatly counterpointed by Troy and Gabriella's later number Breaking Free.
If you are not already smitten with the movie franchise, there is plenty of fast-paced action, but the plot and characterisation seem strictly 2D. Despite committed performances from a cast that includes KayCee Stroh from the original films as a bohemian drama teacher, the relentless energy cannot mask the scarcity of emotion and chemistry between the under-written leads—with the vocally spot-on Correia in particular suffering.
By the end, you will be rooting for team East High and all the unlikely couples hooking up, as the cast swings into a crowd-pleasing hand-clapping megamix of hits led by the earworm We're All In This Together. High School Musical runs at The Troubadour Wembley Park until January 3.
