High School Musical: The Concert
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High School Musical: The Concert
For those of you who have not already seen it, High School Musical is a light frolic through the story of two high school students trying to decide whether or not to develop their hidden talent of singing against the scrutiny of their cliques. It is the highest-rated Disney Channel original movie to date. Every once in a while, a musical comes along that gives you permission to laugh at life, sing through all your troubles and have a happy ending. It boils down to a fun, rockin good time. To those of another generation, it would hark-en back to the Frankie and Annette beach movies of the 60s. Good, clean musical entertainment.
As you can probably already tell, I am huge fan of the movie and soundtrack so I was tickled to get a chance to see it all in person at High School Musical: The Concert. I was looking forward to the whole experience, not just the concert. I wanted to be there with other fans and celebrate our love for High School Musical together.
After getting the snacks and drinks and watching Disney Channel music videos, we were introduced to Jordan Pruitt who brought a lot of energy with her to the stage for the pre-show. She started with the song Jump to the Rhythm. I think that the highlight of her set was We Are Family, a song that all ages in the crowd were familiar with sort of building a bridge between the generations. You see, what was great about this concert was the amount of family participation. It wasn't just a lot of kids. I was a lot of parents and kids. Nice to see.
I did, however, feel sympathetic for the boy sitting next to me several times during the concert. I think he was around 14 and had to plug his ears once in a while to drown out the noise. Someone with sensitive hearing may want to wear earplugs to ward off the high-pitched squeals. Especially during the mandatory break up the audience into red and gold and cause a war of screams segment.
This well-paced show presented many of the songs from High School Musical sprinkled with solo showcases from three artists: Ashley Tisdale who played Sharpay in the movie, Corbin Bleu who played Chad and Vanessa Hudgens who played Gabriella.
A welcome addition was singer/songwriter Drew Seeley, co-writer of Getcha Head in the Game. HSM fans might be disappointed to find out that, for the entire tour, he is there to fill-in for the beloved Zac Effron, who played Troy in the movie. Emcee Lucas Grabeel basically stayed in Ryan character as he kept the excitement high and the show flowing smoothly with frequent costume changes, zany humor and interviews with each star after their signature performances. Gotta love those jazz squares! Everybody loves jazz squares!
The stars took advantage of every opportunity to interact with the audience. Their answers presented a very girl next door/boy next door feel, with continuous thanks to the fans. Often at the end of a song that star would thank members of the band or their dancers as well.
Speaking of dancing, the choreography for the show was great! Monique Coleman, Taylor in the movie, preformed a dance number while Drew sang as a nod to her guest appearance on Dancing with the Stars. There were some phenomenal dance routines featuring Corbin Bleu leaping all around the stage with jump ropes and basketballs. While I felt that Ashleys and Vanessas showcases were pushing the edge of appropriateness to the young fan base, Corbin shined in his up-tempo numbers such as Push it and Marching. Push It is featured in the new Disney Channel original movie Jump In. It is already in the top 3 on Itunes songs list.
By this point, the audience was ready for their chance to join in the fun and dance to Were All In This Together. You've got to admire these young people who get up and put their best foot forward to give us all such a great time. The room filled with confetti and there were smiles all around and a dusting of sparkling fireworks too. I couldn't think of a better finale to an upbeat, optimistic foray into the young pop/rock musical world. What a concert! Any fan of High School Musical could not come out of that arena disappointed. Of course, this could be little biased coming from the girl who has Breakin Free as the ring tone for her cellphone.
From December 27-January 29th, it's the start of something new in a city near you with Disney's High School Musical on Tour.
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-- Posted January 16, 2007
-- Written by Rachel Kaplan