York St Johns – Musical Production Society
Joseph Rowntree Theatre York until 16th March 2019
Reviewed by Sara Garner
3***
High School Musical is modern adaptation of Romeo & Juliet and Grease rolled into one enthusiastic musical production and that’s certainly what we got last night – buckets of enthusiasm.
It’s a story about two high school juniors from rival cliques – Troy Bolton (Mitchell Strong), captain of the basketball team, and Gabriella Montez (Lucy Griffiths), a shy student that has just moved to a new school who excels in mathematics and science. Together, they try out for the lead parts in their high school musical, and this causes division among all the school’s students. Despite other students’ attempts to spoil their dreams, Troy and Gabriella resist peer pressure and rivalry, inspiring others along the way not to “stick to the status quo”. High school diva Sharpay Evans (Jasmine Towse) and her twin brother Ryan (Liam Smith), will do anything not only to disrupt the friendship and romance between Troy and Gabriella but also to get the leads in the school musical.
It was a slow burner with technical issues throughout the performance leaving the audience straining to hear some of the dialogue and singing. It got better as time went along. There were also some stage management issues that need improving leading to the play appearing clumsy in some scenes.
This said it was a very enthusiastic performance by all the cast, the detention scene with Miss Darbus played brilliantly by Emma Sharpe was hilarious and had the audience is fits of laughter. Jack Scott’s (Sam Strickland) Wildcats News flashes and Zeke Baylor (Yee Tsai Sern) school boy crush on Sharpay kept us entertained throughout the performance. Sharpay’s sassy attitude and Ryan’s under shadowed little brother was portrayed well, as was the two leads Tory and Gabriella and they were well supported by the entire cast.
The Group singing was full of enthusiasm and got audience excited who joined in throughout the performance. A fun way to spend a couple of hours on a cold windy night supporting local theatre and York St Johns – Musical Production Society.