REVIEW: High School Musical @ Joseph Rowntree Theatre

York St John’s Musical Production Society put on a fun and upbeat performance of the popular theatre adaptation of High School Musical this weekend. 

The story goes something like this: Troy Bolton, a popular athlete on the high school basketball team, falls in love with Gabriella Montez, a beautiful geek, while away on holiday at a Karaoke party. When he gets back to school he realises that Gabriella has just started at East High. Troy and Gabriela audition for the school musical but Sharpay and Ryan (who traditionally get the lead roles in every school production) do everything in their power to quash Troy and Gabriella’s chances. Meanwhile the pair struggle with obligations to their current cliques that jeopardise their chances even further.

The audience at Joseph Rowntree Theatre seem particularly pumped on opening night. This could be a combination of excited friends and family who are ready to see what their loved one’s have been working hard on – or it’s the anticipation of seeing a favourite film brought to life on stage. High School Musical has a pretty die hard fan base so there’s pressure on the students to get it right. 

Troy Bolton (Mitchell Strong) and Gabriella Montez (Lucy Griffiths) are both strong vocalists and comfortably belt out the popular songs from the famous film. Gabriella in particular is pretty immaculate in her delivery. 

But it’s not Troy and Gabriella who steal this show. Brother-sister duo, Sharpay Evans (Jasmine Towse) and Ryan Evans (Liam Smith) have fantastic onstage chemistry and really bring sibling tension to life. Their duet is a pleasure to watch as they work together brilliantly to snag a few laughs from the audience. 

Zeke Baylor (Yee-Tsai Sern) can do the splits. Anyone who can do the splits impresses me, because I have tried and I absolutely cannot.  The audience love him, too, and he gets some decent cheers when coming out with his various baked goods.

The diverse cast really shine when they perform the big choruses together, it’s these parts that feel the most polished. You can tell that everyone on stage is loving the experience and it’s what makes it for us, the audience. 

There are a couple of technical difficulties including mics not being turned up in time and curtains getting stuck. Everyone involved is learning and the team can be forgiven for the heartwarming performance we get in return.