Closing night...

Well this morning High School Musical is all over for my school and everything goes back to normal. However currently normal feels like I should be heading off to the theatre soon. We had a great final night, with a brilliant audience (sell out), who gave us all a standing ovation at the conclusion of the night. Which was brilliant. But now it's all gone. It's all over and it's quite sad. I thought I'd give you a summary of the stage version of 'High School Musical' because it differs greatly to the movie....and I know not everyone likes the moivie. But I feel you should give the stage show a go. It is immediately evident that after the rewritten 'Start of Something New' is sung that it is something new that you're about to see on the stage. There is more focus on characters other than Troy and Gabriella, with Chad and Taylor having much larger parts in the show and a conflicted Ryan who really wants to be a star for once. 'Juliet and Romeo' is the neo-feminist play being performed by East High in the musical and Ms Darbus feels very strongly about her auditions and timing, not to mention cell phones. The ringing of one of these in class leads to one of the most interesting detentions I've ever seen. Another new inclusion to help the story along is the character Jack Scott the school announcer (the velvet fog of East High) his often witty lines help to convey the story and the time settings of the play. The thespians audition to a mash up of 'What I've Been Looking For' and 'Bop To The Top' now called 'The Audition Song'. It's something to note that all the songs have had some form of reworking to make it into the stage version. Whether it be a new sound, new lyrics added on, more narrative etc. It's good. The music and songs I feel are much better in the show than in the movie. And then comes the first new song 'Cellular Fusion' before the stage comes alive in 'Status Quo'. Act 1 ends pretty messy- you'll have to see it to find out how! Act 2 starts with Troy and Gabriella singing the song that was excluded from the movie but made it to the soundtrack 'I can't Take My Eyes Off Of You' especially great if you are a fan of that low romantic saxaphone sound. The aftermath of the cafeteria is then explored more in the next few scenes. And Sharpay begins her evil plot... There's a clash with Troy and his Dad...and for those who loved the cornyness of 'She's very nice' you'll be happy to know it's still there! This then leads into the enxt new song 'Counting On You' as Chad and Taylor front Troy and Gabriella about the auditioons. 'When there was me and you' is next...and I'm afraid I'm biased here. The harmonies that have been added to this song are amazing, especially with great singers (we were blessed). The scene made me tingle, and it sounds amazing. It's time to note the change to Ryan's character as he begins to take the spotlight from his sister...who has managed to switch the auditon times. 'Bop To The Top' covers three events, Basketball Science Decathlon and the Auditions. 'Breaking Free' has a standout piece of music at the end. 'We're all in this Together' also has a nice moment in it too and it gets a MASSIVE round of applause as it ends the show... And for all those who just love a megamix...you can't go past this show! I personally think the stage version of this show is great. I found our production of the show had a real depth to it expecially in the characters that the movie didn't have. The new tweaks to the music are fantastic and so are the new songs. To anyone doing this show...GOOD LUCK! It's a lot of fun, I hope you have a ball, because I sure did! Sean