'High School Musical': It's so, like, awesome

Experience a live version of High School Musical, thanks to a youth theater company in New Port Richey.
Adolescent drama in the form of song comes to the stage in New Port Richey by a fairly new youth theater company.

By BARBARA L. FREDRICKSEN, Arts and Entertainment
Published October 12, 2007

Adam Brawer, 12, and Savanna Marrow, 13, will play Troy and Gabriella on alternating nights in the Showcase Community Theatre production.
	[David Degner | Times]

The Disney Channel's made-for-TV movie

High School Musical hit the home screens in January 2006 and since then has become nothing less than a phenomenon.

It earned top ratings on television, its sound track became the first ever to make No. 1 on Billboard Magazine's pop chart, it spawned a quick sequel, High School Musical 2, and rumors of a theatrical release, Haunted High School Musical, and, in the ultimate signal of pop culture recognition, inspired a recent Saturday Night Live spoof, High School Musical 3.

Now the relatively new Showcase Community Theatre, a youth theater company based in New Port Richey, is presenting the live version of High School Musical at the Renaissance Academy auditorium Thursday and through Oct. 27.

It's a kid-friendly tale of high school romances, ambitions, jealousies, friendships and loyalties.

After a larger-than-expected number of kids turned out for auditions, directors Brad Brady and Laurie Philpot decided to double-cast the show and will let the two casts alternate.

In it, popular basketball star Troy Bolton (Cody Carlson, Adam Brawer) meets serious scholar Gabriella Montez (Julia Jones, Savanna Marrow) during a New Year's Eve party at a ski resort during winter break. They're thrown together in a karaoke contest and discover they like singing together.

When Troy returns to school, he learns that Gabriella's mom has been transferred to his hometown of Albuquerque, N.M., and Gabriella has enrolled in his school, East High.

Soon, a notice is posted about auditions for the upcoming high school musical, and Troy and Gabriella decide to try out together.

They're discouraged by Troy's buddy Chad (Alex Gasearina, Justin Buyea), who thinks Troy should concentrate on basketball, and by Gabriella's new best friend, Taylor (Kassie Keir, Savanna Marrow), who wants Gabriella on the Scholastic Decathlon team.

Even more discouragement comes from the school's usual musical stars, Ryan (Anthony Markum, Jeffrey Oles) and his sister Sharpay (Kristen Carlson, Jade Reid), who want the leads for themselves.

Soon, students are taking sides and it looks as though the school will come apart.

But, as might be expected in a show aimed for kids between 9 and 14, things do work out, and everyone sings We're All in This Together - but only after a lot of singing and dancing to such tunes as Breaking Free, What I've Been Looking For and the rousing Bop to the Top.

The theater has about 100 seats, and several of the shows have already sold out.

If you go

'High School Musical'

Where: Auditorium of Renaissance Academy, 8431 Corporate Way (off Little Road, just south of the Massachusetts Avenue intersection), New Port Richey.

When: 7 p.m. Thursday and Oct. 19-20 and 25-26; 2 p.m. Oct. 21; and 2 and 7 p.m. Oct. 27.

Tickets: $15 for patrons 8 and older; $7 for children 7 and younger. Call Brad Brady at (727) 647-4249 or Laurie Philpot at (813) 679-0051.

[Last modified October 11, 2007, 22:17:05]