Disney’s High School Musical on Tour fails to pass on so many levels that attendees at Dallas Fair Park’s Music Hall were on their feet and out the door before the final number closed. The story of High School Musical is trite to be sure, but what worked for Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens on the stage cracked more than a few sour notes in the live production.
What Worked
The saturation of High School Musical products makes it a well-known commodity among 8 to 12 year old girls and boys. The resemblance of high school life on stage to high school real life is along the lines of Disney’s lack of realism in Pocahontas. Still, it’s the actors and performers that failed the production because the production is full of potential value.
Actress Arielle Jacobs plays Gabriella Montez (the role created by Vanessa Hudgens) and while she’s weak in the first act, she truly comes into her own in the second. Her voice is excellent and the songs that feature her solos just resound through the theater.
What Didn’t
Too bad that her counterpart John Jeffrey Martin as Troy Bolton only served up a wooden, uneven performance that literally questioned why Bolton wanted to perform in the first place.
What worked for Zac Efron was the passion for the game (he played basketball) and his obvious, yet surprised enjoyment of singing. Singing together encourages Gabriella and Troy to break out of their high school molds and cliques, to think bigger than just the roles they’ve assigned to themselves.
The feeling in Martin’s Bolton just wasn’t there. His voice pitched far too high in a whine that was disturbing as he argued with his friends and his father. There was no chemistry between the actors, yet when he and Jacobs proffered up their duets, there was gold amongst the dross.
Unfortunately, the uneven performance sprinkled throughout the company with some solid marks to go to Shaullanda Lacombe, Bobby List and Olivia Oguma in their roles as Taylor, Ryan and Kelsi respectively. Ellen Harvey deserves a standout nod for playing drama instructor Ms. Darbus as something more than a caricature.
You know it’s bad when the 7 year old, the target demographic, wanted to go home at intermission because she didn’t like the characterizations or the changes to the storyline. She adores the movies, but didn’t care for this stage performance at all.
High School Musical on Tour needs to get their head back in the game.
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