We've had the movies and the reality show. Now 'High School Musical' hits the stage.
On 28 November 2008, the show with its 32-member South African cast and 11-piece band opens at Artscape, Cape Town thereafter moving to The Teatro at Montecasino, opening on 31 January 2009.
The principal roles are filled by a mix of well-known stage and television performers together with fresh young faces. Alongside Kate Normington (as Drama teacher Ms Darbus) and Robert Finlayson (as Coach Bolton) are Carmen Pretorious as Gabriella Montez and David Schlachter as Troy Bolton.
For the first time in South Africa, the public selected, via TV reality show 'High School Musical: Spotlight South Africa', the male and female leads in a stage production. With much fanfare during a live television broadcast, members of the public voted Pretorius and Schlachter into their roles.
Other finalists in the reality series have also made it to the stage. Darren Vercuiel and Thembeka Mnguni get supporting roles while Daniel Wessels and Melissa Allison are the understudies for Troy.
Presented by Disney Theatrical Productions, the stage adaptation by David Simpatico is not a scene-for-scene replica of the film but so close to the original Disney Channel 'High School Musical' movie, that any changes mostly go unnoticed. The stage production includes all the songs from the original soundtrack and two new songs, 'Counting on You' and 'Cellular Fusion'. In several instances, the entire ensemble now performs songs that were formally sung exclusively by the leads in the movie version.
Following its premiere in Chicago in August 2007, 'High School Musical ? The Full Stage Production' has played in more than 40 cities across the USA. It's currently on tour in the UK and future productions are scheduled for Spain, Italy, France and Holland. December 2008 sees the official openings in Cape Town and Sydney, Australia.
Tickets for the production are available from Computicket. Previews begin on 28 November 2008 and the VIP performance is on 7 December 2008. The production ends its Cape Town season on 18 January 2009, thereafter moving to The Teatro at Montecasino, opening on 31 January 2009.
Visit www.highschoolmusical.co.za for more info.
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