Disney’s High School Musical on tour delights
Yesterday I had the distinct privilege of accompanying my six year-old daughter to see the national tour of Disney’s High School Musical.
It’s bad enough I’ve had to sit through two franchise movies and the occasional re-airing of the show on Disney Channel. But now, in true Disney fashion, I have yet another opportunity of soaking in more over-the-top high school mania.
Oh the things we parents do for our kids.
Although my anticipation in no way matched my daughter’s for the evening extravaganza at Planet Hollywood’s Theatre for the Performing Arts, I must say I was impressed with the quality and ingenuity of the stage production.
Of course, you wouldn’t expect anything less than perfect from Disney. I mean, they must have a sizable percentage of every family’s annual income.
The staging of the movie for the theater was clever. The costumes and set were top-notch. The performers were even pretty much on-point if you can get past the exaggerated acting that Disney just soaks up.
Some of the scenes were a tad long, and the girl who played Sharpay wasn’t as vocally impressive as were her cohorts, but by the end of the show the children in the audience were clapping above their heads as the cast ran through three or four closing numbers.
There were screams of delight and giggles of joy (not mine, mind you).
The most bothersome thing was the over 20 minute intermission which pushed the finale back to almost 10 p.m., which in my book is too late for a six year-old.
Also, the production was really swallowed up in Planet Hollywood’s Theatre for the Performing Arts. I felt like we were Whos in Whoville, occupying only a tiny spec in the auditorium.
Still, for any family looking for quality entertainment, I’d say it’s hard to beat a night out at High School Musical on tour.
