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'High School Musical Jr.' this weekend
To quote the Prince of Verona, "For never was a story of more woe, than this of Juliet and her Romeo." Fortunately, theatergoers have no need to worry -- there aren't any vials of poison or daggers in Disney's "High School Musical Jr.," a retelling of the classic "Romeo and Juliet." Far from the tragedy that it's based off of, the musical tells a story of two young high schoolers trying to break free of the labels and cliques assigned to them. Albeit the theme of young love and outside opposition are a constant between the two tales, "High School Musical Jr." ends with a much more appealing finale of singing and dancing and a lot less death and tragedy.
Watching this musical, I have a confession to make -- I have never seen the Disney movie version. By the end of the show, I was thrilled that I hadn't. The cast did such a superb job and you could really tell that a lot of hard work had been poured into the production. I'm glad that I have our very own CCPA's version of the story as a basis of comparison, and not the other way around.
Troy Bolton (played by Caleb Alexander) and Gabriella Montez (played by Maddie Johnson) are the star basketball player and East High newcomer and "brainiac," respectively. Some backstory shown to the audience in a flashback sequence tells of how the unlikely pair met at a ski lodge during winter break. While there, they sing karaoke together, singing the show's first duet, "Start of Something New." Alexander and Johnson play well off of each other's characters and bring star quality to each number they perform together. The introduction to the musical reminded me of another musical of the past -- "Grease," which, not too surprisingly, is loosely based off of "Romeo and Juliet" as well. The old tale of summer love (in this case "winter break love") rekindling upon the realization that both protagonists attend the same high school serves up a nice dish of nostalgia.
The premise of the musical is simple. East High's drama teacher, Ms. Darbus (played by Regina Soldium), announces that auditions are being held for the school musical, aptly titled, "Juliet and Romeo," a neo-feminist adaptation of Shakespeare's classic tragedy of star-crossed lovers ... "with a brand new happy ending!" This is where we're introduced to the show's antagonists -- Sharpay Evans (played by Carly Greer) and her twin brother, Ryan Evans (played by McCade Gordon). Sharpay is determined to land the lead role in the school's musical and win the heart of Troy, at any cost. With the help of her brother, Sharpay digs up information about Gabriella, finding out that she is highly intelligent. In a scheme to keep Gabriella away from Troy, Sharpay and Ryan forge Gabriella's signature and plant sign-up forms for a science decathlon in Taylor McKessie's (played by Riley Gordon) locker. This is only the beginning of the plotting and scheming these two have up their sleeves. Will Gabrielle and Troy try out for the musical and run the risk of upsetting their disapproving cliques? Will Sharpay and Ryan snag the lead roles through cunning and manipulative actions? You'll have to catch a performance of the show to find out!
The whole cast is bursting at the seams with musical talent, making it nearly impossible to discern who plays the strongest role. Starting with the group of "jocks" from East High -- they all play their parts to perfection and serve up laughs when Zeke Baylor (played by Landon Delgado) exclaims that his real passion is baking during the musical number, "Stick to the Status Quo." It was thrilling to see Hadley Bruce return to the stage as Coach Bolton after having seen her shine in CCPA's production of "The Little Mermaid Jr." She brings even more sass to her role as the East High Wildcats' coach. Caleb Miller had the audience laughing more than once as Jack Scott, the nerdy kid who gives the school's announcements. I thoroughly enjoyed Regina Soldium's take on Ms. Darbus -- she played the role of a bohemian theater lover wonderfully. And the singing ... the singing is truly fantastic in this musical. These kids have spent countless rehearsal hours finely tuning each scene and note, and it shows. McCade Gordon has such a wonderful voice and I was happy to see it shine through on songs such as "What I've Been Looking For." Maddie Johnson and Caleb Alexander give stellar acting and singing performances throughout the duration of the musical and you can't help but smile whenever they're onstage together. I honestly could go on and on about each and every one of these kids and how great their performances were.
The full cast includes: Caleb Alexander, Cody Miller, Landon Delgado, Caleb Miller, Carly Greer, McCade Gordon, Alyssa Meisenheimer, Trevor Wasson, Hannah Bond, Rylinn Crews, Tara Schultz, Maddie Johnson, Riley Gordon, Sarah Jones, Grace McKenzie, Hadley Bruce, and Regina Soldium.
The set design for "High School Musical Jr." was simple and I believed that worked to its advantage. A background of a brick wall inside East High School with lockers sets the stage perfectly for each scene that takes place. The scenes transitioned really well with the cast doubling as a stage crew and moving props between the scene changes. The costumes were fitting -- typical attire you would find in any high school, consisting of East High T-shirts and Wildcats sports shirts. Johanna Beck served as director of the musical and she did a fantastic job. Her love for this story was evident in the final result.
The production crew includes: Johanna Beck, director; Jessica Baker, music director; Nakell Baker, Carly Greer, and Riley Gordon as choreographers; Tayler Matthews, stage manager; Tom Schmidt, set construction; and Johanna Beck and Jennifer Jones, costumes.
The ending was refreshing, especially in a society where bullying is prevalent and being different has its downfalls. "Everyone is special in their own way. We make each other strong. We're not the same, we're different in a good way. Together is where we belong," sings Maddie Johnson in the closing number. It was wonderful to see these kids come together and put on a show with such a positive message for their peers.
Disney's "High School Musical Jr." is sponsored by Nevada Regional Medical Center and performances are tonight and Saturday at 7 p.m., at the Fox Playhouse, 110 S. Main St., and at 2 p.m., on Sunday. I highly recommend seeing "High School Musical Jr." this weekend and taking any young people in your life to see it as well. It should help serve as a reminder for youth and older generations alike that even when the world seems to be against us, that "we're all in this together."