I have always believed that people should support the efforts of our children in the local community.  This means going to Little League games and to High School Theatre Productions and anything else that they can attend that will encourage our children.  Last night I found myself in my home town of Tooele, Utah.  The local High school was putting on a production of “Disney’s High School Musical’.  My motivation for coming to see that specific production was a young woman in a pink hat who was part of the chorus.  She bares a striking resemblance to me because I am her Aunt.  Like me she is an artist, a poet and an actor.

Despite the many times that the movie ‘High School Musical’ aired on The Disney Channel, I had never seen it.  This means that this was my first time to see the story as well as to view the students who preformed it.  It was truly an old home week experience for me as I have preformed on the stage they used many times as a child and half the names in the program are likely related to people I grew up with.

The singing was quite good, the choreography quite dazzling.  The acting was believable, These students truly understand the waking dream that is the theatre.  They reminded me so much of my own High School experiences.  Their teacher and director Mr. J. Scott Henrie is no doubt an inspiration to them.

The story’s message of nonconformity and abundance of pratfalls and penny stinker jokes was worth the time it took to sit through it.  I was also delighted by the costumes that the characters wore.  From the colorful dresses of the drama teacher to the Star Wars tie I saw on one of the nerdy students and the lovely dresses worn by Shapay, Gabriella, and Taylor.

This show was double cast so I only saw the cast which preformed on Saturday Night March 1st.  Young Emily rice who played Gabriella was very sweet and sang with true emotion.  Colton Fowler who played Troy’s only problem was that his voice cracked a little when he was showing deep emotion, which works for the character.  Breanna Lyman who played Sharpay managed to pull of that word the rhymes with Witch very well at the same time portraying the true insecurities of a girl named after an ugly bread of dog.  She was also very graceful when it came time to take a pie in the face.  An actor that can do all that may have a future in entertainment.  Issac Seal who played Shapay’s henpecked younger twin brother Ryan was delightful in his constant fight to be himself instead of his sister’s stooge and when he finally shows his true colors at the end you just want to at least pat him on the back.  His portrayal of the character was just so good.  I would also like to point out Sydney Knight who played Kelsie (The composer of ‘Juliet and Romeo in Tinsel Town’). Sydney’s enthusiasm was a delight.  If I were to go on and praise each student that I liked in this cast I would end up with a review far to long to read.

The adult members of the play cast were drawn from THS’s faculty.  These teachers did very well in helping their students to create the illusion of ‘Albuquerque, New Mexico’s East High’  I commend them for their humor, their grace and their own talents.

From The Poet’s Mouth

Lyda Mae Dameron

You can reach The Poet and her friends by e-mailing (ravendove922@yahoo.com)