High School Musical review – Disney fave is sweet, slick and as squeaky clean as ever

By Holly O'Mahony · The Guardian Culture

Troubadour Wembley Park theatre, London Harry Judd is the coach while KayCee Stroh from the original movies is back to play a teacher in the hoop-shooting, pompom-waving romance Since soaring on screen 20 years ago, this Disney Channel favourite has cemented itself as a squeaky clean, painstakingly earnest but no less beloved descendant of Grease. Like Danny and Sandy, Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez share a holiday romance and wind up at school together the following term, where the social pecking order initially keeps them apart. Driven by a shared love of singing, they defy conventions to end up together. This new stage production, first seen at Salford’s Lowry, is directed by Hope Mill theatre founders Joseph Houston and William Whelton. No, it can’t escape the limitations of the story’s spectacularly two-dimensional characters, who are siloed into the camps of jock, brainiac or drama kid, and whose stock traits are indulged in the book by David Simpatico, but it’s bright and buzzy nonetheless. Continue reading...