‘High School Musical 2’ gets an A as family entertainment
Arlene Bachanov, The Daily Telegram
Put “Grease,”?the “beach party”?films of the 1960s and all those Judy Garland-Mickey Rooney “hey kids, let’s put on a show!” 1940s movie musicals together, and you pretty much get the entire recipe f…
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The Daily Telegram
Put “Grease,”?the “beach party”?films of the 1960s and all those Judy Garland-Mickey Rooney “hey kids, let’s put on a show!” 1940s movie musicals together, and you pretty much get the entire recipe for Disney’s “High School Musical”?franchise.

For the second show of its summer season, the Croswell Opera House opted for the stage version of “High School Musical 2:?On Stage,” in which Troy, Gabriella and the rest of the gang from East High go off to spend the summer at the Lava Hills Country Club. And of course, this being a story about high schoolers, drama ensues.

To be sure, nothing about this play is ever going to win a Tony Award. The razor-thin plotline exists only as a vehicle for a dozen or so innocuous tunes and the dialogue is hardly the stuff of great literature. But as fluffy as the whole thing is — its innocence and wholesomeness (and veiled life lessons) are exactly what you’d expect of a Disney creation — it’s undeniably high-octane and filled with big production numbers that look really great onstage.

The cast, headlined by Ben Andre as Troy, Jordon Wylie as Gabriella, Marlena Hilderley as Sharpay and Steven Kiss as Ryan, puts on a spirited performance and overall does a fine job. These four young actors do some very solid work; Andre and Wylie make a picture-perfect couple, Hilderley steals every scene as the thoroughly self-centered Sharpay, and Kiss is lots of fun to watch as his character tries his best to rein in his obnoxious sister.

Standouts among the rest of the cast include, most especially, John?MacNaughton, who’s just terrific as Mr. Fulton; Austin Olano as Chad; Rebecca Craig as Kelsi; and Austin Leader as Jack?Scott.

Some of the young actors come to this show with a fair amount of stage experience already, but others have little or none, and it’s actually kind of fun to think that for some of these kids, this could be the start of something. And it’s certainly not every day that a show comes along that has so many roles, some of which are pretty substantial, for teenagers to give them this kind of experience.

One thing some of the cast does have to learn is that when they’re offstage, their microphones aren’t necessarily off. During Friday’s opening-night performance, the Act II scene that takes place on the baseball diamond was marred considerably by a lot of offstage chatter. On the other hand, there were also times when someone’s microphone was supposed to be on but wasn’t. Coupled with some uneven sound balance and, for a fair amount of the show, a distracting hiss coming from the speakers, the audio was the one part of the opening-night production that needed the most work.

Something that did come together especially well was the choreography, which came courtesy of the very skilled Ann Cooley-Presley. Her work was quite interesting and the cast has clearly worked very hard at getting it right. Between the dance moves themselves and the enthusiasm of lead actors and ensemble alike, the production numbers are quite well done.

Director Bill Quinlan and assistant Elizabeth Palmer have done some nice work with these young actors and in keeping both the show itself and the energy level moving right along. A lot of the show’s energy also comes courtesy of the Kerwin Leader-led pit orchestra, which certainly gets put through its paces.

All the youngsters out there who’ve made the “High School Musical”?movies such a hit for Disney will undoubtedly like this show, and there’s a fair amount there to make adults laugh too. Yes, it’s total fluff, and the stage equivalent of summer beach reading, but as family-friendly entertainment it certainly fits the bill.

The show continues at 3 p.m. today, 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, and 3 p.m. July 19. Main-floor and lower-balcony tickets are $28 for adults, $24 for senior citizens and students, and $16 for children 12 and under; upper-balcony seats are $20 for adults and senior citizens, $16 for students and $10 for children 12 and under. For reservations or more information, call the Croswell at 264-7469 or go online at www.croswell.org.