THUNDER BAY — The story of the whirlwind romance between Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez is as old as high school itself.
Boy meets new girl, other girl gets jealous and tries to thwart the blossoming romance while protecting her lead role in the school musical production, boy and girl overcome the distractions and attempts to pull them apart to star in the show and fall in love.
Add in a few catchy songs and months of work, and you’ve got High School Musical Junior, being staged by the Grade 11 and 12 drama classes at St. Ignatius High School on Tuesday and Wednesday night in the St. Ignatius auditorium.
“It is based on the popular Disney film, High School Musical. It’s about an hour-long show and the musical is a story of the ups and downs that teenagers go through in high school. They really highlight that they’re making a point that you don’t have to stick to the status quo,” Commisso said on Friday, before the curtains raised for a special matinee performance for St. Ignatius and Bishop Gallagher School students.
“So, whether you’re a brainiac, or a rebel, or a thespian, or a jock, whatever it might be, it doesn’t mean you need to stick to your one thing. You can step outside of that. If you’re a basketball player, who’s to say you can’t be in musical theatre as well.”
The story debuted on television in 2006, starring Zac Efron as Tory, Vanessa Hudgens as Gabriella and Ashley Tisdale as Sharpay Evans, the theatre-loving, would-be foil in Gabriella and Troy’s romance. Two more films and a spinoff would follow.
St. Ignatius’s show is the scaled-back junior stage version, about an hour in length, but with the same important message aimed at its audience, young and old alike.
Starring Justin Townson as Troy, Jordan Humeniuk as Gabrielle and Katie Comeau as Sharpay, Commisso said it’s the reason why she and her students thought it was a great show to put on.
“It’s high school students playing high school students, so they can really relate to the characters in the show. They’ve had a great time to doing it.”
It’s also been a fantastic learning lesson for the teens, who started working on High School Musical Junior in late September.
“It is a lot of work. For the actors learning their lines, learning their characters and really practicing their vocals, working on harmonies to sing together as a group and there’s so much that goes on behind the scenes are well,” Commisso said.
“This is a class show, so the students in my class and I have done a lot of the work ourselves, so set design, costumes and we’ve got to think about the programs and we’ve got to think about lights, sound. It’s quite the journey, but it’s a great experience for them and myself.”
The shows, which help support the mental health initiatives of UTurn TBay, will be presented on Tuesday and Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 plus fees and are available on Eventbrite.ca.
