On April 23rd and 24th, Troupe 6153 proudly presented “High School Musical On Stage” for this year’s annual spring show. The months of dedication and hard work was definitely brought to life through all the characters, making it yet another success for the advanced drama class. As the audience enjoyed their time at East High, there were a few memorable moments that just could not be forgotten:
“Get’cha Head in the Game”
This iconic scene—just like in the movie—was a crowd pleaser through and through. From the upbeat music to basketballs bouncing everywhere, the audience had so much to enjoy. The scene started out with the East High basketball team running from the audience to get to the stage to do their practice drills, and Troy Bolton talking to his partner Chad Danforth while secretly overthinking whether or not he should audition for the spring show. Soon enough, he starts to sing and break out into a choreography that everyone started to follow along with. “The choreography was so challenging and so fun at the same time,” says senior Alexandria “Ally” Gopee, who played Chad Danforth.
With the team dribbling the basketballs through their legs and throwing them around Troy, the crowd loved singing along and seeing the athletic side of these characters. Since there were many long rehearsals for this number, junior Dylan Nazario, who played Troy Bolton, says “my favorite moment in the show would probably be right after “Get’cha Head in the Game.” Just the relief of doing it well relieved me.”
“Bop To The Top”
Senior Sebi Reyes-Farinas, playing Sharpay Evans, and senior Jessica Lipman, playing Ryan Evans, created this dynamic duo that brought a lot of laughter to the audience. “Bop To The Top” was just one out of the many moments this duo had where they tried to take over the show and out-do Troy and Gabriella. It was the day of the callbacks, the big game, and the scholastic decathlon when these two did their most known song. After Sharpay purposely changed the times to all these events, she was ensured that her part for the show was given to her. Going into this song, there was the drums and salsa beat with the gold ladder waiting for them on stage.
“To get into character, I replayed the movie to see how Lucas Grabeel portrayed him and took a little bit of inspiration from that but still wanted to make Ryan my own, especially because I would be playing a female version of him,” Jessica mentions.
The moment that Sharpay was seen in her blue dress, everyone knew what song was coming next. “Peyton [Goetz] really gave Jessica and I some killer choreo and while it left me breathless after, it felt so fun and cathartic in a way,” Sebi reveals. This scene was broken up into a few different parts since the big game and the scholastic decathlon were also happening during this moment. When the moment was on them, though, Sharpay and Ryan salsa together, spun each other around, and their outfits flowed in the wind as they were showing Ms. Darbus what theatre is all about.
“Stick to the Status Quo”
After auditions happened and callbacks were decided, no one at East High could believe it. Sharpay and Ryan especially did not think that Troy and Gabriella were going to audition, let alone make it. Around this time in the show, Chad and Taylor are starting to try and change Troy and Gabriella’s mind about the callbacks and how they should not do it. Zeke started this song off when they were all at lunch and he opened up about his baking. This number had all the different groups on the tables, dancing on the tables and all singing at each other. Each table had one person open up about a secret they have, some said they played the cello well, some said they secretly danced.
“Stick to the Status Quo” was a large number for the end of Act 2, meaning that there was a lot of preparations for the scene. Senior Ryan Berman expresses, “for weeks leading up to the show, we would have to stay after school from 2:30 till at least 7:30 and sometimes later.” It often was a challenge for all these actors to harmonize together and get the right queues since many of the actors had other extracurriculars in addition to rehearsal. Sharpay then closed the scene by getting hit in the face with a cake that Zeke made and tried to give her. Right after the curtains closed, this song instantly became the highlight of the first act, leaving the audience suspenseful for the next one.
“We’re All In This Together”
High School Musical over the years has been most known for this one song, so it would not have been considered a successful spring show if it was not done. Once Sharpay explained herself, all the characters and the ensemble then gathered for yet another dance routine to almost close out the show. From everyone being in sync to singing along, it was definitely the most energetic moment in the show. As all the seniors knew they were nearing the end of their last production, they all began to get very emotional. President of the Drama Club, Ally even states “I’m proud of what we pulled off, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”With famous moves from the original choreography, the dance became even more nostalgic for many members of the cast. Senior Sienna Garro, who played Gabriella on night two of the show, additionally says, “the nights of the shows I was feeling so proud of myself and all my costars for all the hard work we had contributed towards the shows.”
“Breaking Free”
The slow melodies of this song came on right after all the East High fans made their way to the auditorium. Gabriella quickly became nervous as she was not ready to show her voice to a whole bunch of people. Troy encouraged her to sing and to pretend that it was just him in the room. Eventually, “the entire crowd started clapping and singing along with us,” Sienna explains. She further goes to say, “it was truly a core memory created for me.”
Smiles were even brought to everyone’s faces as they knew that both Troy and Gabriella had unmatched voices. Everyone was in their red spirit and Troy and Gabriella had their microphones in hand dancing the night away. “My favorite is at the end when Troy and Gabriella are singing ‘Breaking Free’ and my character [Ms. Darbus] comes in and breaks the clipboard in excitement.” Kiley Irizarry explains. Additionally, Zeke reveals an undershirt for Sharpay that says “I love Sharpay” that the audience could not stop laughing at.
Applause echoed in the ROG as each character came out to give their final bow for the night. Lasting hugs, pictures, and flowers were soon captured, leaving each member of Troupe 6153 a good time at East High and always remembering “Once a wildcat, always a wildcat.”
