Middle School Musical

My seven-year-old surprized me the other day.
"I want to go see High School Musical," he said, pointing to a poster of the production at the middle school in his school district.
"You do?" I asked, confused.
This is the same child who complained his way through a play a friend of mine was in that I apparently forced him to sit through against every bone in his body.
"Yea, my friend Justin is in it," he said.
"He is?" I asked, confused, since Justin is in second grade and this is a middle school production. But, hey, he wants to go see theater, I am not objecting. I was a theater minor in college and believe in the arts - so much so that I hope to teach theater one day. So, off we went.
The show, at Troy Middle School, was sold out. Oh boy. I knew I was going to be blogging about the production, and I knew the sooner I could do that the better, so others could buy tickets to the remaining productions. So, I hung out, figuring the worst I would have to do is stand in the back of the theater.
Luckily, though, Dee Engelsbel sold me two tickets she had, so thank you so much to her.
The production, well, I highly recommend you catch this one.
Andrew Willis, who plays Jack Scott is funny. He opens the show with a warning to silence cell phones.
"Miss Darbus has a zero tolerance policy and she'll take them away and you'll get detention," he said of the teacher in the show.
The singing in the show is quite good. Amber Allison, who plays Sharpay Evans and Matthew Verive, who plays her brother Ryan Evans, not only have good voices, but they have voices that blend flawlessly together. When they sing their first duet, "What I've Been Looking For," neither one overpowers the other.
I was also quite impressed with the actress who played Ms. Tenny and a Wildcat cheerleader. You might not notice this was the same girl, as Zoe Roechner morphed into characters so well you had to be paying attention.
This show requires a lot of energy from the entire cast, and they must have been exhausted when they were done, for they kept the energy up for more than two hours. This was perhaps no more clear than when the set changed from locker room to cafeteria or theater or lab, without leaving the audience impatient.
This was a middle school production, and, as such, had it's own flaws and places it could improve. But, having said that, it also had moments of glory, moments where, as an audience member, you lost yourself in the production. And, that is the point of theater, to draw you in and make you a part of the illusion.
As I said, I suggest you go and see this production. But make sure you buy your tickets ahead of time. This show sells out.