No Place for Grownups, But Kids Love It

No adult — and certainly no adult male — should be asked to review “High School Musical 2,� the dumfoundingly dumb musical now playing at TriArts’ Sharon Playhouse.

    Actually, the name of the show is HSM2 “On Stage,â€� which should tell you that Disney took its hugely successful TV production and had it made — not crafted, there is no craft involved — into a stage piece that could play in theaters, high schools and God knows where else to supplement the mighty earnings stream already produced by HSM1.

   And if TV production values could mask the ridiculous story line of teenage-exaggerated-emotion meets childish-I-want-it-now syndrome (the film’s pool scenes were lavish, over-the-top Busby Berkeley numbers; the stage show’s sort of kids-in-a-bathtub), the stage renders it as cheerful exuberance hiding the raging hormones we who have been there know are there.  

   Disney isn’t about “real.â€� Broadway’s “Spring Awakeningâ€� or “In the Heightsâ€� as Disney productions?  

   Impossible.  

   In Disney’s world there are no drugs or drinking, and sex is hinted at and teased about.

   But, what the hey.  If you get an enormously talented group of kids and young people on stage, teach them lots of Fosse-esque choreography, let them sing their hearts out (even if you won’t remember more than a few words of one or two songs and no melodies), you can give two hours of pleasure to little kids of both sexes and to girls — repeat, girls — up to about 15 or 16.  

   And TriArts has done that in spades.

   I would recount the story, but there isn’t much of one.  Cutest boy in school is going steady with smartest and most popular girl; richest girl wants cutest boy for herself and uses her daddy’s money to try to get him; richest girl eventually sees how selfish she’s been, and all sing and dance with innocent joy.

   The lead heartthrob, Tony, is played by Bobby Gouse, a recent college graduate (and Heath Ledger look-alike) who could/should have a real career in theater. He has presence and charm and in his big number, “Bet On It,â€� he sings and dances as if he’s in “West Side Storyâ€� (oh, would that he were).  Regina Albertario (Gabriella), like Grouse a holdover from TriArts’ HSM1 two years ago, is charming and sings sweetly.  The “evilâ€� Sharpay and her brother, Ryan, are played by real life brother and sister, Julia and Charles Franklin.  Charles Franklin in particular is very good.

   Michael Dunn, who was in last season’s “The Full Monty,â€� returns to TriArts as Chad, Troy’s best friend.  He sings and dances up a storm.  And Joey Tierno, a holdover from “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,â€� is, again, the best dancer on the stage, a marvel of crisp, incisive moves.

   Director Jaime Donegan pulls the large cast together and moves them about the stage with authority.  But it is Bethany Elkin’s choreography that is most memorable. These kids move as if they’re making a workout video. The energy level never falters.  Elkin, come to our parts again.

   Daniel Koch directs the live ensemble well. The heavy micing sometimes yields garbled lyrics, but then the lyrics weren’t much to begin with. There are a couple of really good, clever songs:  Sharpay’s “Fabulous,â€� a paean to herself, and the anthem-like “Bet On It.â€�

   So, if you’re related to any of the target little children or somewhat older girls — or if you want to pretend the world is Disneyesque — steel yourself and take them.  You’ll at the very least enjoy the look of wonder on little kid faces and the appalling screams of the older girls. (Of course, when I was young, girls screamed, too; but they wore bobby sox!).