Kids in London - High School Musical at Richmond

Anyone with a daughter under the age of about 12 will know the High School Musical well - by heart in fact. A kind of modern day Grease with some wholesome messages that "it's OK to be different" it has a wide appeal amongst kids and some catchy tunes that you can't help picking up. Most adults find the sugary story and American sweet heart characters a little hard to stomach.

It is the story of Troy - hero head of the basketball team and son of the coach - who meets Gabriella - the very clever maths and science student - on holiday and find love over a shared karaoke mike. They then find each other at the same High School and wanting to take part in the musical despite the fact that all their mates want them to stay in their basketball/science personas.

So it was with some trepidation that I took my daughter along to see an amateur production at my local theatre put on by the Songtime Theatre Arts school for members between 6 and 21 years.

And I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised at the professionalism of the whole production. The set was good - with pretty rope lights highlighting key areas and authentic East High School red and white theming. The cast was an interesting mix - some of whom had really strong singing voices and others who were energetic dancers.

In terms of the acting, the larger than life (in all - senses of the word) Sharpey - and her camp brother Ryan stole the show with a very authentic and comical send up of the film characters.

The two lead characters - Gabriella and Troy - were good singers. Although one of the other Wildcats looked much more like the actor Zack who played Troy in the film.

There were a few occasions when it was hard to hear what was being said, but that was OK because just about everyone in the audience knew the story line and all the words by heart. There was a fabulous finale at the end with lots of clapping and singing along. I fail to see how a professional production could have done any better.

Only disapointment was that there were no tee shirts on sale. Mind you, most of the youngsters had gone to the theatre in full "High School Musical" outfits anyway.

So when the Song Time production hits your local theatre you are guaranteed a great afternoon with any young daughters and grand daughters. But be prepared to find yourself humming "Soaring, flying, there's not a a star in heaven that we can't reach..." for days afterwards.