Year 11 Vice Captain, Kirat, shares her review of the acclaimed High School Musical show, enjoyed by GCSE Drama students.
Our GCSE Drama classes had the privilege of watching the musical, High School Musical, at the Lowry Theatre.
The journey was full of anticipation and excitement. Upon arrival we got an exclusive opportunity to watch the warm-up of the cast. From dancing, jumping, singing to hugging, the warm-up was something of emotional whirlwind. The cast’s nervous yet enthusiastic energy was infectious and many of us found ourselves pointing at Jason Donovan or other well known actors.
I, personally, was astounded at the flexibility and precision of the cast’s warm-up and could sense a similar effect on my group. The vocal warm-up was so infectious that half of the students and Mr Forbes found themselves joining it equally as eagerly!
After the cast were finished warming-up, the group got to pose for a photo onstage, screaming ‘Go Wildcats!’. Later the group enjoyed eating lunch on the quayside and perhaps popping over to Costa or Nando’s for further fortification before the show began.
Once we settled in our seats the experience was immediately immersive. From the dancing janitor to the cheerleaders, they boosted the spirits of the audience, soon enough, we all were doing a dance sequence from our seats while chanting a Wildcats cheer. Another highlight pre-performance was Walt the Wildcat pacing around the stage hyping up the crowd with his dance moves. The whole performance was electrifying with high energy filled with laughter occurring no less than every five minutes. Each song was a crowd pleaser confirmed by eruption of applause from the audience.
During the interval we were all on the edge of our seats for the much awaited second half. This surpassed all of our expectations with another burst of energy and vibrancy from the actors. After the encore, there was one final messy sing along which was sung at full volume by the audience. By the end there was more thundering applause, cheers and delighted screaming from the audience as streamers flew mid-air.
On the journey back in the coach, the atmosphere was just as excitable, and the air was filled with noisy discussion. One of the favourites of our group were the siblings Ryan and Sharpay, who brought humour and passion to the stage as a formidable acting duo. Songs continued to be played and belted on the coach screen as an ode to a fantastic show.
