Review: High School Musical
Helsinki’s High School Musical is bursting with joy, competence and energy
The hugely popular Disney Chanel TV movie High School Musical, set in the school world, has become an international teen phenomenon. The two-year-old film has had a sequel, a third is on the way, and a concert version, an ice show and a stage version that premiered in America in 2007 have been made of the film.
High School Musical comes to charm Finnish teenagers, and why not all ages, as a production of the Helsinki City Theatre and energetically directed by Marco Bjurström , who has become a specialist in musicals.
High School Musical is a carefully calculated product, it cannot be ignored, but it is much more than that.
The world of the musical is thoroughly American, but at least in Helsinki’s version, warmth and joy shine through plasticity. Genuine joy and competence are not dampened by any format.
The story is certainly old and familiar. Gabriella arrives at East High as a new student after the holidays and falls in love with the school’s most popular boy, Troy, whom she met on holiday. But that doesn’t fit, because Gabriella is a mathematically talented hikari and Troy is a basketball star admired by everyone. While the young people still dream of participating in the audition for the musical, the peace of the school has been shaken for good.
Today’s Juliet and Romeo are separated by the different gangs and interests of the youth – everyone should stay in their own gang and behave according to their position! However, the problems are easily solved when everyone decides to work together. The mass power of the 21st century stands behind the realisation of personal dreams. Everyone can be what they want. Could someone even be many things at the same time?
Caught up in the Idols phenomenon
In High School Musical, the process and the content of the performance meet each other. The musical deals with a young person’s desire to be visible and find their own thing. The diverse cast of performers, both ethnically and in terms of educational and experience backgrounds, was found through auditions that were exceptionally large on the Finnish scale.
The whole ensemble sings and dances nicely. The main couple ( Yasmine Yamajako and Jukka Nylund in the premiere) sing skilfully and sensitively, creating plenty of sweet emotion in budding love.
Sami Parkkinen’s Finnish translation works well in the songs, but the colloquial language sounds artificial at times. Acting is sometimes like in a high school expressive arts club, which is probably partly due to the lines that are difficult to fit in the mouth.
Bjurström and choreographer Peter Pihlström get the most out of the whole group. There is plenty of power of movement and song in the crowd scenes, and many exhilarating individual performances emerge from the crowd.
The biggest obstacles to the happiness of the main couple are set by the school’s fashion-conscious show princess Sharpay and her loyal supporter Ryan ( Jennie Storbacka and Samuel Harjanne in the premiere). According to the script, they are twins, but in the Helsinki version, they are more like a diva and her gay bestie. Storbacka and Harjanne bring unbridled humour to the performance. Fun and the certainty brought by the experience are also represented by the radio announcer played by Antti Lang and the art-loving expressive arts teacher of Maija-Liisa Peuhu .
Kati Lukka’s simple, functional set design and Jarkko Valte’s excellent costumes complete the look of the performance.
Basketball guys, hip-hop artists, art nerds and nerds are separated into their own gangs. The costumes bring both colour and harmony to the choreographies. In Sharpay’s costumes, Valtee gets to let loose with a proper showmanship.
At the end of the performance, the applause and stomping are enormous. The performers glow with irresistible pride and joy. They have been seen and noticed.