Review: High School Musical

A stage full of good mood

High School Musical – Helsinki has a multi-ethnic background, which is a great thing in itself and also corresponds to the image of today’s Finnish youth.

However, we cannot talk about multiculturalism, because in terms of its cultural framework, HSM represents a purely American entertainment culture aimed at pre-teens.

The basic setting of the story is the good old Romeo and Juliet. This time, the tribal boundaries that separate them are in hobbies and the orientation of their interests. When one is a basketball player and the other a pile of sweat from all substances, how could worlds meet?

However, music unites the sweet young people, and as soon as the limitations of group identity are overcome, romance can bloom to the fullest.

Another classic that comes to mind from High School Musical is Fame, a TV and movie favorite of young people in the 1980s, where the art high school crew danced, sang and made music.

Democracy has progressed. Now it happens in an ordinary high school, and even its internal boundaries between sports, science and show groups are being tested.

The young Gabriella and Troy, i.e. Yasmine Yamajako and Jukka Nylund ( Reetta Korhonen and Jon-Jon Geitel in the second cast), sing absolutely dazzling and are charming to watch in their roles.

All in all, there is a tremendous amount of individual expertise in the cast, which is also well highlighted in Peter Pihlström’s choreography and Marco Bjurström’s direction. There are no weak links in the chain.

The characters are typed throughout, which fits the structure of the musical well.

Jarkko Valtee has dressed the characters in clear group emblems: the boys of the basketball team in a relaxed and sporty manner, the hip-hoppers in oversized camouflage patterns, the hikari students in uniformly gray but still funny-looking clothes.

In crowd scenes, it works wonderfully, producing not only the kinetic energy of the performers but also the movement of colours, from separation to mixing.

The villains, twins Sharpay and Ryan ( Jennie Strobacka and Samuel Harjanne in the premiere, Anna Laulumaa and Sasu Junkkari in the second cast) stand out from the crowd not only with their glittery clothes, but also by always standing apart and against others.

They are the only ones in the story who are alone, even though they are always alone. So it’s all about community and friends.

The type gallery is reminiscent of animations, which is a natural connection in the case of a Disney production. A more unpleasant experience is that the performance’s spoken expression is also reminiscent of dubbed cartoons, in which the Finnish speech is dimensioned to the dimensions, timbre and melodies of the stylised English original voice.

As a result, there are as many swallowed syllables as spoken syllables and wild endings.

Perhaps the reason is that several of the performers have made dubbing of cartoons or that children in the late 1980s and 1990s have often had a video as a babysitter.

In any case, I miss properly articulated stage speech.

Fortunately, this need is fulfilled by the wonderful Antti Lang, who, as a presenter of the school radio, unleashes a wide range of vocal cords.