High School Musical

Linnanmäen Peacock-teatteri Tivolikuja 1
Premiere 7.8.2008
2 h 20 min
41 e (no discounts)

Note: No longer in repertoire!

Control Marco Bjurström

Choreography Peter Pihlström

Conductor Antti Vauramo

Set design Kati Lukka

Costumes Jarkko Valtee

Lights Timo Alhanen

Sound Sakari Kiiski

Translation Sami Parkkinen

Cast:

Saara Aalto
Janne Ali-Vehmas
Laura Allonen
Niila Arajuuri
Wilhelm Blomberg
Hoang Dinh
Jon-Jon Geitel
Samuel Harjanne
Markku Haussila
Heikki Hautajoki
Iiro Heikkilä
Sasu Junkkari
Lotta Kaarla
Ilona Kiviranta
Reetta Korhonen
Antti Lang
Anna Laulumaa
Matti Leino
Poujou Lingnell
Nora Mahmoud
Ida Metsberg
Eeva Muttonen
Pasi Mäkelä
Jukka Nylund
Tara Nyman
Delana Overton
Maija-Liisa Peuhu
Sanna Pikkarainen
Sonia Quiat
Larissa Qvintus
Christian Sandström
Jennie Storbacka
Thilia Tamminen
Roni Tran
Sam Vaherlehto
Hanna Vähäpassi
Yasmine Yamajako

Book by David Simpatico

Original songs by Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Nevil; Ray Cham, Greg Cham and Andrew Seeley; Randy Petersen and Kevin Quinn; Andy Dodd and Adam Watts; to Bryan Louise; David N. Lawrence and Faye Greenberg; Jamie Houston

Music adapted, arranged and produced by Brian Louiselle

Gallery

Kaksi teini-ikäistä istuu lavalla vehreiden kasvien ympäröimänä. Tyttö, jolla on kiharat hiukset ja kukkatoppi, katsoo hymyillen ylös. Poika, jolla on punainen takki ja lenkkarit, istuu tytön vieressä ja katsoo häntä ystävällisesti.

Joukko nuoria aikuisia poseeraa teatterimaisesti valkoisilla portailla, jotkut istuvat ja jotkut elehtivät dramaattisesti. Etualalla on värikkääseen takkiin pukeutunut henkilö, joka tekee ilmeikkäitä ilmeitä. Taustalla loistavat näyttämön valot.

Ryhmä värikkäisiin, eklektisiin asuihin pukeutuneita ihmisiä seisoo lavalla punaisen verhon edessä. Vasemmalla nainen istuu tuolissa ja lapsi näppäimistön ääressä. Muu näyttelijäkaarti on heitä vastapäätä näyttämön toisella puolella.

Ryhmä värikkäästi pukeutuneita esiintyjiä toimii energisesti lavalla punaisen verhon edessä, kun nainen istuu näppäimistön ääressä ja toinen nainen tekee dramaattisia eleitä tuolilta rekvisiittaa sisältävän hyllyn vieressä.

Punaiseen huppariin pukeutunut mies polvistuu puisten tikkaiden juurella ja katsoo ylöspäin vihreään toppiin ja sinisiin housuihin pukeutunutta naista, joka seisoo puolivälissä tikkaita, ja molemmat keskustelevat näyttämövalaistuksessa.

Joukko punavalkoisiin urheiluasuihin pukeutuneita ihmisiä suorittaa sisätiloissa koreografioidun harjoituksen, jossa jokaisella on koripallo kädessään ja nostaa sen päänsä yläpuolelle. Taustalla näkyvät valkoiset kaakeliseinät ja portaat.

Punaisiin verkkareihin pukeutunut nuori mies pitää koripalloa kädessään ja näyttää laulavan tai puhuvan intohimoisesti, kun taustalla katselee useita punaisiin verkkareihin pukeutuneita joukkuetovereita.

Kolme nuorta miestä poseeraa iloisesti yhdessä sisätiloissa. Yhdellä on vihreä ruutupaita, toisella punainen takki ja raidallinen paita ja kolmannella keltainen hihaton huppari. He näyttävät iloisilta ja energisiltä, ikään kuin esiintyisivät tai juhlisivat.

Kolme teini-ikäistä on kokoontunut näytelmäkerhon koe-esiintymistä koskevan kyltin ääreen. Yksi istuu yläpuolella olevilla portailla, kun taas kaksi muuta seisoo alapuolella, toinen kirjoittaa taululle ja toinen katselee. Tunnelma viittaa odotukseen ja jännitykseen.

Monipuolinen joukko esiintyjiä seisoo vierekkäin lavalla värikkäisiin, eklektisiin asuihin pukeutuneena kirkkaiden valojen alla ja näyttää kumartavan teatteriesityksen päätteeksi.

Ryhmä punavalkoisiin urheiluasuihin pukeutuneita esiintyjiä seisoo lavalla kädet ylhäällä, keskellä tanssia, kirkkaiden valojen ja taustalla näkyvän banderollin alla.

Nuorten ryhmä harjoittelee lavalla. Kaksi seisoo itsevarmasti keskellä korokkeella, kun taas muut polvistuvat tai istuvat heidän ympärillään ja katsovat ylöspäin. Taustalla on korkeita pylväitä ja dramaattinen näyttämövalaistus.

Siniseen huppariin pukeutunut nuori seisoo pöydällä, pitää kädessään kuppikakkua, jossa on sytytetty kynttilä, ja laulaa iloisesti, kun kuusi muuta istuu tai polvistuu ympärillä ja katsoo heitä odottaen tai ihaillen lavalla.

Valkoiseen takkiin pukeutunut mies puhaltaa pilliin, kun ahdistunut vaaleatukkainen ja silmälasipäinen vanhempi nainen peittää korvansa ja huutaa, ja taustalla näkyy koripallokoripallo.

Ryhmä nuoria, jotka ovat pukeutuneet rennosti katutyyliin, esiintyy energisesti lavalla. Yksi henkilö seisoo penkillä dramaattisessa poseerauksessa, kun taas muut istuvat tai elehtivät vilkkaasti heidän ympärillään. Taustalla näkyy tiilipylväitä.

Nainen seisoo voitokkaasti pöydällä, kirja kädessään ja ojentamassa kätensä, kun useat istuvat naiset, joilla on kirjoja, reagoivat vilkkaasti hänen ympärillään teatterin lavalla.

Reviews

Kaleva, 15.08.2008

Review

Eeva Kauppinen

HIGH SCHOOL SUPPORTING PARTS CAN AFFORD TO TEAR UP

Länsi-Uusimaa, 13.08.2008

Review

Kaarina Naski

High School Musical An eternal crush rings That Finland has the resources to set up a youth musical in the style of the big world is no longer news. There is already evidence. But the fact that there is enough potential to the extent that the Helsinki City Theatre’s HSM project has shown is a small miracle. At least all of those hundreds of young people who have signed up for the auditions and the performers selected from them move for their pleasure, with a challenge and without sparing “volume”. Multiculturalism and talent can be found in both musicality and expressive skills. Of course, the group is a small sample of the country’s youth, but as such, it is a pretty convincing answer to those who are concerned about the offspring, its physical condition and lack of stimulation. Theatre, expanded to many sectors, is naturally purposefully on the move in this kind of production. The new audience is increased by approaching it from both eye and sound level.

Hufvudstadsbladet, 10.08.2008

Review

Mikael Kosk

Disney musical with drive It should be said right away that the Helsinki City Theatre’s stage version of the hit film High School Musical is an incredibly well-made performance. It has rhythm and desire, the young actors sing crystal clear and break dance and hip-hop as if they had never done anything else. There is not a dead moment in the performance; director Marco Bjurström and choreographer Peter Pihlström have sewn together a dense whole that demands a lot from the actors and is bursting with released energy. The actors get a nice connection with each other on stage and find the nerve and emotion in both the songs and the lines. The sound engineers have also done a brilliant job – everything can be heard absolutely clearly, every word that is said and sung. If the story isn’t exactly original, that’s one thing, and if the music is rather bland, it’s saved by the fact that it’s sung so well and played with such drive. A musical that is about a selection for a musical has been made before, and there is also no great point in it being in a way also about the selection for this same production, where 900 young people participated and just over three percent were accepted. Modern versions of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, where it is difficult to love if you do not belong to the right group, have also been made before; of these, West Side Story is unbeatable. Basketball captain Troy and math star Gabriella break the barriers to become Romeo and Juliet in the school musical. They raise questions young people always think about: what is really important, is it sports, politics, culture, science? People ask what happens when a hip-hop player mixes with the string orchestra section. Everyone competes with each other, there is a constant competition to see who is the best and a constant fear of losing their positions, whether it is about being a point scorer or a chemistry genius. High School Musical is certainly an educational production, it wants to teach “things that are valuable for adulthood”. It wants to get young people to believe in themselves and be themselves, and not to build barriers between “us” and “them”. In the Finnish text, there is the superb linguistic image “to blow on the same coal” for cooperation and collaboration. However, you live in a competitive society where you compete with others, and then you should remember that a win in a competition is not about winning over someone else and that the competition is not the most important thing of all. An every-self and out-of-the-closet-life philosophy combined with a general sense of community. The society that is depicted consists only of prosperous individualists who are all talented in something. Problems and complications, and those who are not well-formed do not exist at all. With an incredible sense of course, such things that require time and painful development are put right on the table. If there is a built-in falsehood in the starting points, the performance does not feel inauthentic at all. There is not a trace of cynicism, and it is not possible to get further than this from the theatre that depicts human hopelessness. The positive is definitely genuine, although one might want to add that the positivity from which the complications have been eliminated may turn out to be illusory. High School Musical is a highly commoditised Disney performance about which one might wonder whether it is the task of a publicly funded theatre to produce: This is a theatre product, the only kind of theatre that could survive on purely commercial terms in Finland. Commercial or not; It shows why film can never make theatre unnecessary – nothing can replace the presence of live actors on stage.

Etelä-Saimaa, 09.08.2008

Review

Liisa Kukkola

THE BIG VERSION OF SMALL FINLAND High SChool Musical is not a rustic cousin version of the American show, but just as sparkling and fast-paced. Spectacular and skilful – just like the original film musical itself – is High School Musical, produced by the Helsinki City Theatre for Peacock. Actually, the Helsinki version is like a version of the original dubbed into Finnish – and this is both a praise and a reproach.So it’s not a country cousin version, but just as sparkling and fast-paced as its premise. The Finnish education and hobby system seems to produce brilliant young people for singing, dancing and playing, and large productions attract the best performers.There also seem to be enough willing people: 900 young people showed up for the open High School Musical audition held at the Helsinki City Theatre in December. The upcoming Idols trial will also attract a record number of aspiring singers. So the desire of a young Finn to perform is still strong.

Uutispäivä Demari, 13.08.2008

Review

Annikki Alku

HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL’S ENERGY CHARGE CAPTIVATES

Turun Sanomat, 11.08.2008

Review

Eeva Kemppi

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.

Helsingin Sanomat, 09.08.2008

Review

Outi Lahtinen

A stage full of good mood

Comments

Ei kommentteja