Relive those teenage kicks

9:25am Tuesday 17th June 2008

On the eve of your 39th birthday, getting to revisit your teenage years for a couple of hours is possibly one of the most precious gifts you could ask to receive.

Having just clapped and whooped my way through a production of Disney's High School Musical with the best of the pre-pubescent - and even a few pre-schoolers - I'd have to say any other birthday present I get is unlikely to lead to quite the same high.

To those not in the know, the show's plot goes thus.

Basketball guy (Troy) scores (in the most clean-cut sense of the word) with Little Miss Braniac (Gabriella) in a chance karaoke encounter.

The loved-up pair - who, just like Danny and Sandy in Grease 30 years previously, meet on vacation and then just happen to be at the same school when term begins - are keen to try out for the school musical but are constrained by being defined by what they do best (he's a sports' jock; she's a science whizz) and the expectations and influences of their peers.

Throw into the mix the freakishly OTT am-dram siblings Ryan and Sharpay, their rivals for the leading roles, a whole heap of catchy, singalong tunes and more back flips and somersaults than you could shake a stick at and HSM is the noughties' answer to Kids from Fame meets Grease - on speed.

This particular version of the must-see teen flick of the same name is by Stage Entertainment and from start to finish, this highly-charged young cast performed as if their lives depended on it.

The four main actors/singers - Ashley Day and Lorna Want as Troy and Gabriella, and Lee Honey-Jones and Helen George as Ryan and Sharpay - were all on fine form, with Honey-Jones's nifty footwork particularly worthy of praise.

This fast-paced show, however, is all about the ensemble pieces. And boy, did the ensemble deliver. Strong harmonies, fancy footwork and bags of energy left the New Wimbledon Theatre audience begging for more come the final curtain.

It's loud, brash, deliciously camp in parts and I for one loved every minute of it.

If you don't have a child of your own to go with, borrow one and remember how much fun it was to be a teenager - even if it's only for a few hours.

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