High School Musical Research Articles

My School Rocks! Dancing Disney's High School Musical in India

High School Musical, the 2006 Disney Channel original movie, was a surprise hit in the United States, but its Bollywood-style format and sanitized depiction of American high school life contributed to its popularity in India as well. The Disney Channel, which entered the growing Indian market for children's television in 2004, has been a leader in developing strategies for localization. Many standard strategies are visible in the marketing of High School Musical, including dubbing content into local languages, creating content locally or drawing on local themes, and running local promotions and competitions. The My School Rocks dance competition, run in conjunction with the release of High School Musical, added creative and performance components to the equation that encouraged Indian kids to actively alter and interpret the film's musical numbers, thus making them relevant to their particular cultural experiences. Additionally, My School Rocks took advantage of the film's musical format to exploit similarities with the popular existing Bollywood industry, by both imitating popular performance practices inspired by Bollywood song-and-dance sequences and enlisting well-known Bollywood choreographers to serve as judges. The promotion involved schools, through the existing structure of interschool dance competitions, and local communities, through the voting that took place on the Disney India website. Through this Asia-specific competition, Disney encouraged children to take ownership of the film's content by creating and performing original dances to the songs, thus developing hybrid and bilingual choreographies that function as signifiers of class-based urban Indian cosmopolitanism.

Bare (review)

Reviewed by: Bare Julie Rae Mollenkamp Bare. Book by Jon Hartmere and Damon Intrabartolo. Music by Damon Intrabartolo. Lyrics by Jon Hartmere. Directed by Jeff Church. Musical direction by Anthony T. Edwards. Unicorn Theatre, Kansas City, MO. 16 May 2009. Every generation needs to hear a story that the one before them already knows; still, that story requires a revisioning to fit the shifts in cultural context. The tale of two young star-crossed lovers (who both happen to be male) finds a twenty-first-century audience with bare. Premiering in 2000, bare is a cult hit in many cities; teen and twenty-somethings are enamored with the music and their story. One of only a handful of professional companies that have included bare in their season, the Unicorn cleverly made the appropriate contextual shifts. The subject matter is relevant in a time when suicide among GLBT teens continues to rise and legal measures to deny civil rights for homosexuals make headlines. Bare is a play with many lessons about acceptance, ably conveyed through clever scenic, prop, and costume choices and a smart, appropriate collaboration between professional and educational theatre. Click for larger view View full resolution KC Comeaux (Peter), Tony Humrichouser (Priest), and Shea Coffman (Matt) in bare. (Photo: Cynthia Levin.) Bare, marketed as “a merge between Spring Awakening and Dead Poet’s Society” and “the REAL High School Musical,” explores the pains and pleasures of high school seniors at a coed Catholic boarding school: Jason, the jock who is closeted; Peter, the nerd who loves him; Ivy, the easy girl; Matt, always second-best; Nadia, the fat chick. Throw in a sassy African American teacher, a homophobic mom, and an ineffectual priest and anyone who attended high school can relate. The love story takes prominence as Peter struggles to come out against the wishes of his lover Jason. When Jason and Ivy are cast as Romeo and Juliet, he uses this opportunity to prove his manhood by bedding her. This union results in a series of predictable disasters. Reflecting Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story, bare juxtaposes two contemporary households as well as the cool and uncool, while depicting church doctrine and the reality of today’s society, the fight within self to define identity, the lack of intra- and intergenerational understandings, and the presence of star-crossed lovers (in this case, young gay men). The reversal of gender adds a twist to the familiar tale, but the character types remain universal. Click for larger view View full resolution Katie McCreary (Angel), Craig Allen (Angel), and Nedra Dixon (Sister Chantelle) in bare. (Photo: Cynthia Levin.) The set and props for bare were minimal, yet managed to convey the contemporary setting. Choir risers served as an altar, an abandoned building, and a courtyard; a simple black frame became a coffin, [End Page 643] Click for larger view View full resolution Shea Coffman (Matt), Brandon Sollenberger (Jason), and KC Comeaux (Peter) in bare. (Photo: Cynthia Levin.) [End Page 644] a doorway, and a mirror. Two benches transformed from lockers to beds to classrooms. The cast effectively used pantomime to show backpacks, doorways, and notebooks, and all used cell phones. The four-piece band took up a full quarter of the stage; by performing in rock concert style and becoming part of the ensemble moments, it added spectacle to the sparse design. This minimalism provided a perfect opportunity for audience members to reminisce about their own high school hallways, which developed a connection between what was happening onstage and their own personal experiences. The costumes, which were highly reflective of television’s Gossip Girls and the teen flick Mean Girls, set the time period as well. The Catholic schoolboy uniforms were amplified with hoodies for Jason and Peter and a sweater vest with tie for Matt. The girls’ uniforms were transformed with safety pins, creating the seams of Nadia’s school sweater and four-inch pumps and a corset-like vest for Ivy. Other details included underwear as outerwear, a rosary as hip jewelry, pink hair, and combat boots. The choices were spot on with current fashion trends; indeed, about half the audience members were sporting similar clothing. Costuming also...

The Oxford companion to the American musical: theatre, film, and television

From films ranging from An American in Paris and Flying Down to Rio to such Broadway landmarks as Oklahoma and West Side Story and television hits such as Cinderella and High School Musical, the American musical has thrilled audiences around the world. Now, in The Oxford Companion to the American Musical, readers have at last an engaging and authoritative reference to this highly popular genre-the only such book to cover stage, film, and television musicals in one volume. With more than two thousand entries, this book offers a wealth of information on musicals, performers, composers, lyricists, producers, choreographers, and much more. There are biographical entries on stars ranging from Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby to Mary Martin and Mae West as well as such contemporary show-stoppers as Nathan Lane, Savion Glover, and Kristin Chenowith; on composers ranging from Irving Berlin and George Gershwin to Richard Rodgers and Andrew Lloyd Webber; and on choreographers such as Bob Fosse, Tommy Tune, and Debbie Allen. The plays and films covered range from modern hits such as Mamma Mia! and Moulin Rouge to timeless classics such as Yankee Doodle Dandy and Show Boat. Also, many musicals written specifically for television are included, and many entries follow a work (such as Babes in Toyland) as it moves across genres, from stage, to film, to television. The Companion also includes cross references, a comprehensive listing of recommended recordings, and a useful chronological listing of all the musicals described in the book. Whether you are curious about Singin in the Rain or Spamalot, The Wizard of Oz or Grease, this well-researched and entertaining resource is the first place to turn for reliable information on virtually every aspect of the American musical. Everything you ever wanted to know about the American musical-at your fingertips. What could be better, or more useful? -Marvin Hamlisch Kudos to Thomas Hischak for The Oxford Companion to the American Musical. Resources such as these are extremely important, not only as historic and academic records, but for future generations of artists who need to understand the legacy they have inherited. -Carol Channing

Our Own Junior High School Musical

lowing year. The faculty members, however, had reservations about volunteering for such a difficult project again. One strong objection was that no Broadway musicals lend themselves readily to production by a cast of young teenagers. In addition, being the orchestra director, I was well aware that the professional orchestration was a bit beyond the capabilities of my school players. The idea came to me that the perfect solution would be a musical that the students