HOULTON, Maine — Young thespians from Houlton Middle School showcased their singing and acting abilities April 12-13 as part of the school’s production of “Disney’s High School Musical Jr.”
Under the direction of RSU 29 choral director Jason Anderson, along with assistance from several high-schoolers, the stage of the Houlton Community Arts Center was turned into “East High School” from the popular Disney Channel movie.
“Even though the kids knew this show really well from having seen it on the Disney Channel many years ago, they quickly discovered that staging the show was much different from watching it,” Anderson said. “The cinematic tricks that film editing allows directors and actors to do on the screen aren’t available to a live stage performance. We needed to come up with some other strategies to successfully pull off the staging of some scenes.”
The production featured Nicholas Hardy and Sidney Peabody in the lead roles of “Troy Bolton” and “Gabriella Montez.” Set to a storyline that has been described as a modern-day telling of Romeo and Juliet, “High School Musical” is a story about two high school juniors from opposite cliques. Bolton is the captain of the basketball team, while Montez is a shy transfer student who excels in math and science.
The two decide to step outside of their comfort zone to audition for lead roles in the school play, much to the chagrin of the high school diva “Sharpay Evans,” and her twin sibling “Ryan,” played comedically by Mariah Peterson and Isabel Cyr.
Other cast members included Elisabeth Donahue, Natalie DeLucca, Damien Sullivan, Hope Chernesky, Emmalyne Drake, Christian Lively, Ellie Grant, Rhylee Parsons, Elizabeth Howe, Trinity Randall, Avalon Williams, Madalyn Quirk, Alyiah McLaughlin, Mayan Pratt, Zachary Carpenter and Hillary Peabody.
“The cast members worked very hard, and about 30-40 percent were new to the stage,” Anderson said. “I would also like to give a huge ‘thank you’ to my high school students (Owen Gallop, Sierra Rhoda, John Thatcher, Brooke Howland, Isaac Vega, Carolyn Hannigan, Victoria Holmes and Dylan Johnston) who served as mentors throughout this production season. Without their help, a production with this many set changes couldn’t happen efficiently for the actors or the audience. I believe that mentorship is key to engaging the next generation of performers in our community.”
Pioneer Times photos/Joseph Cyr
