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Disney’s High School Musical to brighten stage at Fox for limited appearances

Casting has been announced for the St. Louis engagement of Disney’s HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL, which will play the Fox Theatre January 9-13, 2008. Presented by Disney Theatrical Productions, the division responsible for such smash Broadway hits as The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and Mary Poppins, HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL is based on the 2006 Emmy Award-winning Disney Channel Original Movie.  

The touring company, which is scheduled to travel to more than 60 cities across the United States and Canada, includes a live orchestra and a cast of 34 talented theatrical performers.  Curtain times are Wednesday at 8 p.m.; Thursday at 1 & 8 p.m.; Friday at 8 p.m.; Saturday at 2 & 8 p.m.; and Sunday 1 & 6:30 p.m.

The basketball team captain, “Troy Bolton,” will be played by John Jeffrey Martin, whose Broadway credits include Rocky Horror Show, Hairspray and Good Vibrations.  He is a graduate of Syracuse University with a BFA in Musical Theater. Starring opposite Martin as the shy, academic student “Gabriella Montez” will be Arielle Jacobs.  Jacobs’ theatre credits include Crazy for You, A Chorus Line and Cinderalla, and her film credits include The Stepford Wives and Water Lilies.

Veteran actor and Webster University graduate, Ron Bohmer, will portray Troy’s father and Wildcat’s basketball coach, “Coach Bolton.” Bohmer is known for his Broadway and National tour credits including The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Phantom of the Opera, The Woman in White, Aspects of Love, Fiddler on the Roof and Sunset Boulevard.  Troy’s best friend, “Chad Danforth,” will be played by Shakiem Evans who most recently appeared as “Eddie” in Broadway’s Mamma Mia!  Evans Off-Broadway credits include Two Gentlemen of Verona and Fame, and he is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University.  Ellen Harvey is the drama teacher “Ms. Darbus.”

Harvey’s Broadway credits include Thou Shalt Not and The Music Man, and her touring credits include Mamma Mia! and Doctor Dolittle.  “Taylor McKessie,” the leader of the “brainiacs” at East High School, will be played by Shaullanda LaCombe, who was “Shenzi” in Disney’s The Lion King and “Charlane” in Ain’t Misbehavin. 

Bobby List will play Drama Club enthusiast and brother of Sharpay, “Ryan Evans.”  List, a recent graduate of the University of Cincinnati – Conservatory of Music, played opposite Debby Boone in The Human Comedy at Barrington Stage and in The 60’s Project at the Goodspeed Opera House. 

Michael Mahany will introduce audiences to a new character written specifically for the stage production, “Jack Scott,” the crooning voice of East High School. Mahany’s credits include the Off-Broadway production of Spring Awakening, a reading of Ella Minnow Pea, a workshop of Bill Russell’s Mister Fabulous and regional productions of Into the Woods and Annie Get Your Gun.

The Young composer “Kelsi Neilson” will be portrayed by Olivia Oguma who has appeared on Broadway in Mamma Mia! and Les Miserables and Off-Broadway in Sarah, Plain and Tall, La Dispute and The Scarlet Letter.  Oguma’s film credits include Hallmark Hall of Fame’s The Flamingo Rising and Strangers with Candy: the movie. 

The scheming Drama Club president, “Sharpay Evans,” will be played by Chandra Lee Schwartz, who appeared in the Broadway productions of Gypsy and Hairspray as well a the first national tour of Hairspray. 

Schwartz regional credits include productions at the New York Musical Theatre Festival and Gateway Playhouse.  “Zeke Baylor,” the basketball player who loves to bake will be portrayed by Ben Thompson, who has appeared in the National Tour of Deaf West’s Big River and was last seen in the new musical The Molly Maguires. 

Lizzie Weiss will play the hip-hop brainiac “Martha Cox.”  Weiss earned her BA in Theater from the University of California at Irvine, and was an original cast member of the Atlanta Theatre of the Stars production of High School Musical. 

St. Louis native Marjorie Failoni is the Dance Captain and is a BFA musical theatre major at the University of Michigan.  Credits include the Muny’s production of Cinderella, Damn Yankees, Oklahoma! and Thoroughly Modern Millie.

This new touring stage adaptation of Disney’s HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL is directed by Jeff Calhoun (Big River). HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL features a book by David Simpatico (adapted from the original movie script by Peter Barsocchini), and a score including all the songs from the original soundtrack plus two new songs written especially for the stage.

Commenting on the announcement, Thomas Schumacher, President and Producer of Disney Theatrical Productions, said, “Our stage version of this great property has been mounted as a direct response to overwhelming demand.   As someone who has been passionate about theatre since I was a kid, I am thrilled that we are touring this remarkably popular title as a fully realized stage production, and most certainly introducing countless young people to the world of theatre for the very first time. You can’t ask for more than that.” 

Schumacher adds, “It is a great joy and privilege for us to be able to produce and present the Disney Channel’s enormously popular property on stage.”

Disney’s HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL is a contemporary musical comedy about a popular high school basketball star and a shy, academically gifted newcomer who discover they share a secret passion for singing. 

When they sign up together to audition for the lead roles in the school musical, it threatens East High's rigid social order and sends their peers into an uproar. 

In a desperate effort to maintain the status quo, the "jocks," the "brainiacs" and even the drama club regulars are soon hatching convoluted plots to separate the pair and keep them offstage. 

By defying expectations and taking a chance on their dreams, however, the couple inspires other students to go public with some surprising hidden talents of their own.

The creative team for this new touring stage production of HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL, in addition to aforementioned director Calhoun, will be choreographer Lisa Stevens, scenic designer Kenneth Foy, costume designer Wade Laboissonniere, lighting designer Kenneth Billington, sound designer Duncan Robert Edwards and music supervisor Bryan Louiselle.

HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL premiered on Disney Channel U.S. on January 20, 2006 and posted the highest ratings for a Disney Channel Original Movie up until that time. 

It went on to become a smash hit internationally and, in 2006, aired on 26 Disney Channels and free-to-air broadcasters worldwide, reaching over 100 million viewers in over 100 countries.  

It was also the first TV movie to be offered on the iTunes Music Store.  "High School Musical" delivered the #1 album of 2006, the year's #1 TV movie on DVD, licensed amateur and professional touring stage productions, a best-selling junior novel, a popular consumer products franchise at mass retailers, a themed show at Disneyland Parks and Resorts in Anaheim, Orlando and Paris, a sold-out 42 date arena concert tour in North America and Latin America, starring most of the cast, and a touring ice show. 

Adding to its success, it won the two Emmy Awards, a DGA Award, Television Critics Association Award, an Imagen Award, a Director's Guild of America Award and a Humanitas Prize nomination.  Its soundtrack received a Billboard Music Award (Soundtrack of the Year) and was nominated for an American Music Award in the Favorite Album (Pop/Rock) category.  Walt Disney Studios announced it will develop a feature film based on the movie for release in 2008.