Disney's High School Musical Review: theatre meets interactive sports stadium
- Jack Davey
- 8 hours ago
- 3 min read
27 August 2026 | 14:00 | The Lowry, Salford (and Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre, London)
⭐⭐⭐ | PR - Invite
Wildcats and students of East High, prepare to take a millennial dive of nostalgia with Disney's High School Musical, an original stage production presented by The Lowry, Salford. From the instant you enter the auditorium, the environment feels less of a theatre and more like a stadium, with a rather intense energy.
For superfans of the franchise, this is an event of enormous scale, as Andrew Exeter's basketball court design dominates the space. The stage is extended forwards to row E with two blocks of onstage seating to the sides, despite the show often being performed to the front.
As part of the pre-show, the Wildcats cheerleaders enter and teach the audience a (relatively complex) routine, followed by showing our 'paws' and leading a Mexican wave, which are live recorded and displayed on screens above like a real sports game. The latter is repeated in the interval, audiences less enthusiastic for another round of it. As with all Disney productions, a large portion of viewers are younger children. And as a result of this interaction, despite an etiquette announcement, the audience relax and become noisy, restless and more inclined to sing along.
Including unmistakable bops such as We're All In This Together and Stick To The Status Quo, Kenny Ortega's 2006 film has always had a theatricality to it. It's also inherently cheesy, which I don't always enjoy. But without much palpable emotional depth, the show doesn't address major social issues, instead prioritising a stylised, campy and uplifting piece.
Co-directed by Hope Mill Theatre founders Joseph Houston and William Whelton, the musical numbers are where this production prevails. With musical direction from Audra Cramer and choreography from Aaron Renfree, ensemble scenes like Get'cha Head In The Game fill the stage with gusto, even with the inclusion of basketballs into the dance.
But where bigger scenes thrive, smaller and more intimate scenes struggle due to the space being huge to fill. It calls for big personalities: KayCee Stroh's Ms. Darbus (Martha in the film series) is vibrant and immensely likeable, consistently present and loading every line with intention. She is a drama teacher, after all! In contrast to this celebrity casting, Jason Donovan shrinks as Coach Bolton, in need of some tighter direction. He is thrown into the finale megamix, though is visibly obvious when he loses the choreo.
As the students fight over the lead roles in East High's annual musical 'Juliet and Romeo', the leading roles are all recognisable from their original portrayals, while given enough creative freedom to make it their own. Tobias Turley (Troy) and Leonor Correia's (Gabriella) romantic arc is gentle and easy to invest in. Caitlin Tipping rightfully steals the spotlight in true Sharpay fashion, making a playfully wicked duo alongside Luke Bayer's Ryan. Both Jordan Benjamin (Chad) and Char Burnett (Taylor) would benefit from more stage time, where their side-lined pairing is the most endearing and natural.
Perhaps the show's biggest struggle is finding its own identity, where it pinches a lot of visual references from other musicals. In Start Of Something New for example, Troy and Gabriella tell-all about their summer romance, surrounded by their male/female cliques. Grease's Summer Nights, anyone? As well as an audition sequence, where the students hold their headshots in front of their faces, reminiscent to A Chorus Line. In a world full of teen school musicals, it feels like we have seen a large portion of the content before.
Disney's High School Musical once was, and still is, an anchor for young people, establishing many of the modern musical tropes and aesthetics we see now. I'm not overly familiar with the films, so I approach this primarily as a piece of theatre. Houston and Whelton's direction is altogether safe, besides the sport-ification of the space and interactive additions. We know how exciting Disney's theatre adaptations can be, although this doesn't quite reach those heights. It may not be What I've Been Looking For, but for fans, it may be yours:
Playing at The Lowry until September 19th, before transferring to London's Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre from October 12th:
Tickets and Information: https://highschoolmusicalonstage.com/
