High School Musical SA heads to China

THE SOUTH African cast of hit Disney show High School Musical — The Full Stage Production, is heading for the Chinese city of Shanghai.

The production, which has been running since the beginning of February at The Teatro Theatre in Fourways, northern Johannesburg, is destined for a three-week run in the Chinese mega-city at the end of June.

The show’s co-producer, Hazel Feldman, said she was shipping the entire production — including sets, props, its 32- member all-South African cast and 11-piece band — to what she describes as “one of Asia’s greatest theatres”.

“The whole team will leave for Asia on June 22 for the opening at the Shanghai Grand Theatre on June 30,” she said.

Feldman says the show will be performed in English because she “doubts if any of her cast speak Mandarin”. However, the Chinese audience will be able to understand the action as sub titles will run electronically above the stage.

The High School Musical show on the Disney TV channel has won an Emmy award for best choreography.

It sparked a global craze when it was first screened in 2006, and garnered 7.7-million viewers that year in the US.

However, the stars of the South African stage version — Carmen Pretorius in the role of Gabrielle and Christopher Jafta who plays Chad — will not be joining the Shanghai-bound production as they had already signed contracts in the new production of Footloose.

“It’s such a pity that we could not take the two from the original cast as they are phenomenal actors, but we have found great replacements as well. So the show will be the same even when we are in Shanghai,” said Feldman.

Fans of the show will be happy to know that its run has been extended to April 13 at the Teatro Theatre, to accommodate the upcoming Easter school holidays.- The Times