The East Vision’s take on ‘High School Musical’

Everyone knows and loves High School Musical, one of the most popular movies of our childhood. Coming to East Grand Rapids for the first time ever is High School Musical the play. Students, teachers, and parents are excited about the fun and new take on a popular childhood movie.

The movie, a 2006 sensation about a popular basketball player and shy, smart girl, is an interesting take on the high school experience. The characters meet on New Year’s Eve and become close through their high school play. Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez juggle their social lives, sports, and academics while also attempting to put on a spring musical. They do all this and tell the story through song and dance.

They will be putting on the play for the first movie, but there are two other High School Musical films that are highly popular. These movies feature the same popular cast throughout their high school experience.

High School Musical has seen Broadway but it is the first time that East Grand Rapids has put on this production. Following the self-directed play, this will be a much bigger production and will bring in a bigger audience because of the popularity of the movie.

Casting will be difficult for Chapman, a new face to EGR as of this year. They have been working with the drama club and the past plays of the year.

Since we aren’t sure where Chapman will decide to put each actor, we decided to cast our own play while we wait, Vision edition.

Sam and Delaney stepped into Chapman’s shoes to make these amazing casting decisions. We have decided to make the obvious choice of Ben Richards as Troy Bolton due to his extreme basketball skills and secret singing talent that relates directly to Troy Bolton. Sharpay and Ryan’s casting was decided as well because what better pair is there than Ava Kakkuri and Owen Schuster? This dynamic duo embodies the sibling friendship perfectly. Newcomer Harry Reed is Chad Danforth, Troy’s BFF because of his baseball talent and the gift of IBL basketball skills. Ben Darooge has been chosen for the basketball coach, who is also Troy’s dad because of his authority over Richie. Jack Higgins has been selected for the role of Zeke due to his knowledge about food from monthly food reviews. Gabriella was not a tough decision either, the star of the show who watches over us from the top of the classroom daily was clearly perfect for this role. Clare Backus, our chief, our leader, and our boss, is the perfect choice for Gabriella.

However, the real cast has yet to be decided. Auditions are going to be held on Feb. 6, 7, and 8. Actors are going to have to prepare the songs “Stick to the Status Quo” to audition for any character, “Breaking Free” for Troy, and “When There was Me and You” to audition for Gabriella.

Everyone is excited about the play and the new energy that will be brought to East Grand Rapids. As the anticipation builds, the vision class will be extremely invested in the casting, and production of the play. We are ready to follow the journey and will be in attendance on opening night on April 27.