June 2: HSM on stage

We celebrated the first big weekend of Portland’s Rose Festival by doing nothing remotely connected to the Rose Festival. We did, however, drive downtown and see the Fun Center. And by “see” I mean the people in the back seat screamed and begged to stop and ride the ferris wheel, while the people in the front seat promised them that looking at it as we quickly drove past was just as fun.

We actually were downtown to see the stage production of High School Musical. If by any chance you’re thinking “Oooh!” let me just correct you right now. You should be thinking “Ew!” Because if you were over the age of, say, 14 you were too old to be there.

When they first announced the show would be in Portland I decided this would be a fun family activity and bought tickets. This was last fall, when both Katie and Jack were constantly watching the movie. The music is fun and the stars are relatively talented, so I admit I didn’t mind listening to it, which is good because for a while it was playing in the background of our lives ALL THE LIVE LONG DAY.

But last night was not the movie, oh no. Katie was disappointed that the original stars were not in the stage production. It was very manicurist-on-Seinfeld: “Whaaaat? No Zac-a Efron?” The actors that played Troy and Gabriella were decent, but Sharpay was beyond grating. And I kept getting Chad and Zeke confused because Chad didn’t have ginormous Corbin Bleu hair.

(Oh lord. I can’t believe I know all these character and actor names. Somebody shoot me.)

The evening was not a total loss; in fact, it was quite the opposite because when I walked in I was quickly called to one side of the lobby by the lovely Lori and her daughter Taylor. It was a delightful surprise to see them there! Kathy, I assure you there was much mention of your name but it was mostly in the oh-she’s-gonna-be-so-jealous sense. If Lori had been able to work that dagnabbit new-fangled phone of hers you would have received some awesome video of K&J loving her while not thinking about you.

I didn’t hear what Taylor and her friends thought of the show. Katie loved loved loved it and now wants to see High School Musical on Ice. (Gah!) Jack liked the show. He did not love it. He reminded us of this repeatedly. The three adults I knew were all pretty much “meh” about it.

And there’s your review.