High School Musical - On Stage! Review

High School Musical - On Stage! - 4 out of 5 stars
Adelaide Youth Theatre
TICKETS: End of Season

The second half of AYT’s October school holiday double feature was a bright, energetic and affectionate High School Musical, celebrating 20 years of the much-loved Disney musical.

Under Matt Hawke’s direction, with Koroli Magourilos as assistant director, Reo Gerhardy’s musical direction and Tayla McDougall’s choreography, the company delivers an enthusiastic staging full of humour, heart and irresistible fun.

Hawke and Magourilos guide the cast with clarity and confidence, quickening the pace in Act Two while allowing familiar characters and relationships room to land. The production embraced the show’s nostalgia without becoming overly reliant on it.

Gerhardy’s musical direction was assured, with the principals and ensemble singing with energy and a clear grasp of the pop-driven score, despite some variation in minor characters’ single lines. McDougall’s choreography was superb, combining sharp, purposeful movement with the exuberance at the heart of the big numbers.

CAST 1 – Saturday 10^th October, 3:30pm

Noah Magourilos brought warmth, sincerity and an easy stage presence to the likeable and confident Troy. He handled Troy’s internal conflict between basketball and theatre with conviction, and his chemistry with Gabriella gives the production much of its emotional grounding.

Maree Fong was an absolute standout as Gabriella, bringing a splendid combination of intelligence, vulnerability and quiet strength to the role, while her vocals were consistently impressive. Gabriella’s journey felt genuine, and her performance provided a strong emotional centre for the production.

Kylah Moreno Santos threw herself into the role of Sharpay with admirable commitment and flair. Her character work was bold and entertaining, although there were moments when dialogue became difficult to hear as Sharpay became increasingly upset. With greater control in those heightened moments as she grows, her already engaging performance will land even more impressively.

Ewan Pugh was a delight as Ryan, delivering some of the production’s finest dance moments and finding plenty of comedy in the character. His physicality and timing made Ryan a consistent source of enjoyment, and he clearly relished every opportunity to perform.

Josh Curtis felt comfortable as Chad, bringing a relaxed confidence and strong comic instinct to the role. Keira Wubbolts was effective as Taylor, presenting a characterisation closely aligned with the film version while making the role her own through an assured and engaging stage presence.

Madeline Weeks delivered a unique and personal touch to the sweet and well-judged performance that supports the production beautifully, while looking strikingly familiar to the film.

Emma Simpson-Smith demanded the attention much like the movie version of Ms Darbus, capturing the drama teacher’s theatrical intensity with impressive accuracy and comic effect, while Hudson Kerr was solid as Coach Bolton, bringing authority to Troy’s father.

Finn Watson made a strong impression as Jack Scott. As an added character in the stage musical, Jack is responsible for helping move the story along, and Watson does so very effectively, bringing personality and clarity to his scenes.

Dash Hefferman Lucic, Zazie Newail and Patrick Moore brought enjoyable energy to Zeke, Martha and Ripper, being particularly highlighted in the Act 1 finale, while Meri Wegland was a fun presence as the Karaoke MC/Mongo. Together, they, along with the ensemble and dance troupe, add colour to a production filled with committed supporting performances.

CAST 2 – Saturday 10^th October, 7:30pm, Reviewed by David Kilsby

Casting two sets of role players reminds me of that old saying, ‘Same same, but different’, giving you the central essence of each character but with nuance. I expect no need to worry here if you did see both casts.

Charlie O’Hanlon as Troy Bolton and Maggie Bridges as Gabriella Montez, were very strongly matched. What was noticeable immediately was the physical size difference between the two: O’Hanlon with the ‘jock’ build and Bridges as the more slightly built ‘nerd’. Whether deliberate or not, this worked well in defining the character portrayals.

Despite the ‘Jock’ image, O’Hanlon worked hard and successfully to bring out the artistic side of his character, singing strongly and with lovely emotion. He had good balance in revealing the conflict he felt, drawn between the artistic and sports environments and dealing with the ever-changing feedback from classmates, teachers and his father. Bridges was able to take her character from shy nerd to leading performer in well directed steps throughout the performance. Her singing was of the highest standing, a highlight for this reviewer. The matching of both voices allowed O’Hanlon and Bridges to highlight their ballads together in ‘Start of Something New’, ‘Breaking Free’, and ‘What I’ve Been Looking For (Reprise)’.

Supporting the principals brilliantly were Alyssa Faranda as Sharpay, and Kyle Mobbs as Ryan. Faranda as the scheming classmate, generated the school gossip environment very well and gradually was put in her place as other students gathered their own confidence.

Mobbs was a lovely foil to Faranda, his over-the-top creativity and theatrical persona providing plenty of laughs for the audience. The two combined beautifully when singing and dancing together, with just the right amount of comic timing supported by good singing voices. In only a small criticism in the overall performance, dialogue needed to be delivered with diction so that the audience can hear it clearly, no matter the emotion attached to it. On occasion, lines delivered when expressing anger or frustration were not as clear.

Within the other supporting roles, all were well characterised and an important part of the whole fabric. Students Chad (Riley Mobbs), Taylor (Lilly Manning), Zeke (Sethanial Jimenea), Jack (Hudson Kerr), Kelsi (Kristina Balagosa) and Ripper (Oliver Cresswell) delivered their dialogue on point and while the standard of individual singing was a little stretched (possibly driven by seizing a moment and trying a little hard voice wise), the impact as a whole was very good.

The ‘adult’ roles of Stella Jackson as Ms Darbus and Finn Watson as Coach Bolton were delivered with the right amount of adult character to ensure they were differentiated from the remaining ‘youth’ cast of the show, not easy, but well done.

With its enthusiastic casts, assured musical values and impressive choreography, High School Musical was a joyful and polished close to Adelaide Youth Theatre’s 2026 season.

- Andrew Broadbent