Real 'High School Musical' Unfolds on Lutheran North Stage

The storyline is a familiar one. Boy meets girl. Friends attempt to sabotage relationship. Love ultimately overcomes jealousy, and everyone enjoys happily ever after.

Add music and it's Disney’s High School Musical. But that story is only fiction, right?

Behind the scenes of 's production of the popular teen musical, directors aren’t so sure.

“If you’ve seen this musical, it is playing out in real life here,” said Heather Oechsner, co-director of the show.

What started as an attempt to build the drama program at Lutheran North has evolved into what Oechsner said can only be described as a “school-wide production.”

Placing varsity athletes on stage with dancers, singers and drama students, the show is “bringing the cliques together” and forming friendships between students “who would never have become friends otherwise,” she added.

At the center of this crossover between sports and drama is varsity football player Dave Brosky, who plays the show’s lead, Troy Bolton.

“He came to us,” Oechsner said. “He had heard the buzz around school that we were looking for him in the halls. You could hear a pin drop when he auditioned. And there’s no ego. He doesn’t know how good he is.”

Brosky’s female counterpart, Ashley Colby, mirrors her character, Gabriella Montez, as well.

“(She) has never done drama before, but wow can she sing,” said co-director Cheryl Marie Freeman.

Scheduling Conflicts

While Oechsner and Freeman are thrilled to have more than 50 students in the production, scheduling rehearsals to accommodate the practices, games and classes of the varied cast has been a test in endurance. Not to mention having to share their rehearsal space with the Mustang volleyball team.

“We have 24 varsity athletes who are going to games and practices and then coming to rehearsals,” Freeman said. “We are bending over backward to get a dozen kids at a time, and have rehearsals every day in the afternoon and evening. … It’s exhausting for the adults, but all the coaches have been really cooperative.”

One time-saver has been the popularity of the show's music.

“The students knew almost all of the songs coming in,” Oechsner said.

And though the screen-to-stage adaptation is slightly different, choreographer Catie Campbell-Cormier of Art in Motion Richmond Dance Academy said audiences will still see their favorite numbers in the show, plus a few extra.

“Almost everything is interpreted through dance,” Campbell-Cormier said. “We’re working on a jazz-hip hop style, and it’s exciting because most students in the show don’t have dance experience, so we’re working with all different levels. I have to get the non-dancers to dance and challenge the experienced ones.”

Split cast practices will continue almost until opening night, but Freeman and Oechsner are confident the show will be a success.

If the commitment of the cross-country runners in the production is any indication, it will be.

“On the days of the show, the (cross-country) runners will run in the afternoon, perform in the show, then run again the next day and perform in the evening,” Freeman said.

But then again, with their 4.0 GPAs and advanced placement classes, the varsity football players, cheerleaders and cross-country runners in the show are time management pros.

The show runs 7:30 p.m. Oct. 28-29 at the Lutheran North auditorium.