HSM Scenes

“Can you make good from bad? What is art, and what is musical theater as art?” asks director of “High School Musical Scenes” Daniel V. Kroop ’10.

Kroop and his cast will explore these questions in an unconventional adaptation of the popular Disney Channel hit, “High School Musical,” from April 23-24, with two midnight showings in the Adams Pool Theater.

The film version of “High School Musical” tells the story of sensitive basketball jock Troy Bolton (Gus T. Hickey ’11) and a beautiful science nerd Gabriella Montez (Samara R. Oster ’13). Despite existing in completely different social circles, they fall in love and challenge the status quo by coming together to audition for their yearly high school musical.

While the movie is typical Disney fare, replete with cheesy songs, over-exaggerated characters, and bright colors, Kroop’s adaptation cuts the music and condenses the script to just under an hour.

“The idea was to make the scenes valuable and bring out the power of the ‘High School Musical’ script without the music,” Oster says.

Kroop also adds that the removal of the musical distractions allows the more serious questions of the script come to light.

“Are different choices irreconcilable in high school? How do these hierarchies affect us? Can you break them down?” Kroop asks.

And the director explains that this production is also an exploration in form, as the play delves into the meaning of musicals without the defining element of song.

“If you remove the music from it, you explain the idea of what it means to be a musical,” he says.

Despite the seriousness of these creative inquiries, the show is primarily intended to be an amusing and entertaining one.

“We want the audience to come with a lot of levity and enjoyment in their hearts, and then get wrapped up in what’s going on,” Kroop says.