BYU's 'High School Musical' production is what you've been looking for

SALT LAKE CITY — It's "The Start of Something New" for the old Provo High School. Theater students at Brigham Young University are utilizing the old high school that was inducted into campus while they still can. Theater department chair Megan Sanborn Jones said the decision to put on Disney's "High School Musical" was born from the fact that the theater department is actually functioning in the space, for now. "We have been housed at the old Provo High School complex for about three years while BYU is constructing a gorgeous, beautiful, multi-million (dollar) new arts building for us that's going to open next summer," she said. "And so since we are at Provo High School and we're not sure what's going to happen to it afterwards, I thought it would be an amazing chance to celebrate the high school-ness of the space that we've been in, and also to honor Provo High School and Utah Valley. So we thought, what better way to do it than 'High School Musical' in a high school? " The lead cast of the musical shared they're a mixed bag of former "HSM" fans and newbies. Dallen Anderson, who plays the lead character Troy Bolton, originally played by Zac Efron, said he grew up watching the show. "I was excited, I don't know, I grew up watching it so I kind of was like, 'You know, why not?' I think it's the perfect place to do it in Utah," he said. [gallery columns="5" ids="781697,781698,781671,781672,781699"] For Sophia Cabrera, who portrays Troy Bolton's love interest Gabriella Montez, the show was a favorite. She upheld the same kind of obsession many millennials did. "High School Musical is probably my favorite DCOM (Disney Channel Original Movie), it's the only one I've actually ever watched when I was younger," she said. "I was obsessed with Troy Bolton when I was younger, so when BYU announced that they were going to do High School Musical, I was so excited!" Gesturing toward her cast mate, Austin Meredith Johnson, who plays Sharpay in the musical, Cabrera said she first saw herself in that role. "I actually wanted the role of Sharpay at first because I just saw the mean girl as my typecast," she said. "So when I tested as Gabriella Montez I was like 'This'll be interesting, playing like the nice girl that gets to fall in love with Troy Bolton,' but what a blessing it has been. It's been really fun." When she did get the role of Gabriella Montez, Cabrera visited East High School in Salt Lake City, where the original movie was filmed. In further preparation for her role, she said she made a collage of the lead characters and posters to help her understand their character niches. For Mason Lance, the gig was already in his bag. "It's actually really funny because I've played Ryan already multiple times before, yeah," he said. "This, you know, this role just keeps coming back for me ... This is my third time now playing this character and I'm obsessed with it. High School Musical has a good place in everyone's heart. And Ryan particularly, I love him because he just kind of like is a bold and proud character. He does what he likes to do and he's not afraid to do it. And I think that's a good message for everyone watching the show." The character Ryan's stringent sister, Sharpay, has become an archetypal internet sensation over the years, appearing in still-circulated GIFs online. In her interview with KSL TV, it was touted that Johnson has the coolest costumes. "I love Sharpay, I didn't grow up watching the movie," she said. "But Sharpay is just such an awesome character. She's so iconic, and I just. I love just bringing her to life." Jones echoed the students, saying the production was one the school was thrilled to put on. And it involved the work not only of the theater department, but included contributions from students with majors across the board — in true "All In This Together" fashion. "For this particular production, we were thrilled to be able to open it up and really reach out to the whole campus," Jones said. "So while all of these students in our leads are actually acting in music, dance theater majors in the theater and media arts department, most of the rest of the cast comes from a wide variety of majors, from accounting to business, to English. We just are trying to draw everyone together to kind of get that sense of coming together, which is what the musical is about. And it's what BYU is about. It's about belonging and knowing that everybody is welcome there." The last BYU show is being held on Saturday, Jun 7 from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online.

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