Yay Disney!

[fitchnson]

Posted: 8/12/07 at 12:31am

Disney has an out gay character! It's about time!

From the Sat. NY Times:

A Prayerful Three-Pointer From the Orchestra Pit
By CHARLES ISHERWOOD
CHICAGO, Aug. 10 — New religions do not arise every day, so serious note should be taken when a belief moves from cult status to bona fide faith. Recently a nascent creed has stolen the hearts and minds of thousands of young Americans. Its key tenets include the idea that everyone gets along really well in high school, and thus that being a teenager is super fun.
The name of this new religion is “High School Musical.”

What began as a mere made-for-television movie (on the Disney Channel, yet) has grown quickly into an international phenomenon both commercial and spiritual, at least for tweenage youngsters (mostly girls). DVDs, CDs, T-shirts, memorabilia and a spinoff concert tour have provided ardent adherents with the relics, icons and apostolic encounters necessary for proper devotion. Now the flock anxiously awaits the coming of a second revelation. The new testament, “High School Musical 2,” will first be shown on the Disney Channel on Friday.

At the same time, a fully staged replica of the original movie — a singing and dancing crèche, you might say — has at last been assembled and sent out on the road to help believers keep the faith. The live production of “High School Musical” played preview dates in Detroit and Philadelphia before opening officially here in Chicago at the LaSalle Bank Theater, where it plays through Sept. 2. As a chronicler of the theatrical theology, journalistic duty required that I be in attendance.

For the uninitiated, some background is perhaps in order. Just as new faiths grow out of old belief systems (see Judaism and Christianity), “High School Musical” is essentially derived from a previous mythology promulgated in the latter days of the 20th century. Namely, “Grease.” (That religion has of course not wholly died out; indeed, representatives of a new sect emerge on Broadway this very month.)

As in “Grease,” in which girl and boy from opposite worlds fight social ostracism to find true love in high school, so Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez, the hero and heroine of “High School Musical,” battle peer pressure and self-doubt on the rocky road to romance.

“High School Musical” does, however, represent a significant philosophical evolution of the Greasian liturgy. In the old, strictly Manichean system, the lovebirds’ happy union was effected only when the good girl, Sandy, abandoned her principles (and her ponytail) to embrace the darker beliefs of her beloved, Danny. In the movie version, you’ll recall, Olivia Newton-John frizzed her hair, squeezed herself into black spandex and shimmied like mad to signify her baptism.

In “High School Musical,” neither the studious Gabriella nor the jock Troy is forced to abandon a “clique” (to use the academic term); instead they assert their independence from cultural oppression (the “status quo,” as one of the key hymns has it) by declaring their allegiance both to each other and to the great god Thespis in another sphere of endeavor. They find true fulfillment and express their individuality by trying out for the school musical.

Anyway, the stage version, peppily directed by Jeff Calhoun (who staged and choreographed the last Broadway revival of “Grease”) and with a book by David Simpatico (based on the Peter Barsocchini teleplay), includes all the infectious songs from the movie, in virtually the same order, as well as two new ones.

The stage adaptation does make some minor but significant dramaturgical adjustments. Character motivations are subtly enriched; important contextual signifiers are added; the narrative arc is elaborated with the addition of nuanced emotional subtext that ... er, what am I talking about?

What followers really need to know is that John Jeffrey Martin, who plays Troy, the captain of the basketball team who discovers his inner drama geek, sings well and is very cute, with a nice smile and glinty blue eyes. Acolytes of the sainted Zac Efron, who created the role in the movie, should nevertheless be warned that Mr. Martin does not possess Mr. Efron’s signature floppy-swoopy hairdo.

I repeat: no floppy-swoopy hairdo on Troy. Just a perky bristle.

Aside from this radical, possibly heretical departure, few liberties have been taken in the casting department. Arielle Jacobs is charmingly demure, like Vanessa Anne Hudgens, as Gabriella. Chandra Lee Schwartz flounces capably as the haughty, histrionic villainess Sharpay, just like Ashley Tisdale in the movie.

Admirably, the stage version is more forthright in its hints that Sharpay’s brother and pet leading man, Ryan (the perky Bobby List), is gay. (For one thing, he gets a few catty jokes. In a scene new to the stage version, in which Sharpay displays some self-esteem issues, Ryan bucks her up by suggesting things could have been worse: “They could have named you Pug.”)

This is in keeping with a crucial article of this new faith, that it is O.K. to be yourself, even if it means whipping up a mean crème brûlée after basketball practice. Especially if it means whipping up a mean crème brûlée after basketball practice.

Whether this accords with current reality in American high schools I cannot say, and frankly doubt. But religious devotion is not really about encountering the harsh truths of the world, but about seeking some solace for them and finding the inspiration to change them.

On that score, call me a skeptical believer in “High School Musical” and its power to improve the world. “We’re all in this together,” the chorus of the show’s climactic anthem, is probably as profound and morally instructive as most religious precepts. So, go Wildcats! Yay, theater!
____________________________________


As someone who has seen and supported a lot of theatre over the years, I am proud of this step Disney has taken...especially in a show that so many kids are going to see with their parents. Hopefully this will instigate some positive conversations!

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 8/12/07 at 12:32am

Um he's not an out gay character.

[Not Barker, Todd.]

Posted: 8/12/07 at 12:33am

*Faints from over-exposure to Disney*

[fitchnson]

Posted: 8/12/07 at 12:42am

Everything I've read so far says he is. I haven't seen it so I can't say...

"Disney's High School Musical embraces nerds, jocks, gays, chefs and of course the brains, while never once being preachy. To watch children in the audience applaud a openly gay character in high school is something of a miracle. All guys and girls had in my generation was A Chorus Line in which the gay character was an outcast. "

from the Broadwayworld.com review....

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 8/12/07 at 12:43am

What the hell did all that Greek stuff mean?
Getting my Greek Dick-tionary.

[B3TA07]

Posted: 8/12/07 at 12:44am

"Disney's High School Musical embraces nerds, jocks, gays, chefs and of course the brains, while never once being preachy. To watch children in the audience applaud a openly gay character in high school is something of a miracle. All guys and girls had in my generation was A Chorus Line in which the gay character was an outcast. "

from the Broadwayworld.com review....



Good Lord, did Eug write that?

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 8/12/07 at 12:45am

Yeah, they say he is because the character is the one note, girly stock gay character who just loves musicals and is so *fabulous*!!!.

Sorry, I don't see any reason to applaud Disney.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 8/12/07 at 12:46am

I hate chefs.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 8/12/07 at 12:47am

Did you write that article yourself, or are you not going to provide a link and just plagiarize?

[BrianIdol]

Posted: 8/12/07 at 12:51am

I just fell asleep 3 times before I finished that article.

[B3TA07]

Posted: 8/12/07 at 12:53am

"Did you write that article yourself, or are you not going to provide a link and just plagiarize?"



At the top the poster said "From the sat. NY Times."



A link would have been fab, though.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 8/12/07 at 12:57am

For you Ben, because you were nice this time:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/11/theater/reviews/11high.html?_r=1&ref=theater&oref=slogin

Updated On: 8/12/07 at 12:57 AM

[JP2]

Posted: 8/12/07 at 12:59am

If only they'd let some of there tween actors be open about there sexuality.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 8/12/07 at 1:00am

Is the character based on some DISNEY Biggie?

[sitpwg2]

Posted: 8/12/07 at 1:02am

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/11/theater/reviews/11high.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&ref=theater&adxnnlx=1186892642-n5OeRpIqWXe4llOL/thjJw


I think most everyone is missing the point. Small victories don't mean much these days.
Updated On: 8/12/07 at 01:02 AM

[COOOOLkid]

Posted: 8/12/07 at 1:02am

Their, not there.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 8/12/07 at 1:04am

Missing what point?!?

[BroadwayEnthusiast2]

Posted: 8/12/07 at 1:06am

There's a supposedly gay character in a Disney movie, whoop dee doo. In the movie does it ever clarify that he is gay?

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 8/12/07 at 1:09am

No. I suppose it's inferred?

[BroadwayEnthusiast2]

Posted: 8/12/07 at 1:11am

I don't see how this is so ground-breaking...

[sitpwg2]

Posted: 8/12/07 at 1:11am

The point:

There isn't another show out there that is exposing a target audience of 5-15 year olds to a gay teen. It gives them something to identify with, and for some of them, someone to identify with. I had NOTHING like that when I was growing up. Infact I had everything and everyone telling me the opposite. Being proud of who you are is the message of the show and for the first time the gay kids are included.
Updated On: 8/12/07 at 01:11 AM

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 8/12/07 at 1:13am

Well, first off you are never told he's gay.

And it's not an honest portrayal of a gay man. It's a stock character, nothing more.

Still, I suppose I shouldn't expect that much from Disney.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 8/12/07 at 1:13am

Even if they are vaguely referred to and in the closet.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 8/12/07 at 1:15am

Just watch UGLT BETTY instead, it's done better and funnier.

[BroadwayEnthusiast2]

Posted: 8/12/07 at 1:15am

"Well, first off you are never told he's gay.

And it's not an honest portrayal of a gay man. It's a stock character, nothing more. "

Exactly.