"This has been totally different from any show we've ever done, but it's been fun," said Farmington City Arts Coordinator Stephanie Paget. "We hated having to turn so many people away, so we squished in as many extra chairs as we could."
For those not familiar with the Disney Channel original movie, the play is based on "High School Musical," which tells the story of Troy Bolton, East High's star basketball player, and Gabriella Montez, the smartest girl in school. When the two dare to break free from their social stereotypes and try out for the school musical, drama queen Sharpay attempts to foil both the duo's musical plans and their budding romance.
"The show is so much fun," said Paget. "The energy level is so high."
Normally, a Farmington youth theater casting call attracts around 75-80 kids. For this production, however, the line of interested kids and teens stretched out of the building and down around the corner. Eventually, the group was whittled down to two casts of 75 kids -- one older and one younger -- with 60 more having to be cut from the show due to the sheer lack of available space.
"We usually don't turn anyone away from our youth production, but this time we had kids traveling from North Salt Lake to West Point to be in this show," said Paget. "We've had to use the part of the floor to stage the cafeteria and basketball scenes."
Tickets for the younger cast sold out almost immediately, while tickets for the older cast just finished selling out about a week ago. When the arts council added two extra performances for each cast, the tickets for the younger cast sold out the same day as the new performance was announced.
"We normally put it in the paper and send out fliers, but this time we didn't even get the chance to do any advertising," said Paget.
"It's been hard to manage everything that's come because we're doing a popular show, but we want everyone who wants to see it to be able to get the chance."
jwardell@davisclipper.com
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