HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL

Quick, what was the top-selling CD of 2005? That's right, teeny-boppers, it was the soundtrack to High School Musical, a Disney Channel movie and cultural phenomenon. Incidently, the top-selling CD of 2006 was the soundtrack to the Disney Channel sitcom, Hannah Montana. My kids are both squarely within the targeted demographics of both productions and they are both enjoyable family fare.

Last Sunday, we got comp tickets from Disney to go see the production of HSM playing at the Thousand Oaks Civic Center. It was basically community theater, which I've seen plenty of in my day, but when the community is Malibu, you can imagine that the performances are a notch above your average Pensacola Little Theater production. The acting really was top-notch and the singing was great, although the sound was really horrible - A for the actors, D for the techs. The writers added a bit of nonsense that isn't in the movie and overall the show seemed about twenty minutes too long, although it is always worth spending the extra time adoring the brand new boobies sprouting from the chests of the 17-yr-old Malibu girls.

We got freebies, but the tickets were going for $30 or so, making it an expensive day out for the locals. We had great seats in about the fifth row. I don't know if the front of the house was more expensive or not, but I did spy two famous faces seated in front of us - Camryn Manheim and Sean Astin. They weren't together, but they hugged at intermission because it is the law here that all famous people must know one another. Manheim is from The Practice and is quite possibly the fattest working actress ever, surpassing even Edie McClurg. She could easily roll down the street, taking out civilians while declaring herself The Manheim Steamroller if she so chose.

A foot-and-a-half shorter, but nearly as hefty is Sean Astin. I had to look twice and mentally airbrush out the extra chins before I was convinced it was him. I would like to think he is merely bulking up for a role, but I rather think that he is merely bulking up. If they were casting Rudy today, he would definitely be vying for the Jon Favreau role. I didn't talk to either person, as I very rarely have anything to say to anyone other than "hey, I recognize you." I simply report and that is all.