‘Much Ado Stage School’ presents ‘High School Musical’

It’s set to be a ‘musical’ extravaganza this weekend, as Much Ado Stage School prepare to welcome Tyrone audiences to the Alley Theatre in Strabane for their all-singing, all-dancing production of ‘High School Musical’.

The show, proudly presented by the Castlederg group, will run from today (Thursday, February 16) until Saturday (February 18), starting each night at 7.30pm, with a 2.30pm matinee included on the Saturday.

Directed by Rois Kelly Lynch, the spectacle is running with a double casted line-up, including such local talent as Dervla McSorley, Clodagh Lynch, Chris Friel amd Alex Rushe.

“We do it because the children love it,” beamed director, Rois. “We are so pleased to get back on the stage this year, and have been very busy preparing for the show.”

High School Musical tells the story of Troy Bolton, a star athlete at a small-town high school, who falls in love with Gabriella at a karaoke party.

Upon their return to school, they audition for the upcoming school musical, but must struggle to meet their existing obligations to the basketball team and the academic decathlon.

Behind every great cast is a creative team, and carrying that torch for the Much Ado Stage School is Grace Campbell and Samantha Mitchell, as well as musical director, Jamie Donnelly, and choreographers, Stephen Carlin of Urban Shock Dance, and Joanne McCausland of Dance Revelation.

The Much Ado crew also worked with school patron, Alex Forster, in the casting process.

Now based in London, Forster has previously worked with such iconic names and Andrew Lloyd Webber and Brian May, and was an original cast member of the explosive, ‘We Will Rock You’.

No strangers to the stage, previous productions from the Much Ado Stage School have included numerous spectacular sell-out performances, such as ‘Frozen’, ‘Grease’, ‘Annie’, ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’.

“There are so many life skills to come from learning in a stage school,” says Rois. “The kids are auditioning for and landing roles all around Northern Ireland.

“It’s good to see children from more rural areas getting opportunities in Belfast and Derry.”

With an explosive array of talent involved, the Much Ado Stage School have served as a platform for the likes of singers, Chloe Coyle, and X-factor finalist, Janet Devlin, so don’t miss their spectacular production of High School Musical – and who knows?

There could be a future superstar on the stage!

Tickets are available online now via the Alley Theatre website at ‘www.alley-theatre.com’.