CHARLESTON, W.Va. — More than 60 young actors across the Kanawha Valley will be part of the on-stage presentation of “Disney’s High School Musical” this week at the Clay Center in Charleston. It’s the 85th Anniversary Production of Children’s Theater of Charleston.
“There are 60 actors,” said director Debbie Haught. “We have students representing every high school in Kanawha County, two in Putnam County, and one in Boone County. We have such an array of talented young people.”
It’s been a challenge to get the production together because work on the show started before school was out for the summer. According to Haught, it’s a production many of the young actors were clamoring to join.
“A lot of students who said they would love to do it. Many in the cast said if it ever happened in West Virginia, they were going to audition no matter where it is,” she explained.
The draw for the young actors is the show itself. The production was a hit movie and is extremely familiar to the cast.
“This is so much a part of all of their history of growing,” Haugh said. “They know this together. You can say one word from the show and they can come up with the next line.”
But Haught says the cast members are extremely familiar with the film. The two-act musical includes several new songs which have added to the passion of the group. Although it is a production which appeals much more to a younger demographic, Haught cautioned adults shouldn’t dismiss the production either.
“I wasn’t sure about High School Musical for me as an adult who didn’t grow up with it,” she said. “But after I got to know it, it has a wonderful message for us right now. It’s that being ourselves is all right and we can grow together rather than apart.”
Showtimes are 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at the Clay Center and a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday afternoon at the Clay Center in Charleston. Although it would seem to be a production selected by the young actors, Haugh added it was picked by the board of the Children’s Theater of Charleston.