Musical unites odd couple

Competitors will stage production of Disney hit

RALEIGH -- Theater has a way of bringing together unlikely allies, like the jocks and the bookworms in Disney's "High School Musical." But the alliance behind next year's stage production of the Disney TV movie requires more than the usual suspension of disbelief.

The April 25-29 run at Memorial Auditorium will be co-produced by the two fiercest competitors in local theater: N.C. Theatre and Broadway Series South.

"It's the oddest thing," N.C. Theatre producer William Jones said of the hastily forged partnership. "Some things you never think are going to happen and -- boom! -- there they go."

N.C. Theatre, which first hit the stage in 1984, produces Broadway-style musicals with professional lead players, glitzy costumes and showy sets. When the city-run Broadway Series South arrived 13 years later with a package of nationally touring shows, N.C. Theatre no longer had a corner on the market for large-scale productions.

No wonder Jones is surprised that "High School Musical" has brought the competitors together. But Disney's made-for-TV film surprised a lot of people when it quickly became a kid-culture phenomenon.

With a Teen Choice Award, a chart-topping triple-platinum soundtrack, a best-selling novel, and a sequel already in the works, the title had the kind of buzz that could have made it a Broadway hit. Disney chose a different route so high school groups could perform the stage adaptation for the movie's target audience: Only nonprofessional companies would be licensed to present it.

"We were like, 'You've got to be kidding me,' " Jones said of Disney's decision. "It's a very hot ticket, and they could have made kajillions of dollars off of this thing."

Jones saw the project as a perfect fit for N.C. Theatre's Kids on Broadway training program. He signed up immediately.

But Broadway Series South has also entered the kid market, partnering with the Wake County Public School System for recent productions of "Les Miserables" and Disney's "Aida." And there was nothing to prevent the city-run series from staging the show the same season.

Jones told the Disney reps to call him if they heard from Jim Lavery, who runs Broadway Series South. Three weeks later, they did.

Lavery held better cards. He had reserved a spot at 2,277-seat Memorial Auditorium for an April show and could slip "High School Musical" onto the schedule. The best Jones could manage was October 2007 at 600-seat Fletcher Opera Theater, Memorial's next-door neighbor at the city-owned Progress Energy Center.

Jones sent e-mail to Lavery, who was unaware of Jones' plans for "High School Musical." Jones was braced for battle, but there was none. Lavery suggested a partnership: N.C. Theatre will mount the production with Lavery's support, drawing the cast from the Wake public schools, Kids on Broadway and elsewhere.

N.C. Theatre hopes to hire its popular guest director, Casey Hushion, if her schedule allows. Hushion is assistant director for Broadway's Tony-winning "The Drowsy Chaperone" and is working on other projects aimed for Broadway.

Hushion says she hasn't seen the movie, but she understood the popularity of a backstage drama set in a high school's emotional cauldron.

"It's great territory for a show to theatricalize," she says. "I'm surprised it hasn't happened sooner."

Lavery, who describes "High School Musical" as a cleaner version of "Grease," is pleased to have averted at least one competition with Jones.

"I think both of us are behind making a good working relationship," he says.

Jones hopes that his production will mark the Triangle premiere of "High School Musical." But he doubts it will. More than 800 companies worldwide applied for rights in the three days after Jones got them, he says.

"I imagine everybody is going to jump on this thing as fast as they can."