It radiates from Nathan Lane, Hugh Jackman, John Lithgow and Harvey Fierstein, actors who step on the stage and dazzle the audience with luminous intensity.

Call it star power. More than talent, panache or even charisma, it's the elusive quality best expressed by the French as je ne sais quoi. Even if you can't define it, measure it or bottle it, you know it when you see it.

We've been thinking about star power as we've watched rehearsals for "High School Musical," the N.C. Theatre/Broadway Series South co-production based on the hit Disney Channel movie.

In the story, the finicky drama teacher Ms. Darbus spots the special glimmer in a stage-shy jock and a bashful newcomer named Troy and Gabriella. It stops Ms. Darbus in her tracks.

But does that happen in real life?

Yes, it does. Ask anyone who sat in a local auditorium and saw Michael C. Hall, Sharon Lawrence, Jeremy Woodard or Brendan Bradley perform when they were in high school. Better yet, ask their teachers.

That's what we did with three distinguished actors who went to high school in the Triangle before embarking on professional acting careers.

In the following condensed interviews, the mentors of musical theater pros Lauren Kennedy ("Monty Python's Spamalot"), Beth Leavel ("The Drowsy Chaperone") and Chris Lewis ("The Lion King" national tour) recall what set these young proteges apart from their peers.