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My Visit with “High School Musical: The Ice Tour” Cast
By Rebecca | May 24, 2008
Disney’s High School Musical: The Ice Tour is in town this week and on Thursday three of the cast members were at the local Children’s museum. With the help of Sharpay, our Mia Maid consultant and the biggest High School Musical fan I know, I managed to have a very interesting chat with them.
Sandy Rucker, the blond young lady at the left, skates the part of Sharpay. The young gentleman in the picture plays Troy. (I think his name is Jordan Brauninger but I don’t remember for sure and I can’t read his autograph.) The third cast member pictured plays a cheerleader and one of the other singers who tries out for the Winter Musicale. They encouraged the children to follow their dreams, which is what they were doing and what the show, High School Musical, was all about. After speaking for a few minutes, they were more than happy to answer our questions.
All the members of the Ice Tour cast are figure skaters. Both leads that I spoke with had each been skating for at least 15 years. The skaters act and skate along to a recorded track. They don’t sing their own songs. When I asked about this, “Troy” looked absolutely terrified that I might ask him to sing right then and there. He stated very definitely that they did not sing “in public.”
Members of the Ice Tour had the opportunity to meet most of the principal cast of the High School Musical films at the opening of the Ice Tour in Los Angeles. Some of the original cast also attended the Ice Tour performance in New York.
They all agreed that the best part of skating in High School Musical is that they get to skate. “Troy” said that the best part was “getting to do something you love every day. And to make a living at it… is just great.”
The ladies then added that “the kids” were another best part of being in the show. They said that kids often come to the show dressed up and so excited to see the show. They sing along and wave to them on the ice. They love seeing how much enjoyment the kids get out of watching them skate to their favorite High School Musical songs.
Although he wasn’t there, we chatted about Ryan. (Ryan Evans is our Sharpay’s favorite character.) You will be happy to know, Sharpay, that Ryan does indeed wear hats. He wears a hat for every number in the show. (That means he is always wearing a hat.) The other cast members estimated that he has about a dozen of them, some of them quite elaborate. A couple of his hats are studded with rhinestones. 
The skater does not choose his own hats, however. There is a costume designer for the show who designs all of the clothing worn by the skaters on the ice. She is the one who selects the hats for Ryan to wear.
Also, even though it wasn’t on the list, I thought you might like to know that Ryan also does yoga during the show. He even does the headstand that you see in the second High School Musical movie. He does this in a semi-lighted, raised portion of the set while the spot light is on the rest of the cast skating to “Work This Out” on the main set. His headstand ends when his sister pushes him over.
All of the songs from High School Musical and High School Musical 2 are included in the show except for the fish number in the second show. (At least, when we saw the show that is the only one that I missed.) Of course, no cast members are in all of the numbers. Some are full ensemble and some are duets (pairs skating) and some are solos–pretty much the same as in the movies.
“Troy” did mention that it took him longer to learn to play basketball than it did for him to learn the choreography for the show. He, and most of the other “Wildcats,” missed a majority of their shots. The scene that shows Troy making the winning basket is done in “slow motion” with the ball on a pole that is moved by another cast member. It is lighted by a black light that shows the ball but not the pole with the spotlight strategically moved between the players as the ball is passed. It is amusing but fun and, ultimately, effective.
We really enjoyed the show. My daughter didn’t sit down through the entire first act. She jumped up and down, clapped and screamed out the names of the characters. At the first triple axle done by the lead couple she shouted, “Mom! Troy and Gabriella jumped! They went high!” I think the elderly lady in front of us had as much fun listening to us as she did watching the show herself. At intermission she turned around and asked if we had the movies at home.
We told her that we didn’t own the movies but then we had to explain how we knew all about High School Musical. And that, of course, is thanks to you, Sharpay. It’s because of your enthusiasm that we know about all things HSM. And because of that, we had a really fun time watching High School Musical: The Ice Tour. We only wish that you could have been with us.
Topics: Life, Music, Sisters, Young Women |
May 29th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
i love you and i love you picture i love them i take them with is every thig jajaj