The West Milford Players set to rock the house down with Disney's ‘High School Musical'

WEST MILFORD — Jumping out of Disney’s movie vaults and on to the live stage, The West Milford Players will be bringing “High School Musical” to the Hillcrest Center for 11 performances during the month of May. The show will open on Friday, May 4 at 8 p.m. All shows will be performed at the Hillcrest Community Center in West Milford. Ticket prices are $18 for adults and $15 for students and seniors. Call the West Milford Players hotline 973-697-4400 for more information and ticket reservations. Released by Disney as a made for TV movie, “High School Musical” became a phenomenon that has swept the country. After garnering two Emmy awards and being nominated for several more, Disney converted “High School Musical “for the stage because of its popularity. An obvious indication of the show’s huge popularity among young teens and pre-teens came during auditions when over 90 kids came to audition for the show. “Hillcrest was busting at the seams!” says director Erika Crocco, “We had to really keep the auditions well organized so every child had a chance to prove themselves” “These kids hit the ground running and haven’t looked back. The dance numbers, the big musical numbers, are all sensational. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of kids.” However directing 42 kids in a musical production can be a little overwhelming even for a seasoned director as Crocco. “I brought in two wonderful assistants (Carolyn Jakimas and Gina Hodes) just to help with the logistics of staging a musical of this proportion. A musical like this deserves a top flight production team.” The story of “High School Musical” starts with the chance pairing of high school hoop star Troy and the brainy Gabriella at a Karaoke contest. They discover their mutual love for music and an immediate interest in each other. Things heat up when Troy returns to school and finds the same Gabriella from the Karaoke contest has just checked in as the new kid in school. Troy and Gabriella decide to audition for the high school musical, but Troy’s best friend, Chad and Gabriella’s new friend, Taylor, conspire to keep them from auditioning for their own reasons. Meanwhile, the perennial leads in the high school production, Sharpay and her brother, have their own reasons for making sure Troy and Gabriella do not audition. Keeping with their commitment to “Bring Community Theater back to the Community” the West Milford Players will use their production of “High School Musical” to benefit two very important groups in town. PRIDE, which is an organization that benefits mentally challenged adults in town, and ERASE which is a high school based program which helps raise awareness of sexual abuse and intolerance among teens will receive a portion of the proceeds from “High School Musical.“ “PRIDE has been our neighbor at Hillcrest for many years,” explained Crocco, “and they do wonderful work. We were thrilled that we could help their worthy cause. ERASE which is an acronym for Eradicate Racism and Sexism Everywhere seemed like a nice tie in with the theme of this show. We felt a show of this magnitude could benefit both groups.” Both group will be invited in on alternate performances to conduct their own fund raising activities. “This show will rock the house down,” promises director Crocco. “It’s a musical kids can relate to and parents can sit back and enjoy.”