'High School Musical's' Glee Club
At Verizon, Shrill Thrills For Very Teeny Boppers

By Jennifer Frey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 30, 2006

"Ashleeeeyyyy!"

"Ashleeeeeyyyyy!"

"I love you, Ashleeeeeeyyyyy!"

There is a sound that can be created only by girls of a certain age. It's not necessarily about decibels, although that certainly is a factor. Or about how high the pitch. It's the tone: piercing, yet giddy. Like glee run amok.

And that's just what transpired at Verizon Center on Thursday evening, when approximately 15,000 fans -- the vast majority of them girls ranging from 3 into the teenage years -- packed the house for "High School Musical," Disney's tween mega-phenomenon. "HSM" started as a made-for-cable movie, then spawned the best-selling CD of 2006, and now it's a concert tour (and a board game, and an upcoming sequel, and a springboard for the individual actors' singing careers and . . . well, we'll get to the relentless cross-promotion later).

In other words -- tween words -- it's huge.

So maybe some of the parents spilling out of Verizon after the 90-minute concert (which followed a 25-minute warm-up act, Jordan Pruitt, another Disney ingenue) looked like greyhounds that had been trapped in a sealed room with a perpetual tape loop of a dog whistle. And yet there was satisfaction on their faces, too. Who wouldn't be pleased when presented with a child exclaiming, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, you're the best!" and "I love you, I love you! That was awesome!" over and over again?

"Ashleeeeyyyy!" by the way, was for Ashley Tisdale, one of the stars of the concert tour, which includes all the leads from the film save Zac Efron. While her role as Sharpay in "HSM" would fall into the "supporting" category, Tisdale is a star in the Disney universe (she also has a regular role on Disney Channel's popular show "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody"). The girls attending the concert responded to her in a way that can only be described as a swoon.

"She's my absolutely favorite," breathed 9-year-old Kelli Jessup.

Unfortunately, there was far too much return-swoon from the stars, who shouted out their luuuvvvv for the fans over and over and over again. Then again, maybe that's just age and cynicism talking. When Vanessa Hudgens (Gabrielle in the film) thanked the audience for "all you've done for me," one girl immediately replied, "You're welcome, Vanessa!"

The adoration was topped only by the near-obscene branding of all things related to Disney -- something the company does spectacularly well -- and all the hawking of the individual actors' upcoming projects. Did you know that "High School Musical 2" will premiere in the summer of 2007?! If you were at Verizon on Thursday night, you certainly do. And you're also now acquainted with Pruitt (who has performed songs and in music videos for a few Disney Channel productions) and the fact that she has a Web site and a new CD coming out! Oh, and three of "HSM 's" stars were given "showcases" during the concert to perform non-"HSM" work -- Tisdale, who has a CD set for release in February; Hudgens, whose CD is already on the market; and Corbin Bleu (Chad in the movie), who is the star of Disney's next big made-for-TV film, "Jump In!," which airs next month.

Whew.

Lucas Grabeel (who plays Ryan in the film) gets props for an entertaining performance as emcee, complete with multiple ridiculous costume changes (rhinestone belts, argyle sweaters, an endless wacky hat collection). Monique Coleman (who plays Taylor) and Drew Seeley, who filled in for the missing Efron, rounded out the main cast.

The concert included every song on the soundtrack CD, and much of the audience knew the words by heart. With the seemingly simple formula of a) accessible boy-falls-for-girl story line, b) catchy, upbeat music with memorizable lyrics, and c) fun dance moves, "HSM" the film managed to roll together much of what appeals to girls (and some boys) in one blockbuster package.

Toss in the presence of the film's stars onstage and the concert is a singular "event" -- and also the first concert experience for many of these kids. Unless you want to count the Wiggles.

In Northern Virginia, eight moms and nine girls ranging from 6 to 9 1/2 piled into an SUV stretch limo to make a night of it. The girls did makeup and wardrobe (ponytails, lip gloss, denim -- miniskirt or jeans -- on the bottom, "HSM" glittery T-shirt on the top, black boots preferable) for the occasion. The moms drank champagne, the girls sparkling apple juice. The "HSM" CD played in the limo.

"Hanna practically had tears in her eyes," said one of the moms, Amy Bomes, referring to the night she gave her daughter the tickets as a Hanukkah present. "Of course, I became a superhero that day."

It didn't matter that to get such a large block of tickets, the group had to sit in the uppermost tier. They'd actually taken this plunge before -- notably for another Disneyfest, "The Cheetah Girls," in concert at DAR Constitution Hall. But "HSM"? "HSM is the thing," Bomes says.

So they went all out. And they knew it. "Have we created our own monsters?" joked one mother. "What are we going to do for the prom?" added another. They didn't get to go to concerts until high school, or even college.

But it's a whole new world, one where 6 is often 6-going-on-14. At least in "HSM," it's a chaste 14. The hips thrust, the skirts can be short, but the lyrics are clean and the midriffs aren't bare. Nobody kisses on the lips.

"We call it a Girls' Night Out," Shelley Lawrence, one of the moms, said over a pre-concert dinner. "It's a win-win for everybody."

And they let the shrieking begin.