High School Musical: The Concert (2007)

DVD

High School Musical: The Concert is essentially a stage version of the straight to DVD musical that has not only sold really well in that format, it has also managed to create some chart topping songs. With such popular tunes as "The Start of Something New," "Push It to the Limit," "Say OK" and "We're All In This Together," one gets to hear all their favorite songs from High School Musical performed live. Amidst all the singing and dancing on stage is a big screen that actually projects the original movie. The actors on stage play off of this and then throughout the production, owners of the DVD get quick soundbytes from cast members on their experiences with this show.

While I think turning a musical DVD into a stage musical is a little redundant, something tells me that fans of High School Musical will love to own High School Musical: The Concert.

On the Road
Interestingly, the quality wasn't what I thought it would be for this supplemental feature. There were a lot of black and white shots which led me to believe that the colors in certain scenes weren't up to snuff. This thing is pretty by the book, with a lot of quick editing to make up for some of the visual shortcomings. Lucas Grabeel takes us through the cast's touring lifestyle. We see meet & greets, the cast on the bus and how they have to wake up very early to rehearse the show for the next night. This seems to be a lot to ask from such young kids but they all seem up for the challenge.

U Direct

Sneak Peek At High School Musical 2
If his supplemental feature is lucky it's 25 seconds long at the most. It doesn't really tell you anything about what to expect in the sequel to this movie, rather we see a really tan Zac Efron talking about being "back." That is about all that this segment offers and truthfully that was enough for me.

What can I say? This DVD just didn't grab me. Is this a crime? Well, considering that I am 33, I don't think that I am really the target audience for this release. From purely a production standpoint, this release looks very sharp and well put together. The folks at Walt Disney Home Entertainment really know how to package this sort of stuff up, so it won't be surprising to hear that this release burns up the DVD charts as well. However, aside from the live action component that this disc affords, do you really need all of these songs in a newer format?

Decide for yourself. If you are a fan something tells me that High School Musical: The Concert will have you singing.