‘High School Musical’ cast real American Idols
From Darryl Morden

SAN DIEGO—Sorry, Fox, these are this year’s real American Idols. The cast of Disney Channel’s “High School Musical” launched a concert tour Wednesday at the ipay One Centre in San Diego with a family-friendly show based on the TV movie that has become an entertainment juggernaut.
A chipper, squeaky-clean throwback with a lineage traceable from Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland films of 60 years ago through the Partridge Family and “Fame,” “High School Musical” is a clever meeting of contemporary pop-rock and burst-out-and-sing show tunes. The approach has won over teens and tweens; the arena was filled with parents and children, though it mostly appeared to be a girls’ night out for mothers and daughters.
The concert featured songs more or less in order from the original production, but it took detours to showcase the film’s principals promoting current or upcoming albums and other Walt Disney Co. projects. Backing singers and dancers also were recruited from the movie, while short clips ran on a large screen to help push numbers along.
Because male lead Zac Efron is busy filming “Hairspray,” his spot is being filled by Drew Seeley, a rising pop star who’s more model boy than Efron’s boy-next-door. His duets with female lead Vanessa Hudgens lacked the chemistry she had with Efron in the film, but perhaps it will develop as the tour continues.
The hyperactive, perpetually hat-wearing Lucas Grabeel served as the night’s emcee and kept things moving along, introducing his fellow stars and conducting “interviews” after each of their performances.
Of the spotlights, rosy-cheeked, smiling Hudgens sparkled most with her Latin-tinged pop; she’s definitely a charmer with a future. Equally appealing was energetic, mop-haired Corbin Bleu, who performed songs from his upcoming Disney Channel movie “Jump In.”