Bring It On The Musical

Less than a year on from winning the Adelaide Theatre Guide Award for ‘Best Show, Youth Theatre’ with Bring it On the Musical, Pelican Productions has brought this slick show back. If audience numbers and enthusiasm are any indication, it has been a winning move.

Chock full of competition and personal rivalry, high flying energy, angst, betrayal, young love and high school politics, this musical about cheerleading within two competitive American schools is really about self-image, friendship and being true to oneself. Above all, it is a story that encourages young people to realise that what happens at high school, even if sometimes things seem so overwhelming that it feels like the world is ending, is in fact just a ‘blip’ in the big picture of life.

This Tony Award-winning musical requires a unique mix of skills - the expected vocal, dance and choreography, but also competition level cheer-leading. Pelican Productions has chosen the production’s leaders and the cast well, reflecting talent and expertise across all these disciplines.

The set is simple, with the action staged against large and small projected backdrops as well as banks of students’ lockers that cleverly also include projection screens (video design by Craig Williams). The lockers and props such as a bed are brought on and off quickly and unobtrusively by the large cast.

This is a truly ensemble production, with fantastic evenness of performance across the support areas. This includes wonderfully talented and drilled cheer leaders.

However a few individual performances stood out on the night I attended (which was not opening night):

Scarlett Anthony has star quality and a magnetic stage presence in her role as sweet as apple pie Campbell, while Stephanie Cole is dynamic as feisty, streetwise Danielle. Both sing beautifully.

Two audience favourites when I attended were Billie Turner as a wonderfully funny, expressive and nuanced Bridget, together with Sean Jackson, who is fabulous and immensely believable in his role as transgender student La Cienega. The scene between these two when La Cienega expresses empathy for Bridget’s sense of being different and not worthy brought a lump to my throat.

Eve Green as Eva and Sophie Morris as Skylar are terrific in their portrayal of sugary niceness mixed with insecurity and nastiness, each bringing unique aspects to their roles, while Lachlan Zilm is endearing as Steven. Jack Conroy is very good as Randall. All other individual performers also shine.

Director Adam Goodburn keeps the show running at slick pace, working with Musical Director Vocal Rosanne Hosking, Choreographer Carla Papa and Cheer Choreographer Chloe Boucher from Rebel4orce Cheer and Gymnastics in Mount Barker. Peter Johns leads a very competent band of musicians (keyboard, guitar, bass, drums and percussion).

When at last Truman and Jackson High Schools compete for first place in Cheer at the Nationals, the audience is endeared to each of the fantastic young people of both schools. We don’t care who wins because for us they are all ‘winners for everything that matters’.

This short season of Bring it On the Musical has reinforced Pelican Productions’ ongoing high standard as well as its standing within Adelaide's Youth Theatre circles.

Lesley Reed