Harbor Ridge Middle School Principal Mike Benoit just knew I’d want to see the school’s production of “High School Musical.” He was right.

“Student preparation started after school mid-September and every Tuesday and Thursday since,” said HRMS music teacher Sheryl Clark.

Susan Byrnes, director/drama teacher, and Clark auditioned about 125 students, set two casts and rehearsed three hours. More than 80 students were in the four final performances.

With the help of students during winter break, Byrnes created sets, planned rehearsals and rallied parents to organize dinners for all 80 students for the last two weeks.

“Students spent over 70 hours rehearsing the show,” Clark said.

“Musical” reflects conflicts between jocks, thespians, brainiacs and skater dudettes at East High, Clark said, after a new student joins the coach’s son to attempt to break out of cliques to audition for a school production of “Romeo and Juliet.”

“As the story unfolds, all students rally behind the two leads, Gabrielle and Troy, as they audition against the school’s drama president and brother, Sharpay and Ryan,” she said. “It’s a great moral lesson.”

Heather Varney played Sharpay, and she said she benefitted from the support she had from her friends, family and Byrnes.

“Everybody worked hard and gave their best,” Varney said. “Students became one big family. The production was a hit, actors were amazing, stage crew was fast moving sets, and the audience loved it. The experience will be engraved in my memories forever.”

Eighth-grader Meghan Laakso played the crazy fireball drama teacher Ms. Darbus.

“I practiced all summer long,” Laakso said. “When September rolled along, I was ready, and the adventure began.

“This was such an amazing experience. I became closer with people from different grades and made many new friends. It boosted my courage and love for acting.”

Natalie Svinth also played Darbus.

“I had to have a great love of theater and the arts, and fight with the basketball coach,” Svinth said. “This was my first play, and I now know how everything works and how much work and time it takes to put one together. I am definitely hoping to be in more plays and really enjoyed this one.”

Seventh-grader Anna Marshall said it was great to see 50 kids get together and work like a family.

“ ‘Musical’ is a great show that is fun for everyone,” she said. “Everyone worked hard; just in the past week, 55 hours on campus. It was a wonderful, entertaining show.”

Classmate Ben McVicker was a crew member in the play. He said it was hard because he got sore “and sometimes super tired.

“Yet you get to meet new people, and there isn’t the stress of trying to learn lines,” he said. “Crew is a big responsibility the audience wouldn’t understand unless they were in crew. Miss a tiny cue for a major part, or leave props from the last scene out, and you make the actors and the crew look bad. It was a great experience I’ll never forget.”

Hannah Benoit decided to be a member of the crew because she wanted to be in a play but didn’t want to be an actor.

“The performances were very well done, and everyone worked hard to make it spectacular, Ms. Byrnes especially,” Benoit said.

Allie Wojtanowicz, an eighth-grader, was involved as one of the cheerleaders.

“I joined because I wanted to try something I have never done before and loved everything about the play,” she said. “It was fun doing blocking for scenes and getting to know everyone involved. Even after hard work and being at school for many hours, I wish it wasn’t over.”

Classmate Emily Waters was cast as Ms. Tenny.

“For the next five months, every Tuesday and Thursday after school, I prepared for our production,” she said. “When February came, I was overwhelmed with excitement. The play turned out beautifully, and the best part was that one production could bring many kids together and make friendships that will maybe last a lifetime.”

Two things wrong with the performance: One, it only played a week, and, two, it wasn’t staged at the Pantages so a much larger audience could enjoy it. It was that good.

Hugh McMillan is a longtime freelance writer for The Peninsula Gateway. He can be reached at 253-884-3319 or by email at hmcmnp1000@centurytel.net.