My favorite track is 'Bland Pop Anthem no.6'
I work at a childrens' theater. This can be either a lot more or lot less fun than it sounds, depending on the day or, in some cases, the ten minutes in which you ask me about it. Our kids are mostly all somewhere between 7 and 15, but the vast majority are 9-13ish (and let me tell you, you want good times? Middle school girls, my friends. Nothing says shrieking dramarama to me like a bunch of 13 year-olds with theatrical tendencies locked in a rehearsal room together.)
So, of course, we're doing High School Musical right now. I say 'of course' because every youth theater in the country has done this show sometime in the last year, I think. (And if someone knows of one that hasn't please let me know, because that executive director deserves a friggin' parade. I do not, for the record, welcome Zac Effron as my new floppy-haired overlord. Or any of the rest of the cast, for that matter. Not even the boy with the awesome hair and the balls to bill himself as Cordon Bleu with a straight face. (Well, Corbin, but whatever.) Although he is adorable and I hope he can buy his soul back from Disney one day. Or at least manage to extricate himself from the franchise, because it has to be the worst piece of crap movie I've ever had to sit through. But today I found out that besides having an absolutely ridonkulous plot and about the least accurate portrayal of high school life ever (I mean, in my school we would do all of our lunchroom song-and-dance breaks in four-part harmony at least, for one thing), it also has fandom. Fandom! That my kids at work are actively participating in!
I'm torn. On the one hand: yes! Grow, my wee fanbrats, grow! On the other hand: we need to talk about your source material.
I only discovered all this today because a bunch of the girls were all talking about their very own High School Musical stories. I'm sorry -- ahahahahahaha! I love it. Apparently one is working on one where a new girl transfers to Whatchamacallit High and even though girls aren't allowed on the basketball team zomg!!! she is determined to play and she's actually Gabriella's best friend from elementary school and she and Chad fall in love forever, hurrah! (If this girl's name is not [First name of author] Crystal Jennifer Moonbeam Serenity [Last name of author], I will be sorely disappointed. And I hope her eyes are purple. The author is 12. Mary Sue your heart out, girl.) Another one is apparently writing one where Gabriella gets into a car crash right before prom. Oh noes! Adorable.
Now I just need to get them some better canon to work with. (I think I'm going to see if the girl writing the Mary Sue story has read the Alanna books...I think she'd dig 'em.)
So, of course, we're doing High School Musical right now. I say 'of course' because every youth theater in the country has done this show sometime in the last year, I think. (And if someone knows of one that hasn't please let me know, because that executive director deserves a friggin' parade. I do not, for the record, welcome Zac Effron as my new floppy-haired overlord. Or any of the rest of the cast, for that matter. Not even the boy with the awesome hair and the balls to bill himself as Cordon Bleu with a straight face. (Well, Corbin, but whatever.) Although he is adorable and I hope he can buy his soul back from Disney one day. Or at least manage to extricate himself from the franchise, because it has to be the worst piece of crap movie I've ever had to sit through. But today I found out that besides having an absolutely ridonkulous plot and about the least accurate portrayal of high school life ever (I mean, in my school we would do all of our lunchroom song-and-dance breaks in four-part harmony at least, for one thing), it also has fandom. Fandom! That my kids at work are actively participating in!
I'm torn. On the one hand: yes! Grow, my wee fanbrats, grow! On the other hand: we need to talk about your source material.
I only discovered all this today because a bunch of the girls were all talking about their very own High School Musical stories. I'm sorry -- ahahahahahaha! I love it. Apparently one is working on one where a new girl transfers to Whatchamacallit High and even though girls aren't allowed on the basketball team zomg!!! she is determined to play and she's actually Gabriella's best friend from elementary school and she and Chad fall in love forever, hurrah! (If this girl's name is not [First name of author] Crystal Jennifer Moonbeam Serenity [Last name of author], I will be sorely disappointed. And I hope her eyes are purple. The author is 12. Mary Sue your heart out, girl.) Another one is apparently writing one where Gabriella gets into a car crash right before prom. Oh noes! Adorable.
Now I just need to get them some better canon to work with. (I think I'm going to see if the girl writing the Mary Sue story has read the Alanna books...I think she'd dig 'em.)