Star Rating: *** If they didn't own most of it already, you'd really have to hand it to Disney. Less than three years old, their aspirational kids-in-the-hall TV movie, which has inspired this dancing-in-the-aisles stage version, is still so fresh it's barely broken sweat in the locker room. Already, however, it's enough of a runaway global industry to have inspired not just a sequel but a third instalment (due later this year).

Star Rating: ***
If they didn't own most of it already, you'd really have to hand it to Disney. Less than three years old, their aspirational kids-in-the-hall TV movie, which has inspired this dancing-in-the-aisles stage version, is still so fresh it's barely broken sweat in the locker room. Already, however, it's enough of a runaway global industry to have inspired not just a sequel but a third instalment (due later this year).

The Frankenstein-like formula is simple: squeeze Grease's tough guy/nice girl summer romance into a high-achieving establishment that resembles Fame, tack on the inter-clique rivalry of Sweet Valley High set to soundtrack of manufactured pop-lite and voila, you have a low-attention-span bubblegum smash-hit on your hands. When it's performed by an identikit ensemble of cartoon archetypes and sold to tween-age wannabe consumers with relish, everyone's a winner in a way not even Hollyoaks's current postmodern dalliance with Andrew Lloyd Webber can manage to top.

Would-be Romeo and Juliet Troy and Gabriella are the ultimate renaissance wonder kids, who show that extra-curricular activities are cool enough to allow them to be smart, sporty and arty all at the same time. (Presuming the local council isn't closing down the school, that is.) The show's individualistic sentiments are condensed into the end-of-summer-camp anthem that is Breaking Free, the only memorable song of the show. Which, with eight songwriting teams contributing to Jeff Calhoun's touring production, demonstrates the showbiz state we're in. High School Musical's disposability is its strength for now, but it still looks like one more trailer for a DVD which in six months will be dancing all the way to the charity shop.

From yesterday's later editions.