"High School" a guilty pleasure

Cheddar, provolone, bree: cheeses that could describe the cheesiness that is "High School Musical." But when using the adjective cheesy people often forget, cheese tastes good. \nThe story begins at a vacation resort New Year's Eve party where teeny boppers Troy (Zac Efron) and Gabriella (Vanessa Anne Hudgens) are forced into singing a karaoke duet. As they take the stage they discover they have amazing computer enhanced singing voices they were never aware of. The couple shares a magical night but as vacation ends they must part ways until, as luck would have it, Gabriella's mom gets transferred and she ends up at Troy's high school. The two decide to audition together for the school's musical, but problem is, on Troy's home turf he's worshiped for being the varsity basketball stud. His teammates freak out about his new interest in theater (though they have no problem expressing their anger in song in dance) and the two must also compete against reigning drama club thespians, brother-sister team Ryan and Sharpay (who often get a little too close for sibling comfort).\nThis made-for-TV Disney Channel movie became a phenomenon earlier this year when it pulled in over 36 million viewers and the soundtrack topped the Billboard album charts, selling over 2 million copies (making it the top album of 2006 to date, unheard of for a made for TV movie soundtrack).And while it may just be "Grease" for young kids, It's nice to know its success may spark interest in movie musicals for a new generation after "Rent" and "The Producers" failed to score big.\nObviously the film is made for young audiences (it's so innocent it doesn't even let its leads kiss) and its corniness makes "Grease 2" look like "Casablanca," but that doesn't mean educated college students can't enjoy it. The awesome songs are annoyingly catchy (had the film been released in theaters "Breaking Free" would easily take home the Oscar for best song) and Kenny Ortega's choreography is damn impressive (especially coming from a cast so young.) It's also refreshing to see high school students actually played by teenagers.\nSpecial features include a making of feature and instructional dance video (that's nearly impossible to follow), plus music videos and even a karaoke sing along version of the film.\nSo if next year you see some kid in Gresham trying to get the freshmen to dance around a lunch table in unison while singing a song called "Stick to the Status Quo" just ignore me, if no one joins in, I'll quit eventually. This is one guilty pleasure worth checking out.