Then everyone left the stage except Vaness Hudgens, who sang, "When There Was Me and You" without much theatrics (see photo below).
Lucas (Ryan) came back and said we would see much more of Vanessa later.
Drew Seeley did a song of his.
A row of red lockers appeared on stage. As the music started, the lockers opened and performers stepped out in basketball costumes for "Getcha Head in the Game." DDs were excited because one of the players was a girl. They had real basketballs and there was was a real basket attached to the top of the ramp. You can see it in this blurry photo. Troy took a long shot the way he does in the movie but he missed.
This number really impressed me because they did the dance from the movie with the basketballs. I thought that dance was really cool, with the dribbling in unison and fake throwing the ball along with the dance moves, and I had assumed that multiple takes and editing had been required to achieve it. But the performers did the dance (or at least a good bit of it) and nobody dropped a ball. As you can see in the photo, various images came up on the big screen, such as a large basketball and the song lyrics.
After the song, a large number of beach balls that looked like basketballs appeared on stage and the performers threw them out into the crowd. At some events I've been to people try to keep a beach ball in the air and hit it up when it comes to them. But in this case I guess people wanted the balls as souvenirs because they didn't go anywhere! They were quickly grabbed and stowed away by people in the audience.
The performers exited and then Lucas ran on in a track suit with one of the beach balls acting as if he was ready to do the number with them. "Come on, guys!" he said. "I thought we were going to do "Getcha Head in the Game."" He pretended to be disapppointed and said that instead he would challenge someone to one-on-one. He picked out a young boy up front and ask if the boy wanted to take him one. The camera crew showed the boy on the big screen and he said yes. Lucas found out the boy was 9. He said, "I'm 22. Do you still think you can take me?" The boy said yes. Lucas then said he was scared of the boy. Rather than play basketball with him, he signed the ball and gave it to him.
I think at this point Ashley Tisdale did three songs from her new album. Lucas said the album is not out yet, so nobody has heard the songs, but she was performing them just for us. Often during these solo performances, the screen would show the person live as they were singing so that everyone could see them very well. Here is an example of what I mean.
One of her songs was the title track "Headstrong" (Chorus: "Headstrong, can you feel the beat, Meltdown, can you feel the heat). Her third song was "He Said She Said." I don't remember the other one. At one point she skipped up and then down the big ramp.
Then I think Drew Seeley did his song "Dance With Me." Lucas said that Monique (Taylor) had been on "Dancing with the Stars" (which we had never watched) and that she was going to recreate the dance from the video. So while Drew sang on one side of the stage, Monique and a male partner danced.
After their numbers the performers would go have little chats and interactions with Lucas. I'm sure these were scripted but for the most part they were very natural and seemed relaxed and spontaneous. Monique said that her dance partner was one of the Wildcats. Lucas said she had disappeared for four months, refering to the "Dancing" show, and she said that she had loved it and she appreciated the fans for voting for her.
All of them constantly thanked the audience and the fans. They said, "You put us here" and "I love you." To be honest, I really thought it was too much. It's good for peformers have some humility and realize that they would be nowhere without fans, but they laid it on so thick that it did not come across as sincere. But I'm cynical.
Then I think it was Corbin Bleu's time. He did a song from the new Disney Channel Movie "Jump In," that was nicely choreographed with him shadow boxing with and knocking out each of his four back-up singers and then they all got jump ropes and did some simple moves. Then he tossed his rope away and the four of them held their ropes in such as way as to form a boxing ring around him, and he did some moves inside that. Obviously, the boxing and jump ropes are themes from the movie. The lyrics were simple but catchy-- "Push it to the limit, if you're in it to win it" or something like that. Then he did a song from his own album about marching to the beat of your own drum. He had a marching band vest added to his outfit and the back up performers had similar outfits and drums, and he went up the ramp to the band and did some mock drumming.
Lucas came out in a marching band hat and teased Corbin about his hair and how he would look funny with a hat.
Next came "What I've Been Looking For." Troy and Gabriella sang it standing together at the top of the ramp. Then Ryan and Sharpay sang their version on the stage below, with all their fun moves and concluding with Ryan saying, "Everyone loves a good jazz square."
Vanessa Hudgens then performed three songs from her album. I think my DDs were a bit taken aback at how sexy and vampy she was. So different from studious Gabriella! A huge glittery purple V descended from the ceiling during her first number and the big screen showed large diamonds cascading down. Between songs she told Lucas that she had been thrilled to unexpectedly catch her song on the radio and she had taken her mom, dad, sister and pet on tour with her. Lucas asked about the first single from her album and was she up to doing it for us. "For my fans, of course I am!" she warbled and ran back on stage for her final song. This is another instance of the fake humility I mentioned before. Of course this song was part of the program, so why pretend that it was something extra to please her fans? I guess, as they say in HSM, "That's showbiz."
Ryan and Sharpay performed "Bop to the Top" the same as in the movie except they did not have the ladder. Sharpay wore the same frilly electric blue dress.
Then Troy and Gabriella sang "Breaking Free." (They didn't act the part where she was nervous about singing.)
Finally, "We're All in This Together," a great finale if ever there was one. At the end, there was confetti and fireworks-type effects. The back-up singers melted away and as Ryan called, "We'll see you next summer in High School Musical 2!" the six main performers took their leave, waving goodbye.
The HSM phase of the show was about an hour and a half. It kind of came across as a massive commercial for HSM, HSM2, Jump In, Dancing with the Stars, and everyone's albums. But at the same time there was a lot of effort and care and energy put into the staging and the dance routines. Everyone on stage was clearly working hard and giving his and her all, and it was entertaining. Overall it was definitely worth it to me.
DDs were very happy and excited. They said, referring to the HSM stars, "They were right there!" They thanked me for getting the tickets and making the trip. They said their friends were jealous. I felt I had continued to enhance my reputation as an awesome mom.
As we walked back to the car, I figured I'd study the map again and figure out how to get back to the highway. Then we passed a uniformed doorman in front of a building. He gave me very clear and simple directions. Thank you so much to that doorman! We finished the leftover lemonade and pretzel before I started driving, and then we were on our way back. I encouraged the girls to try to sleep. Unfortunately this meant I probably shouldn't listen to the radio, so I just let my mind wander. We stopped after about 2 hours to fill the tank and for me to pick up a snack, and we were home before 1 am.
I hope that if you were not able to go to one of the concerts in the tour, this report gave you an idea of what it was like and gave you a little taste of the thrill.
Boy would my DDs love that! I checked the schedule and the closest the tour was coming was... Albany, a three hour drive away. And the concert was 7 pm on Sunday Jan 7. I reasoned that I love road trips and the effort to get there would simply add to the excitement. Before tickets went on sale, the start time was briefly changed to 4 pm. That would have been a lot better for us. But it reverted to 7 pm. Well, the kids would just have to sleep in the car. They'd be missing 5 days of school when we went to visit my brother for the holidays, and they couldn't miss another day! We'd drive back that night. 
