US Ambassador Molly Bordonaro welcomed 200 children and their families for a special preview of the much awaited High School Musical at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, in Valletta.

The children were all proud winners of an essay competition launched by the American Embassy to promote discussion of today's global challenges under the theme We're All In This Together, taken from the title track of High School Musical.

The young audience sang to favourite tunes with the talented cast and cheered to great toe-tapping numbers. Director Chris Gatt, musical director Denise Mulholland and choreographer Emma Loftus directed a strong cast of 50 performers together with Malta's top young performers as the leading roles.

The cast includes Justin Mamo as Troy, Charlotte Debattista as Gabriella, Daniel Casingena as Ryan, Sofie Debattista as Sharpay, Chris Aguis Darmanin as Chad and Nicole Cassar as Taylor. The young performers went through a gruelling auditioning process that was aired on TVM during the summer months followed by six months of intensive rehearsals.

The cast also includes prominent actress Polly March as the eccentric drama teacher Ms Darbus and Edward Mercieca as coach Bolton. In two of the shows, Damian Buhagiar will be playing Troy and Leanne Vella will be playing Gabriella.

High School Musical Live on Stage is produced by FM Theatre Productions. The company is no newcomer to musicals, with spectacular shows such as The Wiz, Chicago, Side By Side By Sondheim and A Slice Of Saturday Night under its belt as well as Oliver!, Honk! and Bugsy Malone. Performances will be held tomorrow, on Saturday and on Sunday. A few remaining tickets are available from the MCC box office. For further information call 2559 5751 or e-mail bookings@mcc.com.mt. The production is supported by Once Upon A Time, Radisson SAS, XFM, Digital Magic, Xerox and the US Embassy.