M-Net's new reality series
High School Musical: Spotlight South Africa premiered on Saturday night, seeking to cast the winners as Troy and Gabriella in a spectacular stage production produced by
Pieter Toerien and Hazel Feldman.
The first episode covered the auditions that were held in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban in June this year.
The usual audition shenanigans were in evidence - producer Pieter Toerien had to make a phone call to disqualify a promising young performer, Zoleka Mtila, who did not disclose her true age at registration.
She claimed to be the minimum age of 16, but it later turned out she was only 15.
As it often is in the theatre, one performer's bad luck was another's big break. 18-year-old Emile Doubell, a Matric student at Victoria High in P.E. got to take Zoleka's place.
In the first round of auditions a team of friendly industry professionals whittled the hundreds of contestants down to a smaller group who returned the following day to hone their skills in a series of workshops.
On the third day of auditions this group got to sing and dance for Pieter Toerien and the Creative Panel to determine who would earn a spot in the coveted Top 40 group.
After the first audition weekend in Cape Town the team were not that impressed and only seven performers were chosen.
With 33 positions left to fill, the team arrived in Port Elizabeth where, in addition to the disqualification drama, the Friendly City also featured 17-year-old Jason Humm, who turned up for auditions on two crutches after breaking his leg in a rugby game.
Jason made it through to the Top 40 against all odds, along with four other performers. Precisely how he is going to master
Lorcia Cooper's choreography routines with a peg-leg remains to be seen.
The show moved on to Durban, where the team was thrilled with the level of talent, especially amongst the guys.
"Durban has produced the most candidates for Troy and it's been a lovely surprise,” said Toerien. “From the other cities we got a lot of Gabriellas but we were short of Troys and when we came to Durban we were very worried – and it's been terrific.”
KZN delivered 13 performers for the Top 40.
Auditions were also held in Johannesburg and tonight (Monday 4 August) at 19h00 we'll get to see whether the City of Gold rose to the occasion.
High School Musical: Spotlight South Africa is broadcast weekly at 19h00 on Saturdays, with Results Shows at the same time on Mondays.
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