Justin Mamo and Charlotte Debattista were declared winners of the coveted roles of Troy and Gabriella during the final call-backs of High School Musical auditions, held at the Luxol Basketball courts. The two teenagers were ecstatic as Chris Gatt, director of the show, announced that they will be playing two of the most popular teen icons, live on stage at the Mediterranean Conference Centre this December.
Over the past months the daily reality TV programme aired on TVM, showed the highlights of tough rehearsals and call-backs of 36 young hopefuls competing for the two roles.
Justin and Charlotte had tough competition from Chris Aguis Darmanin, Damian Buhagiar, Leanne Vella and Nicole Cassar. The six talented participants performed a scene, a song and a dance from the musical as instructed by the creative team of the show. Under the direction of Chris Gatt with Denise Mulholland as vocal coach and Emma Loftus as choreographer, the finalists had to undergo intensive rehearsals to prepare for their big day.
Tension was high as the judging panel, composed of the creative team and Edward Mercieca as producer, deliberated their final decision.
Commenting about her success Charlotte said that "it's such an indescribable feeling, its simply amazing being Malta's Gabriella. I am honoured to be given that role!"
Justin and Charlotte said that in the past 12 weeks all the participants worked extremely hard both mentally and physically to prepare themselves for each audition.
Justin found the experience rather challenging since he was also physically training to fit the part. "The rewards were not only external - getting through to the next round, and looking better with every kilo I was losing, but it also gave me an intrinsic satisfaction of knowing that I had the stamina and will power to work hard at realizing my dream!"
The young performers boast an impressive artistic CV and both Charlotte and Justin dream of studying further musical theatre and performing in London's West End. Charlotte has previously performed in 'Suessical the musical', last year's Panto 'Pirates of the Medittereanean' and performed in London with 'Showbiz high'. Justin, started taking classes at Stagecoach Theatre Arts School, when he was just six. His performances include Mr Bumble in 'Oliver', Jake in Sparkleshark and his latest performance was in Oxford as Brittnay in We Will Rock You.
After the announcement of the final result, Chris Gatt had some further news for the runners-up. Gatt announced to an ecstatic crowd that "the judges decided that due to the high standards achieved, for two shows, Damian Buhagiar will be playing Troy and Leanne Vella will be playing Gabriella." The judges also offered the other two finalists, Chris Aguis Darmanin the role of Chad and Nicole Cassar the possibility to play Taylor.
The cast also includes prominent actress Polly March as the eccentric Drama teacher Ms. Darbus and young performers Sofie Debattista as Sharpay Evans, Daniel Casingena as Ryan Evans, Isaac Cutajar as Zeke, Annalise Aquilina as Kelsi, Francesca Fenech as Martha and Bettina Paris who'll play Sharpay in two of the performances.
With the full cast announced and rehearsals in full swing, the whole team is gearing up for a great show and the start of something new!
Performances will be held at the Mediterranean Conference Centre on the 26-27 December and 2-4 January. Booking is now open from the MCC box office from Monday to Saturday 10am – 12:30pm. For further information call 25595751 or email bookings@mcc.com.mt. Online booking starts 6th October on www.mcc.com.mt. An exclusive 25% discount on a family ticket of 4 people or more is being offered for tickets purchased in the month of October.
