Disney Halts High School Musical Tour

The Australian newspaper has reported that due to poor ticket sales the live stage version of Disney's High School Musical is to cut short its Sydney season and cancel its national tour.

The Sydney show will close on 25th January - five weeks after it opened and four weeks ahead of schedule.

Writing in Saturday's Weekend Australian, Matthew Clayfield reports that Co-producers Kevin Jacobsen and Tim McFarlane said they had been forced to close the show because of poorer than anticipated ticket sales, which meant it was no longer financially viable to keep the show running.

A statement issued by Kevin Jacobsen said, "the last few months have been a difficult time for all families (therefore) it is not surprising that family entertainment, including large-scale musicals such as ours, are experiencing a drop in ticket sales."

McFarlane said the decision to close the show had not been made lightly, stating "the production has received a great response from audiences and media alike and is continuing to have people dancing in the aisles at every performance.

"It's a great shame that the rest of Australia will not get to see this fantastic production, but with the current economic situation, it has become impossible to continue with a national tour."

McFarlane likened the musical's closure to those of numerous shows overseas. Nine musicals have recently closed on Broadway, with some predicting the curtain will fall on no fewer than 16 by the end of next month.

High School Musical first screened on the Disney Channel in 2006 and has since spawned two hit sequels, a bestselling album, a concert tour, an ice show, five video games and a series of books.

The stage adaptation opened at Sydney's Capitol Theatre on 18th December.