Basketball stars and ballet kings

From the high school basketball court to the royal court of Bangkok, the first week in June marks the opening of two big musicals for several Ahwatukee Foothills actors.

Eight young Ahwatukee Foothills actors will take to the stage June 8 at Herberger Theater for Valley Youth Theatre’s production of the wildly popular Disney’s High School Musical.

The show, based on the Disney Channel made-for-TV movie of the same name, chronicles a pair of teens who form sparks over the summer while on family vacation, only to return to the same high school and find that despite their chemistry, they are worlds apart.

“It’s an upbeat musical about the life of teens from our decade,” said Christine Margo. The 16-year-old Desert Vista junior plays a “brainiac.”

Margo said the show is great for kids, but adults will enjoy the antics of these contemporary kids.

“It’s like a modern day Grease,” she explained, “except the story is more centered around the school.”

From basketball and brainiacs to Bangkok, Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre will open their summer musical, The King and I, June 7, featuring four local youth and adult actors.

Desert Vista senior Michelle Chin will perform alongside Ahwatukee Foothills’ Kim family in the ballet about a widowed American mother who travels to Thailand to teach English to the children of the King of Siam.

Chin, who plays one of the king’s wives, an angel and a dancer, said that although she has been performing since she was 7 and has lost count of the number of shows she’s been in, this is her first professional ballet theater show.

“I’m used to doing weeks and weeks of rehearsals and a couple weeks of shows, but here we get a week-and-a-half (of rehearsals) and a lot more shows,” Chin said. “It’s very organized though, and very well run.”

Chin credits the show’s authenticity as its main appeal for her, with traditional Siamese-style dancing and the custom costumes.

“The costumes are so cool, and it’s amazing watching everything being built for the stage,” she said. “My mom has been helping make the costumes and everything is so detail-oriented and gorgeous.”

The classic tale of East meets West culture will be the first show for Sook Young Kim, who recently moved to Ahwatukee Foothills from Korea with her family - two members of which will also be in the dinner theater show.

“It is one of the best-loved musicals in Korea, too,” said Kim, an opera singer and opera direction major at Arizona State University.

Despite landing the role of one of the wives in a professional ballet, Kim said she is most excited to share the stage with some of the show’s littlest actors: her two daughters, Jeanne and Lynn, will play princesses.

“I am really excited for the performance, they are very enthusiastic performers and I am really impressed by their professional work,” the eldest Kim said. “It’s also a very valuable opportunity for me to experience as a musical and I can do it with my kids.”

Chin said fans of the exotic tale will enjoy the dinner theater performance, “It’s like a whole night of entertainment - you get a package that includes dinner, drinks and a show - it’s kind of like Vegas.”

--Lauren Vasquez can be reached at (480) 898-7917 or lvasquez@aztrib.com.

----Disney’s High School Musical

Where: Herberger Theater, 222 E. Monroe St., Phoenix

Who: Ahwatukee Foothills’ Yvette Adams, Hunter Beetham, Cori Brown, Christine Margo, William Marquez, Lauren Miller, Brett Ponton and Bryan Ponton

When: June 8-24

Times: Thursdays and Fridays, 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 and 7:30 p.m.; and Sundays, 2 p.m.

Tickets: $17-$23; (602) 252-8497

Information: www.vyt.com, (602) 253-8188

----The King and I

Where: Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre, 5247 E. Brown Road, Mesa

Who: Ahwatukee Foothills’ Michelle Chin, Sook Young Kim, Jeanne Kim and Lynn Kim

When: June 7-28

Times: Wednesday through Saturday evenings: dinner buffet begins at 6 p.m., show begins at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday or Sunday matinees: luncheon buffet begins at 11:45 a.m., show begins at 1:15 p.m. Sunday twilights: dinner buffet begins at 5:30 p.m., show begins at 7 p.m.

Tickets: Adults range from $43 to $52; children 12 and under are $20, includes a gourmet buffet meal and show. Show-only tickets are $25; (480) 325-6700

Information: www.broadwaypalmwest.com, (480) 325-6700