Feeling like you've been left back a grade because you didn't get "High School Musical" tickets? Maybe you can make it up next summer.

These pros had it, even as area high school performers.

Onstage chemistry doesn't come from a kit. Director Tim Bennett and the actors in "High School Musical" have spent hours getting to this point.

With halftime approaching, Todd Underwood doesn't have much time to score. He's a midseason replacement coach with a ragtag team. And by April 25, opening night of Raleigh's "High School Musical," the players need to be basketball champions -- or at least look it.

Rows of lockers lined the room. Youngsters whispered with old pals and scoped the sea of strangers for potential new friends. Seats were assigned.

Raleigh's "High School Musical" finally has a lead actor. Jamey Benson, a continuity director for Clear Channel Radio, will play jock-turned-thespian Troy Bolton in next month's production in Memorial Auditorium.

Nobody likes an actor to "phone in" his performance. The phrase signifies that he is not fully committed to what he is doing.

Despite how things might appear, Disney did not invent the high school musical. Yearbooks full of photos of Curlys, Harold Hills, orphan Annies and Annie Oakleys prove that point.

GABRIELLA MONTEZ

Skip through time with "High School Musical.".

TROY BOLTON

After almost six hours of callbacks, Disney's "High School Musical" is mostly cast.