Ticket sales for High School Musical reach £20 million
5 Jul 2008, 1215 Hrs

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London, July 5 (ANI): Emmy Award winning American television show High School Musical made a record breaking 20 million pounds from sale of its tickets in the UK.

The Disney production, which is aimed at children, is in great demand in Britain, and producers have described the rush for tickets as "nothing short of astonishing".

High School Musical made its debut in 2006 on the Disney Channel and is now viewed by 200 million people around the world, with the show being based it.

The show, which is playing at regional theatres, opened in January and the 20 million pounds, covers the touring production. There were advance ticket sales for the sister production which opens in London on July 5 Saturday night with a star-studded premiere at the Hammersmith Apollo.

Everything has been readied for the show, with barriers having been erected around the stage door in Hammersmith to protect the cast from over-excited pre-teens.

The London show has been in preview for the past week and a spokesman for the production admitted that the turn up was unbelievable.

"We always knew the show would be popular but the fan reaction has to be seen to be believed. It is like mini-Beatlemania," the Daily Telegraph quoted the spokesman.

"At the end of the show, cannons fire sparkly confetti over the auditorium. We thought it would be a big nightly job to get it all cleared up, but within two minutes it has completely disappeared because children are stashing it away in their pockets as a souvenir," he added.

The London production stars Mark Henry-Evans and Claire-Marie Hall as Troy and Gabriella, a basketball hunk and a shy maths student who try out for parts in the school musical.

Letitia Dean, the former EastEnders star, plays eccentric drama teacher Mrs Darbus.

The show will be going on throughout the school holidays, and fans will be given a bigger treat when a new High School Musical film is set for release in cinemas this October. (ANI)