Vanessa Hudgens performs a scene from "High School Musical." Photos by Leah Parr/R-Jeneration Corbin Bleu wows the crowd in a passionate scene from "High School Musical."

Everybody loves a good jazz square, said the master of ceremonies, Lucas Gabreel.

I'm not sure exactly what a "jazz square" is, but I do know everybody at the Thomas & Mack Center on Jan. 28 loved "High School Musical: the Concert."

They loved Ashley Tisdale. They loved Corbin Bleu. They loved Vanessa Hudgens. They loved Drew Seeley and Monique Coleman. They especially loved Lucas Grabeel.

A pair of teenage girls in the row in front of me, wearing caked-on mascara and clutching pink cell phones and cameras, nearly fainted at the start of the show, shrieking and screaming out, "We love you, Ashley."

"High School Musical" is the story of two high school students: Troy Bolton, captain of his school's basketball team, and Gabriella Montez, a shy transfer student who excels in math and science. Together, they try out for the lead parts in their high school musical. Despite their cliques' attempts to thwart their dreams, Troy and Gabriella persist and inspire others along the way.

Opening act Jordan Pruitt tried her best to rouse the crowd, singing teenaged-themed songs, such as the plainly named "Teenager" and "On the Outside Looking In." Her last song was a revamped version of "We are Family" by Sister Sledge, a cover most people with decent musical taste would cringe at hearing. The pop-infused remix energized the younger crowd who stood up to dance along, but failed to impress parents that night.

The concert featured all the songs from the Disney Channel movie "High School Musical," as well as showcases by Tisdale, Bleu, and Hudgens from their upcoming solo albums.

Tisdale wore a green mini dress with high-top "Chucks," an odd outfit selection, but her songs were halfway decent. Perhaps my biggest problem with Tisdale is that her genre is too typical. The pop world has enough Hilary Duffs already. No need for another one.

During Bleu's showcase, I'm ashamed to say I found myself singing along to the chorus of "Push it to the Limit," the main song from the soundtrack of "Jump In," the Disney Channel movie Bleu starred in recently. Most amazing of all, however, were not Bleu's songs, but his hair. His bouncy, curly locks rivaled that of Shirley Temple. Or Justin Guarini.

Hudgens, fresh off her tour with the Cheetah Girls, stood out from the rest of the cast because her first single "Let's Dance" had a hip-hop feel and more spunk than her blonde counterpart, Tisdale.

The concert dragged on because MC Grabeel interviewed each performer after his or her set. The concert began to resemble a red carpet show when Grabeel asked Tisdale what it was like to record her first album.

"It's crazy," Tisdale said. "And I have to thank all my fans because without them, I wouldn't be here." At this, the thousands of teenyboppers screamed. I had never before been to a concert so loud.

The three showcases seemed to be the focus of the night, not to mention huge promotional opportunities for the three stars. Kids will be begging their parents to purchase all three albums.

The actual routines from the movie were intensely choreographed. The cast donned basketball jerseys and simulated a half-court game right on stage (basketballs and hoop included) for the song "Get'cha Head in the Game."

Among the performers that night, Latin Youth Ballroom Champion Jared Murillo assisted Coleman and Seeley during a Latin number, which seemed awkward because typically Latin routines are danced by two persons, not three.

For their final number, "We're All in this Together," the whole cast came together on stage and closed the show, complete with confetti, cheerleaders, jocks and nerds.

While they show was pretty corny, there's no denying the astounding talent of these teenagers. (With the exception of Tisdale, all the performers were about 18-years-old.) At such young ages, these singers and dancers performed like seasoned veterans, even though this was the first live tour for many of them.