Musical mania grips Midlands

Youngsters danced in the aisles as the end credits rang out at the premiere of High School Musical 3.

The region's only preview took place at Birmingham's Cineworld in Broad Street last night, and as children as young as three danced along at the front of the cinema, adults left with a smile on their face, and a free goody bag in their hands.

As guests gathered before the film started at 7.15pm, young cheerleaders from the Wolverhampton-based Sharon Ann Freestyle and Cheer Academy donned blue and white outfits to wow visitors with tricky stunt routines before they took their seats.

Those lucky enough to have a ticket were ushered into the cinema by a man wearing an American-style movie theatre costume, before watching cast interviews via a live link-up with the London premiere before the cheerleaders returned to count down to the opening credits.

Former West Bromwich Albion player Shelton Martis, aged 25, had taken his daughter Shaiennthy Groenefelt, aged five to see the show.

The youngster said: "My favourite thing is all the dancing. I like Sharpey the best, I really like her."

Singer Jamelia added some much-needed glamour to the occasion when she turned up at 7pm with her husband, footballer Darren Byfield, and daughters Tiani, aged two and Teja, aged seven.

She admitted she had even been badgered by her daughters into wearing the famous red and white colours of the Wildcats, and had donned a red Dolce and Gabbana trench coat.

The 27-year-old, said: "Obviously I've been influenced by my children. First of all it was my eldest daughter who watched the musical and loved it, then I I thought I'd see what all the fuss was about.

"It's really positive and especially in the social climate we've got at the moment, it's really refreshing to have something fun and not too serious and it's something I don't mind my children being a part of."

And she added that her husband, who has played for Walsall and Aston Villa and is currently at Doncaster Rovers is just as big a fan. "He is just as into it as everyone else," she said. "He was the one rushing to get us out of the house."

Sharon Fowler from the Sharon Ann Freestyle and Cheer Academy in Wolverhampton, based at the Royal Wolverhampton School in Penn Road, said they had been contacted by Disney just a week before the premiere and had just a few days to rehearse. "It's been lovely, the kids have been astounded by some of the stunts they have seen," she said. "I think a lot of people think cheerleading is just about pom poms but we do a lot of difficult stunts."

Daughter Beckie Fowler a student at University College Birmingham, aged 19, and former Smestow School pupil, said: "A lot of my friends have come to watch us tonight. I'm a really big of the film, I love the dancing, I can't wait to see it."

Shaun Hill, brand ambassador for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures UK, said: "It's been fantastic. For us Birmingham is one of the key cities, in terms of demand for the film and because Cineworld has been a fantastic supporter of Disney."

Speaking after the film, Laura Johnson, aged 17 from Moseley, said: "It was amazing, I loved all of it, and Troy is so fit, I loved the bit where he took his top off," while four-year-old Jasmine Morton from Dickens Heath, Solihull, added: "I liked it. I liked it when they sang the High School Musical song at the end."