There are two kinds of standing ovations on Vashon.

The first kind happens in waves led by family members, friends and others in the audience. A few stand up, and then more, and then almost everyone else follows in a heartfelt display of artistic appreciation, community pride and kindness.

The real deal — the truly thrilling kind of ovation rarely experienced on Vashon or even elsewhere for that matter — happens en masse, with the entire audience lifting out of their seats as one, unleashing a wild cacophony of cheers and clapping.

Completely uncalculated, this kind of ovation is more than a collective expression of praise. It has the unstoppable force of physics — an overflowing well of energy received by the audience being returned to a cast that has left no note unsung, no emotion unplumbed, and made zero missteps along the way.

That was the kind of ovation that came at the curtain call of Vashon High School’s production of “Ride the Cyclone” on its opening night last Friday. And when the lights came up, many audience members, including me, were also wiping tears of joy and wonder from their eyes.

“What was that?” we asked each other. “What just happened?”

The first word that came to me, in the rush of all that emotion, was magic. We had just witnessed theater magic. Sweeping superlatives continued to swirl in post-show conversations: This was the best high school show ever. The best show we’d ever seen on Vashon, period. We needed to tell everyone we knew not to miss this show.

“Ride the Cyclone,” a 2008 musical by Brooke Maxwell and Jacob Richmond, is now having a moment with newfound Gen Z fans sharing viral TikTok videos of songs and surreal moments in the show, and that’s partially how it found its way to the VHS stage: the kids were excited to perform it.

It tells the story of a choir group of six students living in a small town whose lives are tragically cut short by a horrific accident atop a rickety roller coaster. This happens in the first minutes of the play.

The rest of the action unfolds in the liminal space between life and death, as the teens — guided by a mysterious fortune-telling machine — take the spotlight one by one to reflect on their hopes, dreams, and regrets. The teen who makes the most convincing case to do so can return to life on earth.

Many in the stellar company of “Ride the Cyclone” have already been seen in productions helmed by VHS teacher and director Andy James. Over the years, James has built a student-led theater program, advised by local theater professionals, that has resulted in a tight ensemble of young artists blossoming before our eyes in daring productions including Shakespeare plays and other challenging material.

James’ approach to theater makes room for all participants — performers, stagehands, student directors, costumers, set builders, prop makers and band members — to thrive. And this year, he also turned the ultimate lemon — the cancellation of the high school’s elective theater class — into sparkling lemonade, creating a vibrant after-school theater club that has attracted more students than ever before to the theater program.

But now, a musical? And an edgy one at that, which expresses dark and subversive truths? Were James’ theater kids really ready for the rigors of that?

Hell yeah. They were born for it.

The show’s principal players — CJ Clemmensen, Ari Anderson, Ashlyn O’Malley, Leo Watson, Sebastian Gallez, Sky Skiena and Amali Lewis, all astonish in this show.

Clemmensen, as the old-fashioned animatronic fortune-telling machine, is both scary and hilarious, driving the action of the play along even as the character dispassionately awaits its own demise. And Anderson, O’Malley, Watson, Gallez and Skiena all completely command the stage during their over-the-top solo numbers. Where did these kids learn to sing and dance and hold the stage like Broadway stars?

Lewis, with her mind-blowing coloratura soprano performance, deserves stand-alone praise. Playing the show’s most complex and forlorn character, Jane Doe, Lewis simply stunned as she completely physically inhabited the role and sang every impossibly high note with power and perfection. Not crying while watching her performance? Impossible, for me, and many others in the audience.

The leads were backed by a joyous ensemble of dancers and singers who worked in tight harmony with complete commitment to the show: Ruby Johnson, Callum Brown, Gwen Tomlinson, Lidia Bojko, Moss d’Artell, Lucy Ahern, Maarten Ribalet-Cosel and Mira Stone. The show’s choreographer, Sierra Tinhof, and student choreographer, Moss d’Artell, are to be highly commended for their excellent work.

The show’s remarkable production design team, led by students Mateo Grey and Stephanie Blower, created a vivid world inhabited by the players. And the student band — Mickey Fontaine, Jonah Cole, Marlowe Cardoza and Sloane Overdorf, led by local maestro Christopher Overstreet and student director Fontaine — never missed a beat as the show unfurled.

Remember, everything about this show — from its fabulous poster to its marketing to its backstage mechanics, was student-led. Theater kids will always show you what they can do if you just get out of their way. And, of course, if you set them loose on a show that is absolutely perfect for them.

“Ride the Cyclone” — first produced during the now bucolic-seeming Obama years — has aged extremely well in the past 15 years, mixing sentimentality and deeply biting sarcasm with show-stopping song-and-dance. In fact, it seems the perfect musical for the times we now find ourselves in, in 2025 — an out-of-control era of political outrage, environmental catastrophe and deep angst about the future.

Right now, it’s easier than ever for all of us to relate to the characters in “Ride the Cyclone” and even remember what it was like to be teenagers ourselves. None of us seem to know anymore what will happen next. Yet, we still can’t stop hoping for something better and more beautiful to come.

And at “Ride the Cyclone,” that wish is fulfilled in a way that sates our deep thirst, in these dark days, for beauty and art. That’s something worth leaping to our feet to cheer about. It’s also worth protecting, and nurturing, by donating whatever we can to make the VHS theater program keep thriving at tinyurl.com/fxwhef53.

Three more performances of “Ride the Cyclone” will be staged at Vashon High School’s theater, with 7 p.m. performances on Fridays and Saturdays, March 21-22. A special weekday after-school show will be performed at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, March 20.

Get tickets in advance — a very good idea given the word-of-mouth praise for the show circulating on Vashon — at tinyurl.com/zzsbxux5.

An important note: the show includes (but is not defined by) some raunchy and explicit language and situations, reflecting the honest imaginations and experiences of its teen characters. Previews of language that some patrons may find unsuitable for younger audience members is available at the door.