Ricky Bowen

**Richard "Ricky" Bowen** is one of the main characters in the Disney+ Original Series *High School Musical: The Musical: The Series*. He is the son of Lynne and Mike Bowen. He is Big Red's best friend. He was a Junior at East High School in Season 1 and Season 2. In Season 1, he was cast as Troy Bolton for East High School's fall production of *High School Musical.* In Season 2, he was cast as Prince Adam/The Beast in East High School's spring production of *Beauty and the Beast.* He is portrayed by Joshua Bassett.

## Background

### Personality

Ricky is said to be a sensitive comedian. He can often mask their feelings through humor Ricky is nervous, caring, kind and funny. Ricky cares deeply about stability and craves a safe place in his relationships. He tries hard to display his true feelings, but often he is unable to express himself the way he intends to. He sometimes says the wrong things, but his intentions are good. At his worst, Ricky can be closed-off and reactive, as we see when he is stressed about his mother ‘abandoning’ him and his father. Ricky can also be a bit controlling when he feels scared, as we see in his relationship with Nini. He is a kind, caring boy who is always on the look out for his friends.

### Physical Appearance

Ricky has curly brown hair with blond highlights. He has a slim build and is tall. He usually wears sweaters, jackets, and sweats, like most stereotypical teenage males.

## Biography

### **Season 1**

#### The Auditions

He decided to audition for the fall musical after his girlfriend, Nini Salazar-Roberts broke up with him and started going out with another guy in order to impress her. He ended up getting the lead role, Troy after running in late and singing the song that she wrote for him to confess her love.

#### The Read-Through

After Nini gets upset with him for not taking the musical seriously, he thinks about quitting. Later on, Gina convinces him to stay. He decides to try harder to learn the dances from the musical which ends up impressing Nini.

#### The Wonderstudies

He tries to leave a voice message to Nini but EJ deletes it before she can see it. He later talks to Big Red about it and he tells him to be the bigger man. Later while in rehearsal with EJ while tossing a ball between each other he hits him in the nose giving him a cut on the mouth. He tries to apologize to EJ in the washroom but EJ gets mad at him because of the voice mail he left. Ricky later tells Nini not to share such personal messages, tipping her off that EJ has her phone.

#### Blocking

Ricky's mother returns home to reveal that she and his father are separating, and that she will be moving to Chicago. Ricky is discernibly hurt by the news and plans to stay at Big Red's for the night, before relocating to Nini's house after speaking with her mother, Carol. Nini comforts Ricky, and the two share a romantic moment, before she discovers that he has left the house. He returns to his house to ask his mother if she'll be leaving anytime soon.

#### Homecoming

At first Ricky said that he wasn't going to homecoming, but he then decides to go with Big Red. While at the dance he sees Gina and E.J. arrive as dates. Ricky scolds Gina for taking advantage of E.J., and after apologizing, he drives her home and the pair bond and share a moment.

## Relationships

### Family

**Mike Bowen (father)**

**Lynne Bowen (mother)**

### Friends

**Nini Salazar-Roberts** **(childhood friend/ex-girlfriend)**

Ricky and Nini have known each other since kindergarten. He gave her the nickname Nini since then because he could not pronounce his A's at the time. He has Nini listed under his favorites in his contacts. They dated until the summer before his junior year when he asked for a break and couldn't say he loved her. During the last few weeks of summer, Ricky tried to go out with other girls, but continued to shamelessly talk about Nini the entire time.

In Act Two, he finally tells her he loves her, resulting in a kiss and the two getting back together.

See also Nini and Ricky

**Big Red** **(best friend)**

Big Red and Ricky are best friends who enjoy skateboarding together. While Ricky's mother returns to their house after being away in Chicago, Ricky goes to Big Red's house as an attempt to get away from his dysfunctional family. However, this plan ultimately backfires as Ricky is unable to sleep because of underlying thoughts regarding his family and Big Red's sleep apnea machine.

In Opening Night, Ricky presents his guitar and a song that he wrote (Just For A Moment) to Big Red. Big Red is the only person to have heard it. Left utterly confused, Big Red wanted to clarify that the song was for Gina. Ricky hesitantly shakes his head, noting that it was for Nini.

See also Ricky and Big Red

**E.J. Caswell**

As they both have loved Nini, E.J. and Ricky form a rivalry. In The Auditions, Nini had a moment of sudden stage fright during her audition which gave Ricky the idea to turn on his flashlight for her to get more comfortable. Following he does this, E.J. mimics his action aggressively to try to one up him.

During a Troy and Chad character warm-up between the two, Ricky unintentionally hits E.J.'s nose with a basketball out of spite.

At the end of Opening Night, Ricky panics over the Youth Arts Conservatory recruiter arriving for Nini and his mother with her new boyfriend, feeling that he wasn't what Nini needed to set a good example for the recruiter. After this unfortunate situation, Ricky finds E.J. and asks him to take over as Troy. E.J. is left surprised, but is seen to take on the role anyway.

See also Ricky and E.J.

**Gina Porter** **(former admirer/friend)**

In episode 5, Homecoming, Ricky and Gina share an intimate moment together in the car when Ricky gives Gina a ride back to her house. Proceeding a conversation about their family, Gina plants a kiss on Ricky's cheek before leaving.

In episode 6, after everyone ditches rehearsal, Gina asks to hear a more in-depth idea from Ricky for the musical. He ends up serenading her with an acoustic version of When There Was Me and You. Nini hears him and walks back to the rehearsal room, assuming that Ricky was performing alone. Much to her dismay, she realizes that Ricky was singing to Gina. She storms off in response. After they finished performing Truth, Justice, and Songs in Our Key, Ricky gives Gina a huge hug and spins her around. Nini can be seen watching them from afar.

Before the Thanksgiving party at Ashlyn's in episode 7, Gina shows up to Ricky's house bringing a tray of turkey cupcakes in the hopes of walking to Ashlyn's with him. Ricky is not in the best mood, as he had went to call his mom moments before but heard her boyfriend pick up instead. Understanding the situation, Gina comforts him. She shows him the hat she made him, which cheers him up despite not fitting right.

In episode 8, Gina doesn't answer any texts Ricky sends her, ultimately moving away without saying goodbye.

During Act Two, Gina comes back for the show and has a brief conversation with Ricky.

See also Ricky and Gina

**Ashlyn Caswell (friend)**

See also Ashlyn and Ricky

**Kourtney Greene (friend)**

**Seb Matthew-Smith (friend)**

**Carlos Rodriguez (friend)**

See also Carlos and Ricky

### Love Interest(s)

**Nini Salazar-Roberts (childhood friend/ex-girlfriend)**

**Gina Porter (former admirer/friend)**

**Lily (admirer)**

See also Lily and Ricky

## Appearances

### **Season 1**

* The Auditions (appears)
* The Read-Through (appears)
* The Wonderstudies (appears)
* Blocking (appears)
* Homecoming (appears)
* What Team? (appears)
* Thanksgiving (appears)
* The Tech Rehearsal (appears)
* Opening Night (appears)
* Act Two (appears)

### **Season 2**

* New Year's Eve (appears)
* Typecasting (appears)
* Valentine’s Day (appears)
* The Storm (appears)
* The Quinceañero (appears)
* Yes, And... (appears)
* The Field Trip (appears)
* Most Likely To (appears)
* Spring Break (appears)
* The Transformation (appears)
* Showtime (appears)
* Second Chances (appears)

### Season 3

* Happy Campers (appears)
* Into the Unknown (appears)
* The Woman in the Woods (appears)
* No Drama (appears)
* The Real Campers of Shallow Lake (appears)
* Color War
* Camp Prom (appears)
* Let It Go (appears)

## Filmography

 Season 2 | Spring of 2020
 Season 3 | Summer of 2022

## Songs

### Season 1

* I Think I Kinda You Know/Ricky Version
* I Think I Kinda You Know/Duet
* Truth, Justice and Songs in Our Key
* When There Was Me and You
* Just for a Moment
* Get'cha Head in the Game
* Breaking Free
* We're All In This Together

### Season 2

* Something in the Air
* The Perfect Gift
* Bet On It
* High School Musical 2 Medley
* Belle
* Even When/The Best Part
* The Mob Song
* Let You Go
* Something There
* Second Chance

## Trivia

* The creator of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series Tim Federle named both Ricky's parents Lynne Bowen and Mike Bowen after his parents.
* He has a fear of change.
* His parents are separated/divorced.
* His first crush was Nini, and his second crush was Minnie Mouse.
* His real name is Richard Bowen, and his nickname "Ricky" was given to him by Nini in kindergarten.
* He can skateboard.
* He enjoys arranging songs to play on his acoustic guitar.
* He can play both the Guitar and Piano.
* He was cast as the lead male role twice in Season 1 and Season 2 and Season 3.
* He helped Carlos Rodriguez write a song about how he feels about Seb Matthew-Smith called "In a Heartbeat" in The Transformation.
* He broke his wrist in The Transformation when he fell on Ashlyn Caswell when the harness broke.
* He is Lily's favorite actor at East High School.

## References

1. ↑ The Tech Rehearsal
2. ↑ Showtime