High School Musical

**High School Musical** is a Disney Channel Original Movie that was released on January 20, 2006. It is the first installment in the High School Musical Franchise.

The film was written by Peter Barsocchini and directed by Kenny Ortega.

## Plot

On New Year's Eve, high school juniors Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez meet at a ski lodge party during winter break. The two are called upon to sing a duet together for karaoke ("Start of Something New"). Returning to school after break, Troy sees Gabriella in his homeroom. She explains that she has just moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico and transferred to East High School over the break. As Troy shows Gabriella around the school, Drama Club President and East High's designated "Ice Princess" Sharpay Evans assumes that Gabriella is interested in auditioning for the school musical, Twinkle Town. Wanting to eliminate competition, Sharpay has Scholastic Decathlon Captain and Chem Club president Taylor McKessie investigate Gabriella's past academic achievements to recruit Gabriella for the Scholastic Decathlon. As a result, Taylor and Gabriella became friends over their shared interests.

During basketball practice, Troy is distracted by thoughts of Gabriella and the idea that he might enjoy singing in addition to basketball ("Get'cha Head in the Game"). Gabriella and Troy go to the musical auditions where Sharpay and her twin brother Ryan Evans perform ("What I've Been Looking For"). However, Troy and Gabriella are too shy to audition. When Gabriella gains the confidence to step forward once the auditions are unofficially declared "over", Troy offers to sing with her. However, drama teacher Ms. Darbus tells them they are too late and leaves. Kelsi Nielsen, the musical's composer, trips and drops her music all over the stage. Troy and Gabriella rush to help her and sing together as Kelsi plays on the piano ("What I've Been Looking For (Reprise)"). Overhearing their performance, Ms. Darbus gives them a callback audition.

When the callback list gets posted, Sharpay discovers that she has competition for the lead role, while the Wildcats basketball team is shocked that Troy has auditioned. After finding out that Troy can do activities outside his clique, other students confess their secret passions and talents ("Stick to the Status Quo"). This alarms Taylor and Troy's best friend Chad Danforth. Taylor and Chad come up with a plan to divert Troy and Gabriella from singing in the musical so they can focus on their upcoming competitions.

In the locker room, Troy is tricked by his teammates into saying that Gabriella is not needed. Gabriella watches this via a hidden webcam that the scholastic decathlon team has set up. Upset by Troy's betrayal ("When There Was Me and You"), Gabriella decides to not audition for the musical. Troy, confused by Gabriella's decision, is unable to concentrate on the game, while Gabriella is low in spirits. Realising their mistake, Chad and the basketball team tell Troy what happened and offer to support him in the callbacks. Troy goes to Gabriella's house and they reconcile, determined to audition for the musical.

Overhearing Gabriella and Troy rehearse, Sharpay asks Ms. Darbus to move the callbacks so they start at the same time as both Troy's basketball championship game and Gabriella's Scholastic Cecathlon competition. Kelsi overhears the conversation, and the basketball and decathlon teams make a plan together. On the day of the competitions, Taylor and Gabriella use the school's computers to delay the championship game by hacking the power in the gym and causing a chemical reaction that forces an evacuation during the decathlon. Troy and Gabriella rush to the auditorium as Sharpay and Ryan finish their callback song ("Bop to the Top"). After Gabriella and Troy successfully perform their song ("Breaking Free"), Ms. Darbus gives them the lead roles, making Sharpay and Ryan understudies.

Both teams win their respective competitions and the entire school gathers in the gym to celebrate ("We're All In This Together"). Chad asks Taylor out and Sharpay makes peace with Gabriella.

In a post-credits scene, Zeke Baylor paces alone in the gym, when Sharpay runs in, declaring that the cookies he had given her that she had initially rejected are "genius." She hugs him and he says he will make her a crème brûlée. Zeke smiles in victory.

## Cast and Characters

* Zac Efron as Troy Bolton
* Vanessa Hudgens as Gabriella Montez
* Ashley Tisdale as Sharpay Evans
* Lucas Grabeel as Ryan Evans
* Corbin Bleu as Chad Danforth
* Monique Coleman as Taylor McKessie
* Joey Miyashima as Dave Matsui, the Principal at East High.
* Bart Johnson as Jack Bolton, Troy's father and the coach of East High's basketball team.
* Olesya Rulin as Kelsi Nielsen
* Chris Warren Jr. as Zeke Baylor
* Kaycee Stroh as Martha Cox
* Ryne Sanborn as Jason Cross
* Alyson Reed as Ms. Darbus, the drama teacher at East High.
* Irene Santiago-Baron as Ms. Tenny, the chemistry teacher at East High.
* Socorro Herrera as Lisa Montez, Gabriella's mother.
* Leslie Wing Pomeroy as Lucille Bolton, Troy's mother.
* Joyce Cohen as Ms. Falstaff, the librarian at East High.

## Music

See Also: High School Musical (Soundtrack)

The soundtrack was released on January 10, 2006 and debuted at number 133 on the Billboard 200, selling 7,469 copies in its first week. In the album's third week, for the chart dated February 11, 2006, it climbed to number ten and has since risen to number one on the Billboard 200 twice (on March 1 and 22) and had shipped 3.8 million copies on December 5, 2006. Out of those copies, more than three million copies have been sold by August 2006; it was certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA.

## Sequels

### High School Musical 2

High School Musical 2 is the first sequel. It debuted on August 17, 2007, on Disney Channel in the U.S., and on Family in Canada. The premiere brought in a total of 17.3 million viewers in the United States, almost 10 million more than its predecessor, making it (at the time of its airing) the highest-rated Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM) to date and the most viewed television film to date.

### High School Musical 3: Senior Year

High School Musical 3: Senior Year is the third installment in Disney's High School Musical franchise. It was released to theatres across the United States on October 24, 2008. Kenny Ortega returned as director and choreographer, as did all six primary actors.

## Spin-offs

### Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure

Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure is a spin-off and direct-to-DVD film starring Ashley Tisdale. The film features Sharpay Evans trying to get a role in a Broadway show following graduation. The film was released as a Blu-ray and DVD combination pack on April 19, 2011

### Reality Series

See Also: High School Musical: Get in the Picture

During July and August 2008, ABC broadcast a reality competition based on the series, High School Musical: Get in the Picture hosted by Nick Lachey. The winner of the show appeared in a music video during the credits of High School Musical 3. The series premiered to poor ratings, with the show coming in fourth place in its timeslot. In the UK, a reality show titled Hairspray: The School Musical premiered in 2008 on Sky1. It saw a team of vocal coaches, acting coaches and choreographers hold auditions at a regular comprehensive school where a mix of students could audition for a West End production of the hit Broadway musical, Hairspray. Although the musical being performed was not High School Musical, the film was the inspiration behind the show. The show was presented by Denise Van Outen and was credited, along with High School Musical, for inspiring a generation of children in the United Kingdom to get into theatrical work.

### Television Adaptation

See Also: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series

In 2019, Disney announced the release of their own television series based on the High School Musical franchise that was released on Disney+ on November 12, 2019. The series, titled High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, focuses on the newly enrolled set of East High Wildcats putting together a production of High School Musical.

## On Stage Performances

### Concert Tour

See Also: High School Musical: The Concert

The High School Musical: The Concert tour started on November 29, 2006, kicking off in San Diego, California. The tour continued until January 28, 2007, performing in major cities around the United States, Canada and Latin America. The concert featured all of the original cast members except for Zac Efron, who was shooting Hairspray. Efron was replaced by Drew Seeley (whose voice was blended with Efron's during the film). The concert featured the original songs from the film, as well as songs from Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale and Corbin Bleu.

### Stage Musical

See Also: High School Musical on Stage!

On August 1, 2006, Playbill announced that the Stagedoor Manor summer theatre camp, featured in the film Camp, would be the first venue to produce High School Musical on-stage.

North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, Massachussetts had a stage production of High School Musical running until the end of July 2007, featuring Broadway actor Andrew Keenan-Bolger and Kate Rockwell, a semi-finalist on Grease: You're the One that I Want!, as Sharpay. Pacific Repertory Theatre's School of Dramatic Arts staged the California premiere in 2007 (which it revived in 2008) and presented the West Coast premiere of High School Musical 2 in January 2009.

Theatre of the Stars in Atlanta, Georgia was the first professional company to put on High School Musical.

### Ice Tour

"Feld Entertainment" produced global tour titled, High School Musical: The Ice Tour which had its world premiere in New York City on September 29, 2007. The cast included 2004 World Junior Bronze Medallist Jordan Brauninger and 2004-2005 Australian national champion Bradley Santer. The show contained elements and songs from both the original film and its sequel, High School Musical 2 and featured a special preview of High School Musical 3: Senior Year when the movie of the same name premiered in theatres.

## Other Media

### Bad Lip Reading Version

On July 11, 2016, Disney XD released a half-hour overdubbed version of High School Musical to its YouTube channel in collaboration with Bad Lip Reading, a popular YouTube channel known for making parody dubs of various clips from films, TV shows, songs, sports and political news stories that perfectly matches the lip movements of the targets. The story in this version is essentially similar to the original with new dialogue, the lead characters now being "Chorky" and "Lumpkinella", the latter secretly being a robot who escaped from a secure government facility.

### Sing-along Reunion

In April 2020, the cast of High School Musical joined with the cast of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series and others to sing "We're All in This Together" from their homes during the Disney sing-along special on ABC during the COVID-19 outbreak.

## International Adaptations

### Argentina

High School Musical: El desafio (Argentina) is a spin-off for the Argentine market, based on the book "Battle of the Bands". The film arrived in Argentine theatres on July 17, 2008.

### Brazil

High School Musical: O Desafio is a spin-off of the American film High School Musical. The Brazilian spin-off is based on the book Battle of the Bands. The film was released in Brazilian theatres on February 5, 2010.

### China

Disney High School Musical China (歌舞青春), also called High School Musical China: College Dreams is a Chinese version of the American series, released in North America on DVD under the Disney World Cinema Brand. Film Business Asia critic Derek Elley rated the adaptation three points out of ten and called the choreography by former Madonna dancer, Ruthy Inchaustegui and songs "bland". However, Elley picked the three songs as "half-memorable", "the ballad "Rainy Season" (梅雨季) sung by two leading characters, the glitzy '"Perfection" (完美) [by] the college rich-bitch and the climatic "I Can Fly" (我飛故我在), which doesn't quite succeed at being an anthemnal, uplifting ballad."

## Reception

On its premiere, the film was a success with 7.7 million viewers. However, the reviews were mixed. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a rating of 63%, while Common Sense Media rated it at 4 out of 5 stars.

Kevin Carr gave the film a score of 3 out of 5, saying, "The filmmakers were just trying to tell a story. Sex, drugs and violence just didn't factor into that equation." On the other hand, David Nusair gave the film a negative review with a score of 1.5 out of 4 saying, "...it's difficult to imagine even the most die-hard fan of musicals finding anything here worth embracing." Scott Weinberg also gave the film a negative review saying, "A schmaltzy little piece of obvious fluff that's directed in truly horrendous fashion and populated by cardboard characters who spit out simplistic platitudes and breathy pop tunes."

## Merchandise

### Books

#### Novels

1. High School Musical (June 1, 2006) by N.B. Grace
2. High School Musical 2 (August 14, 2007) by N.B. Grace
3. High School Musical 3: Senior Year (September 23, 2008) by N.B. Grace

#### Stories from East High

1. Battle of The Bands (January 16, 2007) by N.B. Grace
2. Wildcat Spirit (March 20, 2007) by Catherine Hapka
3. Poetry in Motion (May 22, 2007) by Alice Alfonsi
4. Crunch Time (July 31, 2007) by N.B. Grace
5. Broadway Dreams (September 25, 2007) by N.B. Grace
6. Heart to Heart (November 27, 2007) by Helen Perelman
7. Friends 4Ever? (February 26, 2008) by Catherine Hapka
8. Get Your Vote On! (April 22, 2008) by Alice Alfonsi
9. Ringin' It In (August 26, 200) by N.B. Grace
10. Turn Up the Heat (October 28, 2008) by Helen Perelman
11. In The Spotlight (December 23, 2008) by Catherine Hapka
12. Bonjour, Wildcats (February 24, 2009) by N.B. Grace
13. Game On (April 28, 2009) by Sarah Nathan
14. Lights, Camera, Action (July 21, 2009) by N.B. Grace

#### Super Special Books

1. Under the Stars (June 3, 2008) by Helen Perelman
2. Shining Moments (April 28, 2009) by Helen Perelman

### Video Games

Disney Interactive Studios has produced 6 video games based on the High School Musical series, all taking the guise of music video games incorporating songs and plots from the films.

* High School Musical: Sing It!
* High School Musical: Makin' the Cut!
* High School Musical 2: Work This Out
* High School Musical 3: Senior Year Dance
* High School Musical 3: Senior Year
* Disney Sing It! - High School Musical 3: Senior Year

## Home Media

The DVD went on sale on May 23, 2006, under the title, High School Musical: Encore Edition. It created a sales record when 1.2 million copies were sold in its first six days, making it the fastest-selling television film of all time. It is, however, the second DCOM on DVD to be certified Platinum in DVD sales, the first being The Cheetah Girls. The High School Musical DVD was also released in Australia on July 12, 2006, through Walt Disney, as well as on European Region 2 on December 4, 2006, where it went on to reach number one in the UK DVD charts. It also aired on Disney Channel South Africa, the latest Disney Channel at that time in the southern hemisphere. It was the top-selling DVD in Australia in August 2006. High School Musical also became the first DCOM to be released on Region 3 DVD, when it went on sale on October 10 and December 15 in Hong Kong and Taiwan, respectively. It was released in Mexico on November 10 and in Brazil on December 6 to coincide with Christmas and the Rede Globo broadcast of the film. It was released in New Zealand on July 12, 2006 and was awarded most popular pre-teen movie in New Zealand for 2006

High School Musical was the first feature-length video content from the iTunes Store in mid-March 2006. At the time, it was available as a 320x240 resolution 487MB download for $9.99 after initially being mistakenly listed for $1.99.

The Remix Edition, a 2-disc Special Edition, was released on December 5, 2006. The Remix DVD went on sale in France on June 20, 2007. in Germany on September 13, 2007 and in the UK on September 10, 2007. As of 2010, the film has sold eight million DVD units, earning an operating income of $100 million.

Despite being filmed in the 16:9 (1.78:1) aspect ratio, both the original and Remix Edition DVD releases featured a 4:3 (1.33:1) "full screen" version (though not pan and scan as the camera stays directly in the centre of the image), the format of the film as shown on the Disney Channel. The widescreen, high definition version is available exclusively on Disney Blu-ray in North America and has subsequently been showing in the UK and Ireland on BBC One and BBC HD, and RTÉ One. The HD version is also available on the video section of PlayStation Store, as well as on Sony Entertainment online for the U.S. market.

## Awards and Nominations

**TV Series:** High School Musical: Get in the Picture | High School Musical: The Musical: The Series