By Emily Rosenberg ’20
High School Musical was originally released in 2006 on the Disney Channel starring Vanesa Hudgens and Zac Efron. After its insane popularity, it earned two sequels, High School Musical 2, released in 2007, and High School Musical 3: Senior Year, which was released in 2008 and is the only Disney Channel Original Movie to debut in theaters.
With an opening weekend of $17 million, the show was the largest grossing musical film until the release of Les Miserables in 2012. Shortly after the release of the first movie, Disney began licensing the script and the score to theater companies so that the magic of songs like “Bop to the Top” and “Head in the Game” could come to life on real high school stages across the world.
Now, High School Musical is back for a new generation in the form of a Disney+ Original Series, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (HSMTMTS). With the success of the original High School Musical trilogy, this series had a lot to live up to. When I heard that the series was in the making, my first thought was that it was going to be a poor attempt to gauge teen nostalgia, potentially ruining the legacy of the films.
After seeing reboots of other classics such as Fuller House or Girl Meets World, I was afraid that the series would take on a similar theme: basically the exact same as the original with different actors, and worse writing. HSMTMTS has a quirky, fun plot and characters that give vibes of Glee; it strives far from its parent.
In the Disney+ Original Series, students from the school where High School Musical was filmed put on their own production of High School Musical. In the first ten minutes, I was hooked. It opens with Nini, the show’s Gabriella, singing a song to her boyfriend, Ricky, “I Think I Kinda, You Know” on Instagram. They break up because she is going away for two months and he couldn’t say “I love you” back. Before we know it, Ricky scores the part of Troy, despite never acting in a musical before just so he can impress his ex.
Awkward! since Nini is now dating a hot senior, EJ, a lawfully terrible person.
Throughout the 10 episodes, we get to know a loveable group of theater kids who perform original bops such as “Born to be Brave” and “Wondering”. While there is an aspect of nostalgia through the recreation of songs such as “The Start of Something New,” a cameo of Lucas Gabriel (Ryan in the Original HSM) and Ms. Jen’s rendition of “We’re all in this together” as they all sit hand in hand, the characters are also relatable and realistic as they experience heartbreak and failure.
One of my favorite episodes was when all of the theatre kids went to Ashlyn’s house for a party and they played a High School Musical charades game and drank Coke. It reminded me of the fun times I shared with my theatre friends after shows or during rehearsals. Another time I found myself thinking that they nailed the theatre kid impression down perfectly was when they were doing warm-ups and Ricky’s friend, Big Red asks the camera, “Did I just join a cult.”
Unlike Glee, which portrays the music students as victims of frequent bullying, HSMTMTS allows viewers to see that it’s perfectly normal to try something new when Ricky who’s a skater boy tries musicals for the first time and doesn’t get any public hate for it. The theater department is seen as another club or group of cool friends and everyone is welcome, just like basketball or robotics. This, I personally loved about my own theater department in high school.
This show was also the first of Disney’s I’d seen to openly address homosexuality. Carlos, the choreographer, and Seb, who plays Sharpay go to the homecoming dance together. While Carlos originally expresses to his teacher that he doesn’t think Seb will show up because he doesn’t want to be seen in public with him, he eventually shows. They dance just as all the other couples do. I originally thought it was an unbalanced representation that Seb and Carlos were both what some may call “stereotypical”; Seb would rather play a female part in the play and wear a lot of makeup, and Carlos is a flamboyant choreographer.
However, it is important for children to be able to see a romantic homosexual couple being treated equally to a heterosexual couple, so they know it’s okay and they’re not alone. When I was young, it was almost as if homosexuality didn’t exist because it was never talked about in the shows I watched.
Furthermore, it accurately portrays what it is like to be in the middle of divorce as a teenager. At the start of the series, Ricky’s mom is revealed to have been living in Chicago for several months, and he asks his dad if she is ever coming back. Ricky tells Nini that it’s hard to say “I love you” when it’s not even something his parents say to each other anymore. Then, when they perform the show, Ricky’s mom brings her new boyfriend for the first time. Ricky has a panic attack in the middle of the stage and needs to have E.J. step in for him for the rest of the show. This reminded me much of when my mom showed up late to my chorus concert with her new boyfriend, and I stopped singing in the middle of a song and started tearing up.
Seeing Ricky go through a similar situation made me realize it wasn’t unnatural to be sad about what my family was going through like so many people told me it was. T.V. shows often forget that though teenagers are older and more independent, they are still deeply affected by transitions at home.
It also hones in on the big little things like low self-esteem and feeling as if you’re invisible, as well as expressing talents people never believed you never knew you had because others are always given the spotlight.
Overall, this show will resonate with many teenagers because of its accurate and hilarious representation of high school as well as the riveting love story it tells along the way. You may have heard the phrase “High School is nothing like High School Musical” Well HSMTMTS proves to us that while High School isn’t a sing-along in the cafeteria with hundreds of professional dancers, it can still be a blast.
