High School Musical

High School Musical
File:HSM.jpg
Directed by	Kenny Ortega
Written by	Peter Barsocchini
Produced by	Don Schain
Starring	Zac Efron Vanessa Anne Hudgens Ashley Tisdale Lucas Grabeel Monique Coleman Corbin Bleu
Cinematography	Gordon Lonsdale
Edited by	Seth Flaum
Music by	Greg Cham Roy Cham Andy Dodd Faye Greenberg Jamie Houston David Lawrence Adam Watts Matt Gerrard Andrew Lane Eddie Galan
Distributed by	Disney Channel
Release dates	January 20, 2006
Running time	93 min
Countries	United States of America Japan Russian Federation
Language	English
Budget	$5 million (est.)

High School Musical is a 2006 Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM). The made-for-TV musical film tells the story of two students, Troy, the captain of his school's basketball team, and Gabriella, a shy new student who excels in mathematical fields. Together, they try out for the lead parts in their school musical. Despite some students' attempts to thwart their dreams, Troy and Gabriella persist and inspire others along the way.

Plot summary

Template:Spoilers Troy and Gabriella, two complete strangers, both go to a New Year's Eve Party. They are chosen to sing "Start of Something New". Afterwards, they introduce themselves and exchange numbers, promising to call each other.

Gabriella's mother's company transfers to Albuquerque, not knowing that Troy actually attends her new school. Troy is also the star player of the basketball team, of which his father, Jack Bolton, is the coach.

During homeroom, Ms. Darbus, the theater teacher, announces the upcoming auditions for the winter musical. Troy sees Gabriella at the back and tries to call her. Her cellphone rings and leads to Sharpay, Ryan, Troy, Gabriella, Taylor and Chad getting detention.

After homeroom, Troy and Gabriella meet and look at the signup sheet for the auditions. Sharpay finds them and assumes that Gabriella wants to sign up. She and Ryan put an article about Gabriella's academic achievements into Taylor's locker. During detention, Taylor approaches Gabriella and invites her to join the school's scholastic decathlon team.

As a result of the detention both Troy and Chad miss their basketball practice, much to the annoyance of Coach Bolton. During a confrontation between the coach and Ms. Darbus it is made clear that neither of them has any real respect for the work that the other does. Troy eventually takes part in practice but he can't seem to stop thinking about Gabriella, which is reflected by the whole team singing "Get'cha Head in the Game".

On the day of the auditions, Chad tells Troy that there is a basketball practice during free period. However, Troy chooses to go to the auditions instead. He meets Gabriella backstage and both watch a series of bad auditions, followed by Sharpay and Ryan's rendition of "What I've Been Looking For". Gabriella suddenly decides to audition, and even when Troy offers to sing with her, Ms. Darbus rejects them, claiming they are "too late".

After a confrontation with Sharpay, Kelsi, the composer of the musical, trips and drops her notes. Troy and Gabriella rush to help her and end up singing a slower and more correct (according to Kelsi) version of the song "What I've Been Looking For". Ms. Darbus watches them from behind a wall and decides to give them a chance, inviting then to perform at the callbacks. When Sharpay finds out, she is furious.

With the captain of the Wildcats daring to try something new, it seems many students are losing their inhibitions and revealing their true desires to their friends, much to the annoyance of Sharpay. In the cafeteria most of the school breaks out into song singing, "Stick to the Status Quo". While Sharpay is having a stroll through the cafeteria, Gabriella trips and her lunch spills all over Sharpay's jacket. Sharpay informs Ms. Darbus that Troy and Gabriella are trying to destroy the musical. Ms. Darbus informs Coach Bolton and ends up having yet another argument with him.

Chad and Taylor decide that they need to do something and devise a plan. The basketball team tricks Troy into saying that Gabriella isn't important while she watches events through a Wi-Fi link. Gabriella is hurt and sings "When There Was Me and You", later telling Troy that she isn't going to do the auditions anymore.

After seeing how Troy and Gabriella no longer get along, Chad and Taylor decide to tell them the truth. However, Gabriella still refuses to forgive Troy, until he turns up at her balcony singing the harmony of "Start of Something New".

In order to secure their places in the musical, Sharpay and Ryan persuade Ms. Darbus to change the callbacks time to coincide with the championship game and the scholastic decathlon. When Kelsi finds out, she and the others are devastated, but the scholastics and the jocks work together to come up with a plan.

On the day itself, Taylor and Gabriella send a virus into the system to disrupt the basketball game, then boil a bad-smelling chemical to stall the decathlon. Troy and Gabriella then run to the theater.

Sharpay and Ryan finish performing "Bop to the Top". But when Troy and Gabriella show up after Ms. Darbus called their names, she tells them, again, that they are too late. People start streaming into the theater to support them, giving Ms. Darbus no choice but to let them perform "Breaking Free". In the end, Ms. Darbus gives the parts to Troy and Gabriella. After winning both the scholastic decathlon and the basketball game. Gabriella runs up to Troy and they try to kiss but are interupted by Chad, who is trying to give the game ball to Troy but ends up giving the ball to Kelsi. Jason Cross helps her shoot a basket and then the entire school gathers in the gym to perform "We're All in This Together". After the credits roll, Sharpay is seen complimenting Zeke on his cookies. She hugs him and they move off the camera as Zeke promises to make her a crème brûlée.

Cast

• Zac Efron - Troy Bolton
• Vanessa Anne Hudgens - Gabriella Montez
• Ashley Tisdale - Sharpay Evans
• Lucas Grabeel - Ryan Evans
• Alyson Reed - Ms. Darbus
• Monique Coleman - Taylor McKessie
• Corbin Bleu - Chad Danforth
• Olesya Rulin - Kelsi Nielsen
• Chris Warren Jr. - Zeke Baylor
• Bart Johnson - Coach Jack Bolton
• Ryne Sanborn - Jason Cross
• Socorro Herrera - Ms. Montez
• Joey Miyashima - Principal Dave Matsui

Release dates

Country	Channel	Date
United States	Disney Channel	20 January, 2006
Canada	Family Channel	20 January, 2006
Australia	Disney Channel Australia	10 June, 2006
Asia	Disney Channel Asia	25 June, 2006
Brazil	Disney Channel Brazil	30 July, 2006
Latin America	Disney Channel Latin America	6 August, 2006
Germany	Disney Channel Germany	2 September, 2006
Norway	Disney Channel Scandinavia	8 September, 2006
Sweden	Disney Channel Scandinavia	8 September, 2006
Denmark	Disney Channel Scandinavia	8 September, 2006
Middle East	Disney Channel Middle East	8 September, 2006
France	Disney Channel France	19 September, 2006
UK	Disney Channel UK	22 September, 2006
India	Disney Channel India	24 September, 2006
Portugal	Disney Channel Portugal	30 September, 2006
Italy	Disney Channel Italy	30 September, 2006
Spain	Disney Channel Spain	30 September, 2006
Taiwan	Disney Channel Taiwan	7 October, 2006
Chile	Canal 13	17 November, 2006
The Netherlands	Veronica	3 December, 2006

Characters

Main characters

Troy Bolton

Troy Bolton (Zac Efron) is one of the protagonists in the movie, the basketball team captain. He discovers his ability to sing in the beginning of the movie, when he was singing karaoke with Gabriella Montez at a New Years Eve party. Troy has to face his friends with his new passion for singing and also face his father, who is also the varsity basketball coach. Troy comes to realize that he has strong feelings for Gabriella and also manages to both play in the basketball team and sing in the callbacks for the school musical with Gabriella. He is friends with Chad Danforth (Corbin Bleu) and the rest of the basket ball team.

Gabriella Montez

Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Anne Hudgens) is the shy and brainy new student at East High. She originally meets Troy Bolton at a Ski Lodge on New Years Eve. It is there she realizes her love for singing, previously only being "The Freaky Math Girl". She had previously been in church choir, but when singing solo, she, quote "looked at all the people staring at me and next thing I knew I was looking at the ceiling. End of solo career." Sharpay and Ryan find out that she has won numerous Scholastic Competitions and try to get her to join the Scholastic Decathlon by showing an article to Taylor, the leader of the scholastic decatholon team, because they are afraid that she wants to try out for the musical. She and Troy, against all odds, audition for the Winter musical and win the roles that they auditioned for. She comes to realize that she has strong feelings for Troy and also manages to both do the scholastic decathalon and sing in the callbacks for the school musical with Troy.

And he said he was gay.

Sharpay Evans

Sharpay Evans (Ashley Tisdale) is the antagonist of the story who is shown as an arrogant, domineering, and overall brattish person. She had always had the lead role in musicals since kindergarten, and is very mean to Kelsi, the composer, saying that Kelsi's compositions are nothing without her and her brother. Sharpay is the more cunning of the Evans twins, and doesn't treat her brother Ryan very well. Sharpay changes the callbacks date to prevent Troy and Gabriella from getting the roles, but it doesn't work out. However, at the end of the show, she has a change of heart and wishes Gabriella luck. Also, she initially rejects Zeke, but after tasting his cookies, she falls for him and is seen hugging him in the end.

Ryan Evans

Ryan Evans (Lucas Grabeel) is Sharpay's brother and acting partner. They've starred in 17 school musicals together. Ryan isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, as shown by his inability to read a sign the Basketball team made out of letters on their shirts which read "Go Drama Club!". He doesn't have any friends besides Sharpay so he usually follows her around. Ryan is the nicer of the two twins. He sings both 'What I've Been Looking For' and 'Bop to the Top' with Sharpay and also has a small solo in 'We're All in This Together.'

Taylor McKessie

Taylor McKessie (Monique Coleman) is the leader of the school scholarly/science club, which competes in the scholastic decathlon. She befriends Gabriella when she came to the school and, by means both foul and fair, convinces her to join the scholastic club. While she at first tried to stop Gabriella from singing, she eventually ended up supporting her.

Chad Danforth

Chad Danforth (Corbin Bleu) is a member of the Wildcats team. He seems to be extremely devoted to basketball. From the start he's a little selfish and unsupportive of Troy's auditioning for the musical. He thinks that the musical isn't for basketball players. However, he realizes later that singing is something that Troy truly enjoys and so Chad gives his support to his best friend's audition endeavor. He also falls for Gabriella's best friend Taylor McKessie.

Minor characters

Ms. Darbus

Ms. Darbus (Alyson Reed) is the harsh drama teacher at East High. Her nemesis is Coach Bolton (Troy's father), and she will only ease up on talented singers. She likes to pronounce 'musical' with a flourish, using a French accent.

Coach Jack Bolton

Coach Jack Bolton (Bart Johnson) is the Wildcats' coach and Troy's dad. He is a former champion Wildcat player, and, like everyone else, expects the same thing of his son. His nemesis is Ms. Darbus, who puts two of his players in detention on a basketball practice day.

Kelsi Nielsen

Kelsi "Playmaker" Nielsen (Olesya Rulin) who receives her nickname from Troy, and also "Small Person" from Chad, is the composer of the Twinkle Town musical, which includes the songs "What I've Been Looking For" and "Breaking Free". Kelsi is not the most confident person as noted by her reaction to Sharpay's comment that Kelsi's knowledge about musicals is not very large, however she gains confidence throughout the film and at the end of the movie, ends up standing up for herself.

Zeke Baylor

Zeke (Chris Warren Jr) is a member of the Wildcats team. He is interested in baking (revealed during Stick to the Status Quo) and he likes Sharpay. At the end of the movie Sharpay starts to like him for his excellent skills - and cookies. Also, as he says in Stick To the Status Quo, he wants to bake the perfect crème brûlée.

Jason Cross

Jason (Ryne Sanborn) is also a player in the Wildcats team and eventual love interest for Kelsi Neilsen. It is shown in the finale that Jason takes off Kelsi's hat, revealing her wavy brown hair and helps her shoot the game ball.

Martha Cox

Martha (Kaycee Stroh) has a solo in "Stick To The Status Quo" confessing that she thinks Hip-hop is cooler than homework. . She appears in a few scenes with the scholastic decathlon team.

Variations

Apart from the original version, Disney Channel also broadcasted different variations of the movie, including sing-along, dance-along and pop-up edition.

Sing-Along

A karaoke-style presentation in which viewers can sing along to their favorite songs. This version is also included in the High School Musical: Encore Edition DVD.

Dance-Along

Dance moves from the songs "Get'cha Head in the Game" and "We're All in This Together" are taught by the cast members during the breaks of the movie. The videos of the teaching are included in the High School Musical: Remix Edition DVD as a bonus feature.

Pop-Up Edition

A special presentation, which will premiere on November 24, 2006, includes a behind the scenes look into the making of the movie.

DVDs

High School Musical was released on DVD on May 23 2006. Entitled High School Musical: Encore Edition, the DVD includes both original and sing-along versions. The DVD broke sales records when 1.2 million copies were sold in its first six days making it the fastest-selling television movie of all time. It is, however, the second DCOM on DVD to be certified Platinum in DVD sales; the first is The Cheetah Girls. The High School Musical DVD was also released in Australia on July 12 2006 through Walt Disney and will be released on Region 2 on December 4, 2006. It was the top selling DVD in Australia in August 2006. Also, the Region 3 DVD is released on October 10 in Hong Kong. This is the first Region 3 DCOM DVD ever released. It was released in Mexico on November 10.

Bonus Features: Encore Edition

• Learning the Moves featurette led by director/choreographer Kenny Ortega ("Bop to the Top")
• Never-before-seen music video "I Can't Take My Eyes off of You"
• "We're All in This Together" music video
• "Bringing It All Together"-The Making of High School Musical

Remix Edition

The Remix Edition, a 2-disc Special Edition, will be released on December 5, 2006. It will include all of the Encore Edition's bonus features and add a dance-along featurette, new music videos, original song remixes, new cast interviews, and behind the scenes featurettes on the Hollywood and London premieres.

Bonus Features: Remix Edition

• Exclusive interviews with cast members after the High School Musical phenomenon
• Dance Along with Troy, Gabriella, Sharpay, and Ryan for Get'cha Head in the Game and We're All in this Together
• Two song remixes
• Three new music videos

DVD chapters

1. Opening Titles
2. Back to School
3. "Get'cha Head in the Game"
4. Auditions
5. "What I've Been Looking For" (Reprise)
6. "Stick to the Status Quo"
7. A Private Conversation
8. Interventions
9. The Truth Is Revealed
10. Working Together
11. "Breaking Free"
12. "We're All In This Together"
13. Credits

Charting

Billboard also has Top DVD Sales which High School Musical has charted on.

U.S. Billboard Top DVD Sales
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10
Position	1	2	6	8	8	13	10	5	6	10

Soundtrack

Main article: High School Musical (album)

The soundtrack was released on January 10 2006 and debuted at number 143 on the Billboard 200, selling 6,469 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 March 22) and had shipped 3.5 million copies. Out of those copies, more than 3 million copies have been sold by August 2006; it was certified triple platinum by the RIAA.

The soundtrack was released in Australia on May 27 2006 by EMI. In the album's seventh week it reached the number one position on Australia's ARIA Album Charts for the week dated July 31 2006 and has been certified gold, selling 35,000 units in total.

The single, Breaking Free, debuted in the UK Official Top 75, at Number 45 on Sunday September 24 2006 on downloads alone. Upon its physical release, its peak position was #9.

In India, unlike other countries that air the movie, the songs are dubbed in to Hindi. "Disney presents High School Musical, Bollywood style"

Awards

• High School Musical shared the Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Program, during the Creative Arts Emmys on August 19, 2006, with the HBO documentary I Have Tourette's But Tourette's Doesn't Have Me. High School Musical won another Emmy for Outstanding Choreography.
• High School Musical director Kenny Ortega was nominated for the 2006 Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries or Television Movie.
• The songs "Breaking Free" and "Get Your Head In The Game" were both nominated for Emmy Awards for Outstanding Music and Lyrics.
• On July 23, 2006, High School Musical received a TCA (Television Critics Association) award for Outstanding Achievement In Children's Programming.
• On August 20, 2006, High School Musical won three Teen Choice awards for Choice Comedy/Musical, Best TV Chemistry (Zac Efron and Vanessa Anne Hudgens), and Choice Breakthrough Star (Zac Efron). Vanessa Anne Hudgens was also nominated for the Choice Breakthrough Star.

Trivia

• This was the Disney Channel's most successful movie at its time with 7.7 million viewers in its premiere broadcast. The record was beaten by The Cheetah Girls 2 which attracted 7.8 million viewers on its premiere night.

• The soundtrack was recorded in five days.

• Zac Efron's (Troy) singing voice was that of composer Andrew Seeley, who was also considered for the role. Seeley sang the entirety of "Get'cha Head in the Game", as well as composing it. He also sang the Reprise of "What I've been looking for". Zac Efron only truly sings the first 4 sentences of "Start of Something New", the first sentence of "Breaking Free", and during the scene on the balcony. The reason for this is because Zac Efron's natural voice is too low for that of a tenor, and the producers preferred a tenor to match the role. Zac's natural voice is that of a baritone.

• Charles Klapow, one of the choreographers for the movie, was also one of the basketball dancers.

• Ashley Tisdale (Sharpay), co-star of "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody", was also working on the second season of the show while filming this movie. At one point in the movie she mimics Brenda Song’s (London Tipton on TSL) signature clapping gesture and catchphrase, “Yay me!” in the movie.

• The movie debuted the same week as Hannah Montana. On two commercial promos Ashley, Zac, Vanessa, and Corbin appeared on the Hannah Montana set with Miley Cyrus, Emily Osment,Mitchel Musso, and Jason Earles from HM. There was even a dance-off involving both sets of cast members.

• Monique Coleman (Taylor) and Vanessa Anne Hudgens (Gabriela) have recurring roles on TSL, ironically as Ashley’s (Maddie on TSL) friends.

• Zac Efron and Kaycee Stroh (Heather) have also appeared on TSL while Corbin Bleu and Ashley Tisdale have appeared on Hannah Montana.

• The cell phone ring that gives the class detention has the tune of "Start of Something New."

• The school's original mascot was going to be a Leopard, but it was changed to a Wildcat.

• Ashley Tisdale tried out for the role of Gabriella Montez but director Kenny Ortega thought she would do better as the part of Sharpay Evans.

• Corbin Bleu was originally cast as Troy Bolton but at a last minute switch got the role of Chad.

• Matthew Underwood from Zoey 101 was offered the role of Troy Bolton but due to his contract with Nickelodeon he couldn't do the movie and had to decline.

• Miley Cyrus was considered for a role in the movie, probably as Kelsi. Jason Earles and Emily Osment were also considered for parts in the movie.

• SPOILER: In the last scene, Corbin Bleu was supposed to interrupt Troy and Gabriella's kiss, but he missed his cue so Vanessa Anne Hudgens and Zac Efron kissed accidentally.

• "Sharpay" is identical in sound to "Shar Pei", a dog breed.

Continuity Errors

The following are production error that have been found in the film:

• During the intervention scene(01:22:44), the screen says "Recieving Wi-Fi Signal".
• During "Start of Something New", Troy's microphone jumps from the microphone stand to his hand repeatedly.
• During "Stick to the Status Quo", when Gabriella comes in which her tray and then walks around the table, one of the dancers knocks the tray, every item on the tray wobbles, then five seconds later her carton of milk is not on her tray and is spilt on the floor.
• During the homeroom scene, when Troy gives up his phone, he is about to close it, but in the next shot, it is fully open. Then he closes it and gives it up to Darbus.
• When the players are making an orderly exit from the gym, a cameraman is clearly visible at the bottom right corner.
• When Troy and Gabriella are not speaking to each other and meet in the cafeteria, Gabriella sits down and puts her tray down in front of her. In the next shot, the tray is gone.
• When Troy and Gabriella sing "Start of Something New", the balloons in the center repeatedly change
• During the audition scene, Darbus says that there is only one pair signed up, however earlier in that scene there is a boy and a girl who audition, to whom Darbus says "Very disturbing, go see a counselor!"
• During the scene where Gabriella corrects her math teacher, the equations on the board change every time the shot changes to the teacher.
• When Troy misses practice and then stays behind, he is wearing a #10 top, when he is #14.
• When Troy was waiting for Gabriella in the lockers, Troy looks at his wrist as if he was looking at the time in a watch but there wasn't any watch on his wrist.

Stage musical

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

Disney Theatrical Productions and Music Theatre International granted the first license of the amateur stage production to the Loch Sheldrake, New York program, which was performed on August 18, 2006 and featured Jordan Campbell as Troy and Andrea Ross as Gabriella.

In the 2006-07 school year alone, more than 1,260 amateur productions of High School Musical will be mounted.

Differences Between the Movie and Stage Show

• The stage musical includes two new songs: " Counting On You" and "Cellular Fusion."
• Jack Scott, a school announcer, joins the cast of characters
• Former extra song "I Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" has been added to the main repertoire.
• "We're All in This Together" is featured in reprise. There is a newer version of "We're All in This Together" that is led by Chad and Taylor.
• Kelsi, originally a non-singing role, sings a solo in both "We're All in This Together" and "Cellular Fusion."
• Taylor is also featured in new solos in "Counting On You," "The Start of Something New," and "We're All in This Together."
• Several characters are expanded or reinterpreted, while others are minimized in significance.
• Troy and Gabriella sing only half of "The Start of Something New". The chorus sings the rest of the number, led by Chad and Taylor.
• The chorus is featured more centrally.
• Troy and Gabriella kiss right before "We're All in This Together"
• When Troy and Gabriella are singing "Breaking Free" Sharpay and Ryan are visible when Gabriella goes behind the moon and Ryan is dancing one of the times that they show him.

Theme parks

It was announced that a High School Musical Pep Rally mini-parade will start performing before the regular park parade at Disney's California Adventure in Anaheim, California, within the coming weeks. The parade has been converted to an immobile show for production at the Magic Kingdom park in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, which has started performing sooner than the predicted schedule.

Novels

A junior novel based on the movie hit number one on the New York Times best-seller list for children's paperbacks.

Disney Publishing is planning on an original book series that will come on market in April and continue with a new book every 60 days until June 2008.

See Also

• High School Musical 2
• High School Musical (album)

External links

• Official website
• High School Musical DVDs Disney's Official High School Musical DVD site
• Disney Channel UK official website
• Disney Channel Asia official website
• Disney Channel's Official High School Musical India website
• High School Musical at IMDb