Introduction
High School Musical is an American teen musical television film directed by Kenny Ortega and written by Peter Barsocchini. The first installment in the High School Musical franchise was released in 2006 and is the 63rd Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM). It stars Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, Corbin Bleu, and Monique Coleman. In High School Musical, Troy Bolton (Efron), the basketball team captain, and Gabriella Montez (Hudgens), an academically-gifted transfer student,try out for the lead parts in their school musical, causing division among the school's cliques.
High School Musical (2006)
The first installment of the series began with Gabriella and Troy meeting at a ski lodge party during winter break after the two had to be individually talked into attending. Troy originally wanted to stay home and continue playing/practicing basketball with his dad at home but his mom had to convince them that they didn't travel all the way to play more basketball. At the party, the two are called upon to sing a duet together for karaoke ("Start of Something New"). Returning to school after the 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 Sharpay Evans (Ashley Tisdale) assumes that Gabriella is interested in auditioning for the school musical. Wanting to eliminate competition, Sharpay has Scholastic Decathlon Captain and Chem Club president Taylor McKessie (Monique Coleman) investigate Gabriella's past academic achievements to recruit Gabriella for the Scholastic Decathlon. As a result, Taylor and Gabriella become friends over their shared interests.During a 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 (Lucas Grabeel) perform ("What I've Been Looking For"). However, Troy and Gabriella are hesitant 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 (Alyson Reed) tells them they are too late and leaves. Kelsi Nielsen (Olesya Rulin), the musical's composer, drops her music on the stage; Troy and Gabriella rush to help her and sing the same song together ("What I've Been Looking For (Reprise)"). Overhearing their performance, Ms. Darbus gives them a callback audition. Upon learning about Gabriella and Troy rehearse, Sharpay asks Ms. Darbus to move the callbacks so they start at the same time as both Troy's championship game and Gabriella's scholastic decathlon competition. Kelsi overhears the conversation, and both 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 (Chris Warren Jr.) 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.
High School Musical 2 (2007)
The school year ends with everyone at East High School looking forward to summer vacation ("What Time Is It?"). Troy Bolton is still dating Gabriella Montez, who decides to stay in Albuquerque with her mother. Troy eventually decides to look for a summer job to gain money for college. Sharpay and Ryan Evans plan to spend the summer at their family's country club, Lava Springs ("Fabulous"), but Sharpay's summer plans also include pursuing Troy, whom she has arranged for to be hired at the club. However, Troy convinces the club's manager, Mr. Fulton, into hiring Gabriella and their close group of friends as well, including Taylor and Chad. Sharpay is enraged upon learning that Gabriella is working as one of the lifeguards but is unable to get her fired, so she orders Fulton to give them difficult tasks so they would want to quit. Fulton attempts to intimidate the group, but Troy rebuilds their confidence and convinces them that they can persevere ("Work This Out"). Troy continues to worry about funding for college. Sharpay senses his need and arranges for Troy to be promoted to the University of Albuquerque's senior basketball team, hoping that this will convince him to sing with her at the talent show. Meanwhile, Kelsi writes a song for Troy and Gabriella and they agree to sing with their friends in the show ("You Are The Music In Me"), not knowing that Sharpay is vying for his attention. In the extended version, Sharpay and Ryan trap Troy as he prepares for a date with Gabriella by performing their own song ("Humuhumunukunukuapua'a"), much to Troy's annoyance. Ryan realizes he does not mean much to Sharpay anymore, as she is ready to blow her brother aside for the opportunity to perform with Troy. This leads to tension between the siblings, and Ryan angrily informs Sharpay that he will no longer obey her orders. Taylor and Gabriella invite Ryan to the baseball game, where he persuades the Wildcats to take part in the talent show ("I Don't Dance"). Troy and Gabriella's relationship is strained when Troy sees Ryan with Gabriella, sparking jealousy. Owing to a "promise" from Troy, he and Sharpay rehearse another song for the talent show ("You Are The Music In Me (Sharpay Version)"). Troy also gets into a argument with Chad for abandoning his friends, due to his perceived change of personality after being promoted by Sharpay. When Sharpay discovers that Ryan and the Wildcats are putting together their own performance in the show, she furiously orders Mr. Fulton to ban all staff members from performing. Gabriella confronts Sharpay about her interference and quits her job at Lava Springs. Troy overhears the exchange and tries to persuade Gabriella to change her mind. Gabriella expresses her loss of trust with Troy ("Gotta Go My Own Way"), leaves Lava Springs, and returns her necklace, which he had given to her after school ended. Troy returns to work the next day to find that his friends refuse to talk to them, following his earlier argument with Chad. Kelsi silently shows Troy the notice from Mr. Fulton, causing Troy to question his own motivations ("Bet On It") and confronts Sharpay, informing her that he will not sing with her. He then reconciles with Chad and apologizes to the Wildcats for his absence. They convince him to perform in the talent show, which he does only under the condition that they are all allowed to perform as well. At Sharpay's supposed instruction, Ryan gives Troy a new song to learn moments before the show. As Troy goes onstage, he asks Sharpay why she switched the song, and Sharpay is shocked to find that her brother tricked her. Troy sings the song ("Everyday"), until Gabriella and the Wildcats joins him onstage. In the end, Sharpay proudly presents her brother, Ryan, with the award for the talent show. After the talent show, all the Wildcats go to the golf course to enjoy the fireworks ("You Are the Music In Me" (Reprise)), and everyone in Lava Springs celebrates the end of the summer with a pool party ("All for One"), which features a cameo appearance by Miley Cyrus.
High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008-2009)
East High's Wildcats basketball team compete against their long-time rival, the West High Knights, in the final game of the season. At the half, Troy rallies his teammates ("Now or Never") and wins the game. During the team's celebration, Troy and Gabriella discuss their unknown future and the short time they have left at East High ("Right Here, Right Now"). The next day, at school, Ms. Darbus notices the lack of students signing up for the musical, and Sharpay suggests a one-woman show. Kelsi signs up everyone in homeroom, much to the class' dismay. Ms. Darbus announces that the show will be called "Senior Year", focusing on the future of the graduating seniors, and reveals that Sharpay, Ryan, Kelsi, and Troy have all been considered for a scholarship at Juilliard School, but only one will be chosen. Sharpay becomes desperate to win and, knowing that Kelsi will give the best songs to Troy and Gabriella, gets Ryan to try to persuade Kelsi to give them a song by predicting her and Ryan's future ("I Want It All"). Sharpay later befriends Tiara Gold, a British transfer student, and they begin working together. While on the rooftop, Troy asks Gabriella to prom and she teaches him how to dance ("Can I Have This Dance?"), while Taylor refuses Chad's pathetic attempt to ask her to the dance. She later relents when Chad asks again in front of the students during lunch. The group rehearses for the musical with a scene about their prom night ("A Night to Remember"). The next day, Ryan and Kelsi rehearse ("Just Wanna Be with You"), which leads to Ryan asking Kelsi to prom, while Troy and Chad reminisce about their past in Reilly's Auto Parts ("The Boys Are Back"). Tiara learns Gabriella has been accepted into the Stanford Freshman's Honors Program and informs Sharpay, who convinces Troy that he is the only thing keeping Gabriella from going. Troy convinces Gabriella to go, and she leaves for college the next day ("Walk Away"). Troy and his father, Jack, argue about which college he will attend, and Troy drives to East High conflicted until he finally screams at the top of his lungs in the theater ("Scream"). Witnessing this, Ms. Darbus reveals that she sent in his application for Juilliard. Troy gets a call from Gabriella saying that although she loves him, she will not return to Albuquerque for prom nor graduation. However, on the day of the dance, Troy visits Gabriella at Stanford University and they have their own dance ("Can I Have This Dance? (Reprise)"). Meanwhile, Sharpay prepares for the musical at East High, and Troy texts his teammate Jimmie "Rocket Man" Zara to be his understudy because he is going to be late to the show. Kelsi and Ryan start the show; as Troy's and Gabriella's understudies, Jimmie performs with Sharpay and embarrasses her, although the audience applauds. Troy and Gabriella appear during the second half of the show and sing their duet together ("Just Wanna Be with You (Reprise)").Tiara betrays Sharpay, telling her she will take over the drama department next year. Sharpay finally learns how it feels to be manipulated and humiliated, but ultimately ruins Tiara's performance and upstages her ("A Night to Remember (Reprise)") as payback. At the end of the musical, Ms. Darbus reveals that both Kelsi and Ryan have won the Juilliard scholarship, and Troy reveals he has chosen to attend the University of California, Berkeley to be close to Gabriella, play basketball, and perform in theater. Taylor reveals that she will be attending Yale University with honors to study political science, and Sharpay and Chad reveal they will attend the University of Albuquerque for performing arts and basketball, respectively ("We're All in This Together (Graduation Mix)"). At the graduation ceremony, Troy gives the class speech after being selected by Ms. Darbus, and everyone celebrates their graduation ("High School Musical"). The six leads walk toward the stage and take their final bows as the curtain closes.
Notable Cast
- Zac Efron as Troy Bolton, the basketball team captain, the leader of the group and Gabriella's boyfriend.
- Vanessa Hudgens as Gabriella Montez, an intelligent honor student and Troy's girlfriend.
- Lucas Grabeel as Ryan Evans, an aspiring choreographer, and Sharpay's twin brother.
- Ashley Tisdale as Sharpay Evans, a glamorous ambitious teen, but conniving, diva, Ryan's twin sister, East High's Drama Club president and Zeke's love interest.
- Corbin Bleu as Chad Danforth, one of Troy's best friends and teammate, a fellow basketball player, and Taylor’s love interest.
- Monique Coleman as Taylor McKessie, one of Gabriella's best friends, East High's class president/year book editor and Chad's love interest.
- Bart Johnson as Jack Bolton, Troy's father, Lucille's husband and the coach of the East High Wildcats.
- Alyson Reed as Ms. Darbus, the stern drama teacher at East High.
- Olesya Rulin as Kelsi Nielsen, one of Gabriella's best friends, a pianist, and composer.
- Chris Warren, Jr. as Zeke Baylor, one of Troy's best friends and teammates and Sharpay's love interest.