High School Musical

High School Musical
File:Hsmencoredvd.jpg
Directed by	Kenny Ortega
Written by	Peter Barsocchini
Produced by	Don Schain Bill Borden Barry Rosenbush
Starring	Zac Efron Vanessa Anne Hudgens Ashley Tisdale Lucas Grabeel Full Cast List
Music by	Andrew Seeley (Origin.) David Lawrence (Score)
Distributed by	Disney Channel
Release dates	January 20,2006
Running time	93 minutes
Language	English
Budget	$5 Million

High School Musical is a Disney Channel Original Movie with choreography by Kenny Ortega, Charles Klapow and Bonnie Story.

Filled with song and dance, the movie tells the story of two polar opposites, Troy the basketball captain and Gabriella the shy brainiac, who try out for the lead parts in their school musical. Despite some students' attempts to thwart their dreams, Troy and Gabriella persist and even manage to inspire others along the way.

Because of it's incredible popularity, High School Musical 2 is in the works and will include the entire original cast. It is most likely to premiere in winter of 2006.(See bottom of page.)

Plot

Template:Spoiler The story begins on New Year's Eve at a ski resort near Salt Lake City, Utah. Troy Bolton (Zac Efron - site) and Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Anne Hudgens- site) are randomly called up during a party to sing karaoke together, which they do unwillingly, at first. However, they soon begin to get into the song and before long are both singing enthusiastically. Afterwards, Troy and Gabriella introduce themselves to each other, and then part company, but not before promising to call later on (each having the other's number and picture on their cell phone).

Later, due to her mother's job being transferred to Albuquerque, New Mexico, Gabriella starts school at East High, not knowing that Troy goes there as well. Troy is also the captain of the East High Wildcats basketball team, which is coached by Mr. Bolton, Troy's father. Furthermore, Troy and Gabriella happen to both be in the same homeroom, taught by Ms. Darbus, the head of the Drama Club and the organizer of the Winter Musical.

Welcoming the students back from their holiday vacation, Ms. Darbus encourages the students to sign up for the Winter Musical auditions, announcing that there would be singles auditions for the supporting roles and pairs auditions for the two leads. After class, Troy and Gabriella ran into each other in the hall way. Then, passing by the audition sign-up sheet in the lobby, both casually claim to have no intention to add their names to the list. It is at this time that the two are confronted by Sharpay Evans (Ashley Tisdale), who takes a moment to scrawl her name in oversized letters on the pairs audition sign-up sheet. Sharpay then comments that she and her brother, Ryan Evans (Lucas Grabeel) have starred in all (17) of the school's productions, to which Troy and Gabriella both reiterate that they have no desire whatsoever to try out for the Winter Musical. However, it soon becomes evident that the two (and particularly Troy) both secretly wish to sign up--or, at least, that the other will do so first.

File:High School Musical-NewYearsEve.jpg

Troy and Gabriella singing at the ski resort during New Years Eve, as seen at the beginning of the movie.

The problem is, singing (and being together) go against Troy and Gabriella's set stereotypes, big time. Gabriella is a super-braniac, "the geeky" girl and Troy is the star basketball player. Troy will get in trouble with his dad and his friends if he directs his attention towards the musical instead of basketball (they have the championship game coming up soon), and the scholastic decathlon team begs for Gabriella to focus on their upcoming competition. But being in a new school gives Gabriella the chance to start over before anyone can officially label her as 'the freaky math girl.' Troy has a bit more to deal with, since his dad has always thought that Troy would simply be the big basketball star forever, and get the scholarship his dad had always wanted him to get.

Will Troy and Gabriella's friends let them be together, and be in the musical? Together, the singing comes so easily for them, like they've been doing it forever. But is that enough to beat Sharpay and Ryan? The two siblings have never had competition before -- and they'll do anything to stop Troy and Gabriella from stealing their parts and "their" show.

It's all down to whether Troy and Gabriella can follow their hearts and "break free" of the mold they have been forced to be encased in for so long. And it comes together with one crazy day - the callbacks, the basketball game, and the scholastic decathlon. Sharpay and Ryan, both being co-presidents of the Drama Club, had plannned the callbacks at this time so that Troy and Gabriella couldn't have a chance to do the callback. However, Troy has a plan to work things out. With the help of Gabriella and Taylor (Gabriella's new friend), they ultimately manage to make the callbacks, the Scholastic Decathlon, and the basketball game.

Availability on iTunes (No Longer Available)

High School Musical was briefly available from Apple's iTunes store, marking the first time a feature movie has been made available for sale in the iTunes store, as well as the first time a movie has been released on iTunes before being released on DVD. It was originally released for $2.99, but then removed and re-released for $9.99. This met with some criticism because many felt that $9.99 was too much for a single movie containing no bonus features. Apple has since removed High School Musical, most likely due to the future release of the DVD, which will be released by Walt Disney Home Entertainment on May 23, 2006. ^[1]

Soundtrack

See Main Article: High School Musical Soundtrack

The soundtrack was released on January 10, 2006 and debuted at #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 #10 and has since risen to #1 on the Billboard 200 twice(on March 1st & 22nd) and so far has sold more than 1.68 million copies (as of April 26, 2006) and was certified 3x Platinum by the RIAA.

Songs on the sound track include; "We're All in This Together", "Breaking Free", "Bop to the Top", "Get'cha Head in the Game", "Start of Somthing New" instrumental versions and more!The soundtrack appeared to be more successful on iTunes and Amazon.com the day after the movie debuted on the Disney Channel, and has spawned nine tracks on the iTunes Top 100 best sellers songs, including five in the top ten. In iTunes, the soundtrack topped the charts, taking first place for the first couple of weeks after its release. It was still at third place as of February 21, 2006. Nine of its singles also charted on the Billboard Hot 100 for the February 11 issue chart. That week, "Breaking Free" went from number #86 to #4, an 82 point jump, the highest ever in the Hot 100 since that chart's debut in 1958. On iTunes, "Breaking Free" peaked at number one. It also had 4 of its songs on Radio Disneys top ten. Breaking Free has been number one on Radio Disney for 4 weeks in a row.

Adaptations

There are currently plans for a Broadway version of the show featuring a whole new group of actors. Furthermore, on June 1st, 2006, Disney Press will be releasing "High School Musical: The Junior Novel," a novelization of the movie with eight pages of colored photos from the movie and/or of the actors.

Trivia

• The producers of High School Musical have stated that High School Musical is meant to be a 3-Part Series

• On March 1st, 2006, Hal Leonard, the world's largest music print publisher, published the sheet music from High School Musical for vocal, piano, and guitar.

• Although it was a movie made for television, Walt Disney Pictures took part in the production of the film.

• The movie was filmed at East High School in Salt Lake City, Utah, but the story takes place in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The name of the school was kept the same, but the school's mascot was changed from the Leopard to the Wildcat.

• It has been noted that there are many similarities between the film and the 1978 film Grease. Some examples include the two protagonists meeting outside of school, and then discovering they go to the same school. Troy, like Grease's Danny, has to face a certain amount of harrassment from his male friends for wanting to be in a musical. Also, the final song "We're All In This Together" bears a striking resemblance to the final song in Grease: "We Go Together."

Notes

1. Henderson, Chris. "High School Musical" Premiere Bops to the Top for Disney Channel, Posts Highest Household Ratings Ever For a Disney Channel Telecast!. Nielsen Media Research. January 20, 2006. Retrieved January 27, 2006.
2. Lively Midseason Hits American Idol, Dancing with the Stars and High School Musical Retrieved February 26, 2006.
3. ^ DVD Press Release
4. High School Musical had featured clips on Vh1's Best Week Ever for the first week of Febuary 2006.

External Links

Cast

• Official Zac Efron Website
• Official Lucas Grabeel Website
• Official Ashley Tisdale Website
• Vanessa Anne Online
• Official Corbin Bleu Website

Movie

• High School Musical Official Website
  
• High School Musical at IMDb
• "High School Musical" Soundrack Shatters Multiple Records On Billboard Charts
• Another article on the movie's success.
• Breaking Free: Sing High School Musical in Spanish - fansite featuring singable Spanish translations of songs from the movie.
• High School Musical Lyrics
• Interview with Zac Efron and Ashley Tisdale On High School Musical
• "What Is 'High School Musical' And How Did It Get To #1?" - an MTV.com article
• Disney Channel's "High School Musical" DVD and Sequel Developing
• High School Musical Fansite