High School Musical is a 2006 American musical television film produced by and aired on Disney Channel as part of the network's slate of original television films. The first installment of the High School Musical series, the film was directed by choreographer and filmmaker Kenny Ortega from a screenplay by Peter Barsocchini. It stars Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, Alyson Reed, Corbin Bleu, and Monique Coleman. High School Musical follows student Troy Bolton (Efron), the captain of his school basketball team, and Gabriella Montez (Hudgens), an academically gifted transfer student, who together audition for the lead roles in their school musical, causing division among the school's cliques.
Development for the film began after Barsocchini approached the network in 2004 with a script idea for a musical film. Disney executives also wanted to replicate the success of the musical television film The Cheetah Girls (2003), as well as the standalone musical episodes of their television series Even Stevens (2000–2003) and That's So Raven (2003–2007). Principal photography for High School Musical primarily took place in Utah, with filming locations including East High School, Murray High School, and Salt Lake City. Additional filming took place in Los Angeles. The film has been described by Barsocchini and numerous critics as a modern adaptation of Romeo & Juliet.Disney scores kid points with 'High School Musical'; Nerdy "Romeo and Juliet" a hit for Disney – Reuters 5/22/06 – MiceChat ; Talkin' Broadway Regional News & Reviews – "High School Musical on Tour" – 8/4/07 ; DVD Review: High School Musical (Two-Disc Remix Edition) – DVD ; What Is 'High School Musical,' Anyway? – News Story | Music, Celebrity, Artist News|MTV News
High School Musical premiered on Disney Channel on January 20, 2006. It became the most commercially successful Disney Channel television film. In the U.S., High School Musical generated 7.7 million viewers in its premiere broadcast, breaking the then-record for the highest premiere for the network. Internationally, the film also saw considerable success; as of 2019, over 225 million unique viewers were calculated as watched High School Musical. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for its cast and music but criticism for its sentimentality; it was more positively received by audiences. The film's soundtrack was commercially and critically successful, reaching number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 and remaining on the list for more than 100 weeks. Its lead single, "Breaking Free", reached number four on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.Market Data for 2006 | LinuxElectrons Two sequels, High School Musical 2 and High School Musical 3: Senior Year, were released in August 2007 and October 2008 respectively.
Plot On New Year's Eve, high school juniors Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez are both vacationing at a ski lodge in Utah and meet when they are called up to sing a karaoke duet together ("Start of Something New") during a party. Troy returns home to East High School in New Mexico, where he is captain of the basketball team which his father coaches. By coincidence, Gabriella has just transferred to East High, and as Troy shows Gabriella around the school, drama club president Sharpay Evans assumes that Gabriella is interested in auditioning for the school musical. The jealous Sharpay discovers Gabriella's past academic achievements, and anonymously informs scholastic decathlon captain Taylor McKessie so she will recruit Gabriella for the team. During basketball practice, Troy is distracted by thoughts of Gabriella and the idea that he might enjoy singing ("Get'cha Head in the Game").
From the back of the auditorium, Gabriella and Troy watch Sharpay and her twin brother Ryan audition for the musical with an uptempo version of "What I've Been Looking For". Troy and Gabriella step forward at the last minute, but drama teacher Ms. Darbus tells them they are too late. While helping Kelsi Nielsen, the musical's composer, pick up sheet music, they give an impromptu performance of the same song at its original ballad tempo ("What I've Been Looking For" (reprise)). Overhearing their performance, Ms. Darbus gives them a callback audition.
When the callback list is posted, Sharpay is furious that she has Gabriella as competition for the lead role, while the Wildcats basketball team is shocked that Troy has auditioned. After discovering that Troy is eager to step outside of the social norms, other students confess their secret passions and talents ("Stick to the Status Quo"). This alarms Taylor and Troy's best friend Chad Danforth, who work together to trick Gabriella into believing Troy does not care about her. Upset by what she perceives as Troy's betrayal and callous disregard for her ("When There Was Me and You"), Gabriella decides to not audition for the musical and distances herself from Troy. Realizing their mistake, Chad and Taylor admit their role in sabotaging Troy and Gabriella's relationship. Troy goes to Gabriella's house and they reconcile, determined to audition for the musical.
Overhearing Gabriella and Troy rehearse, Sharpay convinces Ms. Darbus to reschedule the callback auditions so they begin at the same time as both Troy's championship game and Gabriella's scholastic decathlon competition. The basketball and decathlon teams work together to allow Troy and Gabriella to leave 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, Chad asks Taylor out, Sharpay makes a truce with Gabriella, and the entire school gathers in the gym to celebrate ("We're All in This Together").
In a post-credits scene, Sharpay praises Zeke for a bag of cookies he made for her, and he says he will make her a crème brûlée.
Cast
Zac Efron as Troy Bolton, one of the most popular students at East High School and the captain of the varsity basketball team. Before Efron was cast, the role of Troy was written for a tenor, and Efron, who himself is a baritone, could not properly sing most of the parts. Singer-songwriter and actor Drew Seeley provided the majority of the character's singing voice, with Efron himself singing the first and last few lines in "Start of Something New" and the beginning of "Breaking Free". Vanessa Hudgens as Gabriella Montez, a transfer student who joins the scholastic decathlon team and is attracted to Troy. Ashley Tisdale as Sharpay Evans, an energetic and proud student with a love of theatre and being the center of attention. Lucas Grabeel as Ryan Evans, a member of the drama club who aids his twin sister, Sharpay, in sabotaging Gabriella's relationship with Troy. Alyson Reed as Ms. Darbus, the stern drama teacher at East High who dislikes sports and cell phones. Corbin Bleu as Chad Danforth, Troy's best friend and member of the basketball team. Monique Coleman as Taylor McKessie, captain of the school's scholastic decathlon team who shows Gabriella the ropes of East High. Bart Johnson as Jack Bolton, Troy's father and the coach of the East High basketball team who believes that Gabriella is a distraction from Troy's basketball career. Olesya Rulin as Kelsi Nielsen, an underappreciated pianist and composer who is initially shy and subservient to Sharpay. Chris Warren Jr. as Zeke Baylor, a member of the basketball team who enjoys baking and admires Sharpay. Ryne Sanborn as Jason Cross, a member of the basketball team who tends to ask mundane questions in class.
Additionally, Socorro Herrera plays Gabriella's mother Lisa Montez and Joey Miyashima portrays Dave Matsui, the principal of East High. Irene Santiago-Baron plays chemistry teacher Ms. Tenny, Leslie Wing Pomeroy portrays Troy's mother Lucille Bolton, and Joyce Cohen plays Ms. Falstaff the librarian.
Kaycee Stroh plays Martha Cox, a brainiac who enjoys hip-hop, and Dutch Whitlock portrays a skateboarder who also plays the cello. Anne Kathryn Parma, Nick Whitaker and Falon Grace portray Susan, Alan and Cyndra, three students who unsuccessfully audition for the musical.
Production Development Disney executives Gary Marsh, former president of Disney Channels Worldwide, and Michael Healy, former Senior Vice President of Disney Channel's original movies, had led the production of the network's made-for-television films throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s. Television writer Peter Barsocchini approached Healy in 2004 with the desire to write a television film that his then 9-year-old daughter would enjoy. Barsocchini recalled playing basketball in high school when a teammate, Lynn Swann, confessed his aspirations of being a ballet dancer; this inspired the concept of a script where a high school basketball player held ambitions of becoming a musical theater performer. Healy and Marsh bought the idea, which would become High School Musical.
Disney Channel had also produced a musical episode of its original sitcom Even Stevens, which aired in 2002, and the success of the episode among the show's audience led to network executives asking series executive producers David Brookwell and Sean McNamara to also produce a musical episode of their other comedy series That's So Raven. The success of the musical format on both Even Stevens and That's So Raven gave executives confidence in the appeal and interest of the musical genre, and led to the early development of the idea for High School Musical. Marsh stated that High School Musical would not have been developed if not for the success of the Even Stevens musical episode. Additionally, the television film The Cheetah Girls (2003) is recognized as Disney Channel's first musical film.
Producer Bill Borden said in 2006 that High School Musical was the first of three planned films in the series.
Filming
High School Musical was filmed in the summer of 2005. Principal photography took place in Utah in East High School. High School Musical was filmed on a budget of US$4.2 million.
Music
The soundtrack for the film 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, subsequently rose to number one on the Billboard 200 twice (on March 1 and 22) and had shipped 3.8 million copies as of December 5, 2006. More than three million copies had been sold by August 2006 and it was certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA. As of January 10, 2023 the soundtrack had been certified 5× platinum by the RIAA.
Reception Upon its premiere, the film attracted 7.7 million viewers. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 67% based on 21 reviews, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "High School Musical is brazenly saccharine, but it makes up for it with its memorable show tunes, eye-popping choreography, and appealing cast."
Common Sense Media rated the film four out of five stars. commonsensemedia.org Kevin Carr gave the film a score of three out of five, 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 1.5/4 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."