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High School Musical is a 2006 American musical television film written by Peter Barsocchini, directed by Kenny Ortega. It is the first installment in the High School Musical trilogy.

With a plot described by the author and numerous critics as a modern adaptation of Romeo & Juliet, High School Musical is a story about two high school juniors from rival cliques – Troy Bolton (Zac Efron), captain of the basketball team, and Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Hudgens), a shy transfer student who excels in mathematics and science. Together, they try out for the lead parts in their high school musical, and this causes division among all the school's students. Despite other students' attempts to thwart their dreams, Troy and Gabriella aim to resist peer pressure and rivalry and wish to inspire others along the way not to "stick to the status quo". However, they have to battle high school diva Sharpay Evans (Ashley Tisdale) and her twin brother Ryan (Lucas Grabeel), who seek to sabotage the friendship and romance between Troy and Gabriella and gain the leads in the school musical.

High School Musical was filmed in Utah, with East High School and Murray High School used as locations, as well as Salt Lake City. Murray High School was also the set of other Disney productions: Take Down (1979), Read It and Weep (2006), Minutemen (2008), and High School Musical: Get in the Picture (2008). Additional scenes were filmed in Los Angeles.

Upon its release on January 20, 2006, it became the most commercially successful Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM) ever produced. In the U.S., High School Musical generated 7.7 million viewers in its premiere broadcast, which is one of the highest the network has generated. Internationally, the film has also seen considerable success; as of 2019, High School Musical has been estimated to have been broadcast to over 225 million viewers. Meanwhile, the film's soundtrack was also successful as it peaked at number one in the United States, while its lead single, "Breaking Free", reached number four. The film and soundtrack received generally mixed reviews from critics, whereas fan reception was more positive.

The film's success spawned a media franchise and series of sequels, High School Musical 2 (2007) and High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008), with the latter also being released theatrically. It is the first DCOM to have a theatrical sequel. Upon the film's tenth anniversary in January 2016, Hudgens, Tisdale, Grabeel, Corbin Bleu, and Monique Coleman reunited in a Los Angeles high school gym (decorated to resemble the gym used in the film) to commemorate and celebrate its release, while Efron sent a video to acknowledge the film's cast, crew, and fans.

On New Year's Eve, high school juniors Troy Bolton (Zac Efron) and Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Hudgens) meet at a ski lodge party during winter break. The two are called upon to sing karaoke together ("Start of Something New") Returning to school, Troy sees Gabriella in his classroom. She explains that she just moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and transferred to East High School over the break, and Troy shows her around the school. Drama Club president Sharpay Evans (Ashley Tisdale), East High's designated “Ice Princess”, 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, which results in Taylor and Gabriella becoming friends.

During 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"), but Troy and Gabriella are too shy to audition. When Gabriella gains the confidence to step forward once the auditions are unofficially "over", Troy offers to sing with her, but drama teacher Ms. Darbus (Alyson Reed) tells them they are too late and leaves. Kelsi Nielsen (Olesya Rulin), the musical's composer, trips and drops her music all over the stage. Troy and Gabriella rush to help her, and sing together as Kelsi plays the piano ("What I've Been Looking For (Reprise)"). Overhearing their song, Ms. Darbus gives them a callback audition.

When the callback list is posted, Sharpay discovers that she has competition for the lead role, and the Wildcats team is shocked that Troy has auditioned. Other students confess their own secret passions and talents ("Stick to the Status Quo"), alarming Taylor and Troy's best friend Chad Danforth (Corbin Bleu). Since Gabriella has agreed to join the scholastic decathlon team, both Taylor and Chad want their teammates to focus on their upcoming competitions rather than the musical. In the locker room, Troy is tricked by his teammates into saying that Gabriella is not important, which she watches via a hidden webcam the scholastic decathlon team set up in cahoots with the basketballers. Upset by Troy’s betrayal ("When There Was Me and You") Gabriella decides not to audition for the musical.

Troy, confused by Gabriella’s decision, is unable to concentrate on the game, and Gabriella is also seen in low spirits. Realizing their mistake, Chad and the basketball team tell Troy what happened and offer to support him in callbacks, and Troy goes to Gabriella's house and they reconcile.

Overhearing Gabriella and Troy rehearse, Sharpay has Ms. Darbus change the callback time to coincide with both Troy's basketball championship and Gabriella's scholastic decathlon. Kelsi overhears the conversation, and 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 messing with 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 audition ("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 she rejected from him earlier are "genius". She hugs him, and he declares he will make her a crème brûlée.

• Zac Efron as Troy Bolton, Gabriella's boyfriend, the most popular male student at East High School, and the captain of the varsity basketball team. As Efron is a baritone and the role of Troy was written for a tenor, his singing voice was partially dubbed by Drew Seeley. Efron however did all of his own singing in the sequels.
• Vanessa Hudgens as Gabriella Montez, Troy's girlfriend, who arrives at East High as a transfer student, and joins the scholastic decathlon team. She develops an attraction towards Troy after meeting him at a New Year's party.
• Lucas Grabeel as Ryan Evans, Sharpay's twin brother, and member of the drama club. He often joins his sister on her schemes to sabotage Troy and Gabriella, but is not as mean as her and is also shown to not be particularly smart, such as not knowing how to spell "drama", and never understanding Sharpay's plans and is admired by Kelsi.
• Ashley Tisdale, as Sharpay Evans, Ryan's twin sister and an energetic and proud student with a love of theatre. She enjoys being the center of attention, particularly Troy's, and is wary of Gabriella. She is very mean, unlike Ryan and is admired by Zeke.
• Corbin Bleu as Chad Danforth, Troy's friend, Taylor's love interest, and is very good friends with Jason and Zeke. He likes the status quo and is a firm believer in it, but later ends up dating decathlon captain Taylor.
• Monique Coleman as Taylor McKessie, Gabriella's friend and Chad's love interest. She is captain of the school's scholastic decathlon team, and despises the basketball players and cheerleaders, believing them to be airheads.
• Bart Johnson as Jack Bolton, Troy's father and the coach of the basketball team. He has a mutual dislike with Ms. Darbus, thinks that theater is worthless, and also believes that Gabriella is a distraction to Troy's basketball career. However, he eventually comes around to it.
• Olesya Rulin as Kelsi Nielsen, a friend of Gabriella and Taylor, who is a pianist and composer. She is shy and is constantly bossed around by Sharpay, and finds it difficult to get her music listened to, but in the end, she learns to stand up for herself and not get bossed around by Sharpay. She also enjoys composing and is an admirer of Ryan.
• Chris Warren Jr. as Zeke Baylor, a friend of Troy and Chad who plays for the basketball team. He also enjoys baking and is an admirer of Sharpay.
• Ryne Sanborn as Jason Cross, a friend of Troy and Chad who plays for the basketball team. He also tends to ask mundane questions in Ms. Darbus's class. He is good friends with Troy, Chad and Zeke.
• Kaycee Stroh as Martha Cox, a friend of Gabriella and Taylor and a peppy brainiac who enjoys hip-hop. She is good friends with Gabriella, Taylor and Kelsi.
• Alyson Reed as Ms. Darbus, the stern drama teacher at East High. She despises sports and cell phones but takes her job very seriously, though she can be overdramatic. She clashes frequently with Jack Bolton.
• Irene Santiago-Baron as Ms. Tenny, the chemistry teacher at East High. Gabriella corrects the teacher's math equation on the board in Chem Class.
• Socorro Herrera as Lisa Montez, Gabriella's mother. Her job has caused her to be transferred frequently from city to city, but she has been guaranteed that she and Gabriella will be able to stay until Gabriella graduates from high school.
• Leslie Wing Pomeroy as Lucille Bolton, Troy's mother. She serves food for Troy at his house but is more sufficient for him to love her.
• Joyce Cohen as Ms. Falstaff, the librarian at East High. She keeps Chad quiet in the library and gets a book for Gabriella and Sharpay to read but takes her work very carefully.
• Dave Fox as Coach Kellogg, another coach at East High. He blows the whistle when he says the game is over.
• Anne Kathryn Parma as Susan, a girl who auditions for the winter musical but did not get the role even though Ms. Darbus was impressed with some hand gestures she made. She is the first singer in the auditorium.
• Nick Whitaker as Alan, a boy who auditions for the winter musical but did not get the role. He is the second singer in the auditorium.
• Falcon Grace as Cyndra, a girl who auditions for the winter musical and is not happy when she does not get the role. She is the fourth singer in the auditorium.

The soundtrack 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, and has since risen to number one on the Billboard 200 twice (on March 1 and 22) and had shipped 3.8 million copies on December 5, 2006. Out of those copies, more than 3 million copies have been sold by August 2006; it was certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA.

On its premiere, the film was a success with 7.7 million viewers. However, the reviews were mixed. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a rating of 56%, while Common Sense Media rated it at 4/5 stars.

Kevin Carr gave the film a score of 3/5 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."

The DVD was released on May 23, 2006, under the title, High School Musical: Encore Edition. It created a sales record when 1.2 million copies were sold in its first six days, making it the fastest-selling television film of all time. It is, however, the second DCOM (Disney Channel Original Movie) on DVD to be certified Platinum in DVD sales, the first being The Cheetah Girls. The High School Musical DVD was also released in Australia on July 12, 2006, through Walt Disney and was released on European Region 2 on December 4, 2006, where it went on to reach number one in the UK DVD charts. It was also shown on Disney Channel South Africa, the latest Disney channel at that time in the southern hemisphere. It was the top-selling DVD in Australia in August 2006. In addition, the Region 3 DVD was released on October 10 in Hong Kong. It also released in Taiwan on December 15, 2006. This is the first Region 3 DCOM DVD ever released. It was released in Mexico on November 10 and in Brazil on December 6 to coincide with Christmas and the Rede Globo broadcast of the film. It was released in New Zealand on July 12, 2006, and was awarded most popular pre-teen movie in New Zealand for 2006

High School Musical was the first feature-length video content from the iTunes Store in mid-March 2006. At the time it was available as a 320x240 resolution 487MB download for $9.99 after initially being mistakenly listed for $1.99.

The Remix Edition, a 2-disc Special Edition, was released on December 5, 2006. The Remix DVD was released in France on June 20, 2007. and in Germany on September 13, 2007. The Remix DVD was released in the UK on September 10, 2007. As of 2010, the film has sold 8 million DVD units, earning an operating income of $100 million.

Despite being filmed in the 16:9 (1.78:1) aspect ratio, both the original and Remix Edition DVD releases featured a 4:3 (1.33:1) "full screen" version (though not pan and scan as the camera stays directly in the center of the image), the format of the film as shown on the Disney Channel. The widescreen, high definition version is available exclusively on Disney Blu-ray in North America and has subsequently been showing in the UK & Ireland on BBC One and BBC HD, and RTÉ One. The HD version is also available on PlayStation StoreVideo section and Sony Entertainment online for the US market.

High School Musical 2 (2007)

High School Musical 2 is the first sequel. It debuted on August 17, 2007, on Disney Channel in the U.S., and on Family in Canada. The premiere brought in a total of 17.3 million viewers in the United States—almost 10 million more than its predecessor—making it (at the time of its airing) the highest-rated Disney Channel Movie to date and the most viewed television film to date.

High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008)

High School Musical 3: Senior Year is the third installment in Disney's High School Musical franchise. It was released to theaters across the United States on October 24, 2008. Kenny Ortega returned as director and choreographer, as did all six primary actors.

Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure (2011)

Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure is a spin-off and direct-to-DVD film starring Ashley Tisdale. The film features Sharpay Evans trying to get a role in a Broadway show following graduation. The film was released as a Blu-ray and DVD combination pack on April 19, 2011.

Fourth installment

In early 2016, Disney announced that a fourth installment of the series was "in the works", later announcing a casting call for the film, tentatively referred to as High School Musical 4. In March 2016, details about the film's prospective principal characters were reported.

Television adaptation

In 2019, Disney announced the release of their own television series based on the High School Musical franchise that is set to be released on Disney+ on November 12, 2019. The series, titled High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, focuses on the newly enrolled set of East High Wildcats putting together a production of High School Musical.

Bad Lip Reading version

On July 11, 2016, Disney XD released a half-hour overdubbed version of High School Musical to its YouTube channel in collaboration with Bad Lip Reading, a popular YouTube channel known for making parody dubs of various clips from films, TV shows, songs, sports, and political news stories that perfectly matches the lip movements of the targets. The story in this version is essentially similar to the original with new dialogue, the lead characters now being "Chorky" and "Lumpkinella", the latter secretly being a robot who escaped from a secure government facility.

Foreign adaptations

Argentina

High School Musical: El desafio (Argentina) is a spin-off for the Argentine market, based on the book "Battle of the Bands". The film arrived in Argentine theatres on July 17, 2008.

Brazil

High School Musical: O Desafio is a spin-off of the American film High School Musical. The Brazilian spin-off is based on the book Battle of the Bands. The film was released in Brazilian theatres on February 5, 2010.

China

Disney High School Musical China (歌舞青春), also called High School Musical China: College Dreams is a Chinese version of the American series, released in North America on DVD under the Disney World Cinema Brand. Film Business Asia critic Derek Elley rated the adaptation three points out of ten and called the choreography by former Madonna dancer, Ruthy Inchaustegui, and songs "bland". However, Elley picked the three songs as "half-memorable": "the ballad 'Rainy Season' (梅雨季) [sung by] two lead[ing characters,] the glitzy 'Perfection' (完美) [by] the college rich-bitch[,] and [the] climatic 'I Can Fly' (我飛故我在), which doesn't quite succeed at being an anthemnal [sic], uplifting ballad."

On stage performances

Concert tour

The High School Musical: The Concert tour started on November 29, 2006, kicking off in San Diego, California. The tour continued until January 28, 2007, performing in major cities around the United States, Canada, and Latin America. The concert featured all of the original cast members except for Zac Efron, who was shooting Hairspray. Efron was replaced by Drew Seeley (whose voice was blended with Efron's during the film). The concert featured the original songs from the film, as well as songs from Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, and Corbin Bleu.

Stage musical

Pacific Repertory Theatre's School of Dramatic Arts production of Disney's High School Musical.

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

North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, MA had a stage production of High School Musical running until the end of July 2007, featuring Broadway actor Andrew Keenan-Bolger and Kate Rockwell, a semi-finalist on Grease: You're the One that I Want!, as Sharpay. Pacific Repertory Theatre's School of Dramatic Arts staged the California premiere in 2007 (which it revived in 2008), and presented the West Coast premiere of High School Musical 2 in January 2009.

Theatre of the Stars in Atlanta, Georgia was the first professional company to put on High School Musical.

Ice tour

"Feld Entertainment" produced global tour titled, High School Musical: The Ice Tour which had its world premiere in New York City on September 29, 2007. The cast included 2004 World Junior Bronze Medalist Jordan Brauninger and 2004–2005 Australian national champion Bradley Santer. The show contained elements and songs from both the original film and its sequel, High School Musical 2 and featured a special preview of High School Musical 3: Senior Year when the movie of the same name premiered in theatres.

Book series

In June 2006, Disney Press published High School Musical: The Junior Novel, the novelization of the successful film. This novel hit number one on the New York Times best-selling list and remained on the list for sixteen weeks. As of August 2007, the novel has sold more than 4.5 million copies, with 1 million copies of the novel's follow-up, High School Musical 2: The Junior Novel, being shipped to American retailers. High School Musical 3: Senior Year: The Junior Novel came out on September 23, 2008. Shortly after the success of the original novel, Disney announced that a book series, entitled Stories from East High, would be published in February 2007 with a new book being published every 60 days until July 2008.

Video games

Disney Interactive Studios has produced 6 video games based on the High School Musical series, all taking the guise of music video games incorporating songs and plots from the films.

Reality series

During July and August 2008, ABC broadcast a reality competition based on the series, High School Musical: Get in the Picturehosted by Nick Lachey. The winner of the show appeared in a music video during the credits of High School Musical 3. The series premiered to poor ratings, with the show coming in fourth place in its timeslot. In the UK, a reality show titled Hairspray: The School Musical premiered in 2008 on Sky1. It saw a team of vocal coaches, acting coaches and choreographers hold auditions at a regular comprehensive school where a mix of students could audition for a West End production of the hit Broadway musical, Hairspray. Although the musical being performed was not High School Musical, the film was the inspiration behind the show. The show was presented by Denise Van Outen and was credited, along with High School Musical, for inspiring a generation of children in the United Kingdom to get into theatrical work.