A new take on a Disney Channel classic
It probably doesn't come as a surprise but I was a big fan of the High School Musical movies growing up... what the heck, I'm still a big fan of the High School Musical movies. When Disney+ was released, it came ready to go with a 10-episode scripted mockumentary series about the fictional students attending the very real high school where the beloved movie series was filmed. I always meant to watch the smartly (or not so smartly...) named High School Musical The Musical The Series show but somehow I never got around to it all until now. And I couldn't have dreamed up a better quarantine watch. My brother, his girlfriend and I selected it one evening and were immediately hooked. We ran around the house telling my parents and my boyfriend that this was THE SHOW to watch. For the rest of the episodes, my parents floated in and out (the show earned expected chuckles from my dad) and by the end of it all I got my boyfriend watching the finale and yelling at the TV with me (success!!!). Each evening, the series was the perfect combination of soothing music, unexpected friendships, theater kid jokes and BIG RED (watch and then you'll understand). The story centers on a group of students staging a production of High Schools Musical, led by Ms. Jen, whose enthusiasm is infectious to the students but whose actual teaching experience is lacking. Then there's Nini, who dreams of being the leading lady, and her new boyfriend EJ, who is a lovable snake. Ricky, Nini's ex, joins the cast to try and win Nini back but ends up falling in love with the show. Gina is a transfer student trying to scheme her way to the top; Ashlyn is a songwriter who writes the best song of the show -- an unexplained ballad for Ms. Darbus; Carlos is the STAR choreographer; Kourtney is handling costumes and makeup and belting songs on the side; and BIG RED is Ricky's best friend and a hilarious angel who has never been involved in theater before. One of the best parts of the show is that conflict between the students and adults occurs and is resolved in the perfect amount of time. A love triangle set up between a group of characters is fun for the first three episodes and then dissipates so that the kids can focus on their musical. New crushes are formed. It is the theater after all! The show culminates in a drama-filled final performance and our only complaint is that we never see too much of the actual production of HSM. It's a PG rated version of Glee filled with a heavy dose of nostalgia. There's a second season being filmed now that will tackle a new school musical and I literally can't wait.
To save you the disappointment now, I'll let you know that Troy Bolton himself does not make an appearance in the series, but in a delightful coincidence, the day after we finished watching, Zac Efron himself popped up on the YouTube series Hot Ones. The premise? Different guests appear on the interview-style show, hosted by Sean Evans, and while they answer questions, they also eat wings with sauce that gets increasingly hot. The Zac episode is full of fun, as he seems genuinely surprised at the insightful questions he gets during the interview and genuinely earnest in his quest to eat the spiciest wings.
