What time is it? Well actually, the moment has come to prepare to meet a whole new batch of Wildcats. That’s right. High School Musical is officially coming back to Disney Channel as a show, titled High School Musical: The Musical. Casting, led by Director Julie Ashton, has officially begun – so if you’re dream has always been to be a Wildcat, now is your chance to bop to the top.
Disney Channel
It was announced by Walt Disney Company Chairman and CEO Bob Iger that a series based on the mega-popular DCOM is in development for Disney’s digital streaming service. Disney is basically going to have its own type of Netflix/Hulu/Amazon Prime, so you will have to have a monthly subscription in order to see the content. Along with the HSM series, there is a Monsters Inc and live-action Star Wars shows on the way too. Yep, big things will be coming to this streaming platform – set to launch in 2019.
The docu-style series, High School Musical: The Musical, will consist of 10 episodes. It follows a group of students at the forever beloved East High, who stage a performance of High School Musical for their winter theater production. And in the process, they’ll find that as much drama happens offstage as onstage. Best part? Every single episode will feature a fresh, new rendition of a classic tune from HSM. Plus, an original song will be included in each episode too. Yep, there’s a lot to look forward to.
The story follows Ricky and Nini, two juniors in high school, who had been dating for a year. But then, Nini unexpecedly breaks up with Ricky – so naturally, Ricky decides to audition to star opposite of his ex in the school production. In other words, he hopes to get her back by being the Troy to her Gabriella. What a love story.
E.J., a senior, becomes Nini’s new love interest. While Ricky is a snarky B-minus student, E.J. is an ambitious type. He seems super confident on the outside, but suffers from anxiety attacks when things don’t play out as planned. Ashlyn is his younger cousion – a horoscope reader, aspiring songwriter, and someone who’s just finding her place in this crazy place called high school. Oh, and she desperately looks forward to the day she can vote. She’s all about making her voice heard by taking part in marches and protests.
Big Red is Ricky’s wingman. He was the third wheel of Ricky and Nini, so he was basically crushed when they split. But surprisingly, he has had a secretly crushe on Nini since middle school. So yeah, basically everyone loves this girl – well, except for Gina. One might describe this girl as a Sharpay.
And we can’t forget Vikram – he’s the student choreographer of High School Musical. Like, E.J. he’s super afraid of failure. Vikram thinks of the drama teacher, Miss Jenn, as his peer – and she would just about do anything for the kids of the drama club, so they make a great pair.
This does bring up the question of what is going to happen with the High School Musical 4 movie Disney Channel announced was in the works back in March of 2016. After a casting call to find the new wave of Wildcats went down and we found out who some of the new characters were supposed to be, talk of the DCOM that was set to reboot the franchise has kind of dwindled down. There isn’t any word on if the movie is still happening and how this new show is going to impact it, but will be interesting to see how this show turns out.
Heading back to East High to meet the next singing, dancing and athletically gifted characters we’re all going to be obsessed with? Yes, we’re are all about this. HSM catapulted Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale and tons of your faves into superstardom and although it’s been more than a decade since we first met Troy and Gabriella as they randomly sang karaoke together on New Year’s Eve, this is truly the perfect time to reinvent this franchise and bring it to a whole new audience. Time to get our heads in the game again.
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