'High School Musical: The Series' Behind-the-Scenes Secrets

It’s official, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series season 2 is coming to Disney+ soon (and with a bunch of new characters), but while viewers wait for more from Nini, Ricky and the rest of their favorite East High students, J-14 decided to take a walk down memory lane!The musical spinoff series premiered in November 2019 and immediately became a fan favorite. Starring Joshua Bassett, Olivia Rodrigo, Sofia Wylie, Kate Reinders, Matt Cornett, Dara Reneé, Julia Lester, Frankie A. Rodriguez, Larry Saperstein and Mark St. Cyr, HSMTMTS season 1 ended with the drama club putting on a pretty epic production of High School Musical. Now, they’re gearing up for another musical in season 2: Beauty and the Beast.

“It’s gonna be good,” the HSMTMTS cast told J-14 exclusively in December 2020, noting that it’s going to be “bigger” than season 1. “There’s more drama, there are more storylines, there’s more music.”

In a separate interview with Entertainment Tonight in March 2021, Joshua teased the “truly remarkable” second season. “As much as it’s been hard filming during the global pandemic, I’m definitely sad to go because it’s so special,” the actor gushed. “So it’s a bittersweet thing, but honestly it just means we’re that much closer to the rest of the world getting to see it. I’m so excited.”

Although they haven’t shared too much about what’s to come, these talented actors and musicians have pulled back the curtain on their amazing show to reveal a lot of behind-the-scenes secrets over the past few years.

“One of my absolute favorite memories from season 1, we were all in the hallway outside of the gym and Josh just starts playing his guitar … and all the dancers start dancing, and we all started singing,” Matt recalled in an April 2021 YouTube video, when sharing memories about his time on the show’s set. Joshua added, “It was a 10-minute dance party, and I’ll never forget it.”

Sofia, for her part, said, “My favorite moment from season 1 was the Homecoming episode. I have never been able to experience a Homecoming, so I lived through Gina for that episode. I loved being able to throw punch on Matt’s head.

Other memorable moments from the cast included the Thanksgiving episode, which Julia noted was “a really big bonding moment” for the show’s cast. Dara also remembered filming “We’re All in This Together” as a “surreal moment.”

Of course, these aren’t the only behind-the-scenes secrets the cast has spilled. Scroll through our gallery to uncover them all!

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Sofia Is a Huge ‘High School Musical’ Fan

“When I was around 5 years old, there was this contest at my local mall: You had to walk across a red carpet and you could win tickets for your whole family to fly out to L.A. and be a part of the High School Musical 3 premiere,” the actress told D23.com in October 2019. “Now, 10 years later, it’s weird to think I’m able to be part of this amazing show.”

Joshua and Olivia Wrote ‘Just for a Moment’

The on-screen love interests sang this pretty emotional song during season 1, and they were actually the ones who penned the lyrics.

“It was strange because we wrote the song before we filmed episode nine. We didn’t totally know what was going on with the characters when we wrote it … It’s a really special experience because to write a song for the characters is amazing, because I feel like nobody is going to know the character as well as we do,” Olivia told Entertainment Tonight in December 2019.

Lana Condor Auditioned for the Show

Before nabbing her To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before role, the actress belted out Christina Perri‘s “A Thousand Years” for a possible role in the series.

“I think I honest to God, might have auditioned for that,” Lana told Teen Vogue in January 2020. “I don’t think it was Disney+ when I shot for it, I think it was just Disney.”

Joshua Is a ‘HSM’ Pro

Before being cast as Ricky in the show, he actually starred as part of the ensemble in a theater production of High School Musical when he was 8 years old. “It was my first introduction to musical theater ever, so it was pretty neat when this came around,” he told the Sioux City Journal in November 2019.