High School Musical is an Emmy Award-winning American television film. Released on January 20, 2006, it is one of the most successful Disney Channel Original Movies (DCOM) produced,[citation needed] with a television sequel released on August 17, 2007 and a feature film sequel in the planning process.[2] The film's soundtrack was the best-selling album in the United States for 2006.[3] The film was shot almost entirely in the Wasatch Front in Utah (namely Salt Lake City and Murray).
With a plot described as a modern retelling of Romeo & Juliet,[4][5] High School Musical is a story of two high school juniors from rival cliques:[6][7][8] Troy Bolton (Zac Efron), captain of the basketball team, and Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Hudgens), a beautiful and shy transfer student who excels in math and science. Together, they try out for the lead parts in their high school musical, and as a result, divide the school. Despite other students' attempts to thwart their dreams, Troy and Gabriella resist peer pressure and rivalry, inspiring others along the way not to "stick with the status quo."
This was Disney Channel's most successful movie at its time with 7.7 million viewers in its premiere broadcast in the US. In the UK, it received 789,000 viewers for its premiere (and 1.2 million viewers overall during the first week), making the film the most watched program for the Disney Channel (UK) of 2006. It was also the first ever Disney Channel Original Movie to be broadcast on the BBC on December 29, 2006. On August 16, 2007 ratings went slightly up to 6.0 million viewers.[9]
Zac Efron as Troy Bolton: the male protagonist of the story and the captain of the East High Wildcats basketball team. His best friend is Chad Danforth. At a New Years party at a ski resort, he is pressured into singing "Start of Something New" with Gabriella Montez; prior to that, he had only sung in the shower.[10] Troy is torn between basketball and singing; he wants to sing with Gabriella, the girl he has a crush on, but his teammates push him away from it with peer pressure and even trickery because they are worried that his pursuit of singing will affect their chances at winning the championship game. Troy is also the Wildcat captain, a star player and the son of basketball coach Jack Bolton (Bart Johnson). Troy also enjoys snowboarding. Troy and Chad have known each other since preschool.
Vanessa Hudgens as Gabriella Montez: the female protagonist, who has a secret crush on Troy. She is a shy and a very intelligent student who has just changed schools. She originally meets Troy at a New Years party when they are forced to sing a karaoke duet. She meets him again when she moves to the same school as Troy in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is reluctant to let everybody know of her past achievements, but soon everybody finds out through the internet that she has won numerous Scholastic Competitions. She had previously been in a church choir, but passed out after having everybody stared at her while singing solo. She and Troy audition for their high school musical, get a callback, and then win the lead parts for the winter musical. She also helps East High win the Scholastic Decathlon award.
Ashley Tisdale as Sharpay Evans: the antagonist of High School Musical. She is an arrogant person who always wants her way. She has a domineering personality and likes to be in control even of her twin brother Ryan. She auditions with him for the winter school musical against Troy and Gabriella. When she discovers that Troy and Gabriella have a callback, she changes the callback date in order to make sure that Troy and Gabriella fail to get the leads. The plan however fails with the aid of Taylor and Chad. Sharpay ends up being the understudy for Gabriella, and in the end, wishes Gabriella good luck by telling her to break a leg. Chad, at one point, calls Sharpay and Ryan "show dogs" (the name Sharpay being a homophone of Shar Pei, a breed of dog). She also refers to famous Broadway songwriter Stephen Sondheim by calling Kelsi "my sawed-off Sondheim". Despite her resentment of Troy and Gabriella taking the lead from her in the school musical, she seems to have a small crush or interest in Troy, and feels somewhat jealous of Gabriella. At the end of High School Musical, she seems to at least get along with Troy and Gabriella. However, in High School Musical 2, she reverts to hating Gabriella and develops an interest for Troy.
Lucas Grabeel as Ryan Evans: the twin brother and acting partner of Sharpay Evans, with whom he has starred in seventeen school productions to date. In High School Musical, both Ryan and his sister function as antagonists, while in High School Musical 2, he becomes a protagonist. Ryan is an excellent dancer and singer, tending to lean toward high-energy, upbeat songs and expressive choreography, often to the point of absurdity. He has a much more highly developed sense of fashion than most East High students, wearing button down shirts and slacks and topping each outfit with some type of floppy hat. The hats are one of Ryan's most notable features; he wears over twenty different ones throughout the two films. In High School Musical, both Ryan and his sister funk it up as antagonists, attempting to keep Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez from winning the lead roles in the school's winter musical, Twinkle Towne. In spite of a few moments where Ryan appears annoyed by Sharpay's domineering attitude, he accepts her leadership unquestioningly throughout the film.
Corbin Bleu as Chad Danforth: a member of the East High Wildcats team and Troy's best friend. He seems to be extremely devoted to basketball. Initially, he is a little snobby, selfish, and unsupportive of Troy's auditioning for the musical. He thinks that a musical is not meant for basketball players. However, he realizes later that singing is something that Troy really enjoys and so Chad lends his support to his best friend's audition endeavor. After teaming up with Taylor McKessie to pull Troy and Gabriella apart, and then to put them back together, he asks her out. In High School Musical 2, he develops a friendship with Ryan Evans.
Monique Coleman as Taylor McKessie: the leader of East High's science club, which competes in the Scholastic decathlon. She befriends Gabriella when she arrives to the school and convinces her to join the Scholastic Club. Initially, she tries to stop Gabriella from singing, but eventually, she ends up supporting her. She has a strong dislike for athletes including Troy Bolton, stating that they "contribute nothing to society other than slam dunks and touchdowns." However, her opinion of athletes changes over time. Chad Danforth asks her out by the end of the film and she accepts to go out with him.
Alyson Reed as Miss Darbus: the drama teacher at East High. She is an advocate of theater and has a strong dislike for cell phones and activities like sports. She often gets into arguments with her nemesis, Coach Bolton, and has very little to practically no knowledge of basketball.
Bart Johnson as Coach Jack Bolton: the Wildcats' coach and Troy's father. He is a former champion Wildcats player, and expects his son to follow his example. He has had numerous intense arguments with Ms. Darbus and is upset over his son's decision to pursue theater, but then he eventually comes around. Similarly, he disapproves of Troy's relationship with Gabriella because he feels it may interfere with his basketball tournament.
Olesya Rulin as Kelsi Nielsen: a pianist and the composer of the Twinkle Towne musical. She is very eager to assist Troy and Gabriella as they prepare for callbacks. Initially, Kelsi is shown lacking confidence; however, by the end of the movie, she stands up to Sharpay. Troy calls her the playmaker to build her confidence. She has a crush on Jason.
Chris Warren, Jr. as Zeke Baylor: a member of the Wildcats team, who secretly enjoys baking and has a crush on Sharpay.
Ryne Sanborn as Jason Cross: a member of the Wildcats team, who hangs out with Chad and Zeke and develops a crush on Kelsi.
Sean Soltys as Sam Diaz: a friend of Zac's who was present during the karaoke scene dancing in the background.
Kaycee Stroh as Martha Cox: a brainiac who secretly loves hip-hop and is friends with Gabriella, Kelsi and Taylor.
Socorro Herrera as Mrs. Montez: Gabriella's mother. Although she is never shown to have a strong feeling of approval or disapproval of Gabriella's singing, she is shown to support her daughter at the end of the movie. She also approves of Gabriella's relationship with Troy.