40 Fun Facts About Backstage (TV Series)

Which fictional arts school do Vanessa, Carly, Miles and Alya join as ninth graders in Backstage?

Keaton is a prestigious arts school where dancers, singers, musicians and artists train side by side. The series follows one freshman class from its very first day.

Which organ does Miles need replaced in Backstage, a secret that comes out after he collapses from overwork?

A kidney transplant list has had his name on it all along, which explains the special treatment in class that Jax resented. A donor is found later in the first season.

Which problem must singer Alya overcome in Backstage, beginning on her very first day of class?

Stage fright makes her freeze when teacher Mr. Park picks her to sing, and Bianca's harsh verdict almost sends her home. Miles talks her into staying after hearing her voice.

Which body part does Vanessa secretly injure in rehearsal and break on opening night in Backstage?

Her ankle is hurt while training with Carly, and she hides the pain to keep the lead. It gives way after a jump during the show, and Carly has to take her place.

In Backstage, what are the scenes called in which characters break the fourth wall and talk to viewers?

Confessionals give each student private moments straight to camera. Clips of them, such as Alya's from the first episode, were posted on the show's official YouTube account.

In Backstage, Sasha takes Carly on a first date to see which Canadian pop star in concert?

Shawn Mendes is the act, and Sasha even has backstage passes, but the concert lands on the nine-year anniversary of Carly and Vanessa's friendship.

Carly ends Backstage with the chance to go on tour as a backup dancer for which real pop star?

Selena Gomez is the star, an offer that comes through choreographer JJ Hawks, who takes Carly on as her apprentice. It means a summer apart from best friend Vanessa.

Which Canadian broadcaster first aired Backstage, a week before the series reached American viewers?

Family Channel premiered it on March 18, 2016, and Disney Channel followed in the United States on March 25. Disney also took the series to Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Which fairy-tale heroine is the lead role Vanessa wins in the first-season dance show in Backstage?

Cinderella is the lead in the freshman dance production, with Sasha as her prince. Carly deliberately throws her own audition so that her best friend gets the part.

Devyn Nekoda, dancer Vanessa in Backstage, later played student Anika Kayoko in which slasher film?

Scream VI cast her as Anika Kayoko, a Blackmore University student and the girlfriend of Mindy Meeks-Martin. Nekoda began dancing at the age of two.

Which elite group of fourth-year dancers is freshman Vanessa chosen to train with on day one of Backstage?

The Primas are led by dance captain Cassandra, who later throws Vanessa out for refusing to drop her best friend Carly.

Which stunt by Carly and Vanessa damages the arts school and still haunts them in season two of Backstage?

Setting off the sprinklers starts with a fire lit to derail a revenge plot, but the water ruins the music students' recordings. The principal later makes the pair repair the damage.

How are singer Scarlett and producer Kit related, as a classmate learns early in Backstage?

Adoptive sisters, they share the same adoptive parents, and the truth slips out after a studio session on one of Scarlett's songs. Both later face questions about their birth parents.

Expelled for copying a popular deejay's samples in Backstage, Kit reveals she is secretly which artist?

DJ Diamondmind is her own alter ego, so the samples she was accused of stealing were hers all along. Kit, Jax and Scarlett then scheme to keep her enrolled without unmasking her.

According to its producers, what do the young actors who play the students in Backstage all have in common?

Real dancers and musicians make up the cast: Aviva Mongillo, who plays Alya, was spotted through original songs she had posted online.

Which streaming service, not a cable network, took the second season of Backstage to American viewers?

Netflix took over after the first season had aired on Disney Channel, and the cast broke the news themselves on social media in September 2017.

What takes Alya away from the arts school at the end of the first semester in Backstage?

A part in a musical called Da Bohème, won at a school audition, grows into the offer of a tour. Unhappy on the road, she comes back and is readmitted.

Which Toronto studio, also behind My Babysitter's a Vampire and the cartoon 6teen, produced Backstage?

Fresh TV made its name with animation aimed at preteens and teenagers before branching into live action. Backstage co-creator Jennifer Pertsch is one of its founding partners.

Which famous arts school accepts Julie late in Backstage, only for her to give her place to a schoolmate?

Juilliard first notices Julie when a scout sees her dance, though she is not even in the dance program. She later gives up her spot so that waitlisted Cassandra can go.

What does a doctor find that threatens star singer Scarlett's career at the end of Backstage's first season?

Vocal cord nodes, callus-like growths, leave her too hoarse to speak by the night of the open house. She has surgery, and season two finds her afraid to sing again.

Which family tie do Vanessa and Carly overhear between new dancer Beckett and teacher Helsweel in Backstage?

She is his mother, which slips out when he loses his temper with her over being at the school on probation. More students work it out after she comments on his romance with Vanessa.

In Backstage, the CAMDAs are competitions in art, music, dance and which fourth discipline?

Acting completes the acronym, and the students' own school hosts the contest in season two, going on to win both the music and the dance titles.

What is TMK, which dance student Sasha runs and later shuts down to win a place in a crew, in Backstage?

A gossip blog about the school, TMK costs Sasha his spot in the top dance group when he posts about Carly's secret romance. Jenna later hijacks his deleted account.

Which exam does Julie pay someone to sit for her in Backstage, a cheat that unravels after a record score?

The PSAT clashes with her only chance to dance for a college scout, so she hires a stand-in. The plan backfires when the principal congratulates her on the highest score in school history.

Which crew of untrained outdoor dancers does an injured Vanessa start choreographing for in Backstage?

The Streets are drama students led by Sloane, with no formal dance training, and Vanessa helps them audition to become an official school club with studio time.

Asked to bring the school's disciplines together, which sport does Miles organize a team for in Backstage?

Baseball is his choice, and Jax signs up to help him, picking up pointers on how to play from Miles along the way.

When a record executive signs only Scarlett in Backstage, which new role does a crushed Bianca take on?

Her manager is the job Bianca gives herself after Clive Richie passes her over at open mic day. She soon sets strict rules on Scarlett's social media and even her boyfriend.

What disrupts the finals in Backstage's second season, prompting Alya to suggest an acoustic performance?

A power outage hits with a college scout in the audience to see senior Frances. Alya's stripped-back idea earns her the duet spot, and their school takes the music title.

Which visual arts student, a devoted admirer of Julie, leaves Backstage after its first season?

Denzel is also a music producer, and Kit hands him the cover art for a popular DJ's next single as a boost before his 14th birthday.

Which threat pushes the students to stage an expanded Seasons show at the end of Backstage?

The school is closing at the end of the year, Beckett learns from an email, so the students perform for the head of the school board. The series ends with its fate still uncertain.

Under which stage name did Aviva Mongillo, who plays Alya in Backstage, release the EP To Anyone Like Me?

Carys released the EP in 2020 through Warner Music Canada, after her song Princesses Don't Cry found success online.

Jennifer Pertsch, co-creator of Backstage, also co-created which animated send-up of reality TV contests?

Total Drama spoofs shows like Survivor, putting animated teenagers through elimination challenges first as teams and then alone.

Which song, written by Andrew Austin and sung by Stefanie McCarol, is the opening theme of Backstage?

Spark also opens the first soundtrack release, Songs from Backstage, Vol. 1, which came out on the day the series premiered in Canada.

Which music video maker, famed for work with Drake and Jay-Z, shot the final episode of Backstage?

Director X, born Julien Christian Lutz near Toronto, trained under Hype Williams and has more than a hundred music videos to his name.

Which co-creator of Backstage, alongside Jennifer Pertsch, wrote both its first and its last episode?

Lara Azzopardi also stepped behind the camera for several episodes herself, including the second season's penultimate one, and served as an executive producer.

Before teaching dance in Backstage, Etta Helsweel spent five years as a star of which company?

The National Ballet had her as its leading ballerina for five years. In class she is far sterner than music teacher Mr. Park, who is the one known for showing students compassion.

Adrianna Di Liello, Jenna in Backstage, was already known as Shania in which part-CGI children's series?

Annedroids was her first big role, and in 2015 she won a Young Artist Award for Outstanding Young Ensemble in a TV Series.

What happens when the dance winner is announced at the CAMDA finals in Backstage's second season?

The wrong school is named when the emcee misreads the results, handing victory for a moment to a rival troupe coached by former teacher Maria Schiller.

When Helsweel needs sudden eye surgery in Backstage, what is the trouble with the stand-in dance teacher?

A language barrier is the trouble: the stand-in is a Ukrainian teacher who speaks no English, and the class is already too worried about Helsweel to focus.

How does Miles, helped by Jax, deliver his message asking Julie out in the first season of Backstage?

By hacking her computer he gets the message through, but signing it with only his first name leaves her baffled, and Alya asks him out before the mix-up is solved.