60 Fun Facts About High School Musical

Who directed and choreographed all three High School Musical films?

He had earlier choreographed Dirty Dancing and Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

Which Shakespeare play have the writer and many critics called the first film a modern adaptation of?

Screenwriter Peter Barsocchini got the idea from a high-school basketball teammate who secretly wanted to be a ballet dancer.

Where do Troy and Gabriella first meet, singing a karaoke duet on New Year's Eve?

The song is 'Start of Something New', and the lodge is in Utah, where the films were shot.

The Wildcats' fictional New Mexico school is called ___ High School. Fill in the blank.

The fictional school is in New Mexico, but filming took place at a real school of the same name in Salt Lake City.

In which US state was High School Musical actually filmed?

The real East High in Salt Lake City became a tourist stop, drawing 40 to 50 visitors a day in the summer of 2007.

Which academic team does Gabriella join at East High?

Taylor McKessie captains the team and recruits her after Sharpay leaks Gabriella's academic record.

Which student composes the school musical's songs and gets Troy and Gabriella their callback?

She is described as an underappreciated pianist who is initially shy and subservient to Sharpay.

What two things does drama teacher Ms. Darbus famously dislike?

She is played by Alyson Reed in all three films.

Who provided most of Troy's singing voice in the first High School Musical, since Zac Efron is a baritone?

Efron did sing the first and last lines of 'Start of Something New' and the opening of 'Breaking Free', and he sang everything himself in the sequel.

Which song do students sing in the cafeteria as they confess secret passions like baking and hip-hop?

Zeke Baylor's secret is baking; he later promises Sharpay a crème brûlée in the post-credits scene.

Which song do Sharpay and Ryan perform at their callback audition?

Their uptempo take on 'What I've Been Looking For' was their first audition; Troy and Gabriella sing the ballad version.

How do the basketball and decathlon teams free Troy and Gabriella to reach the callback in time?

Sharpay had persuaded Ms. Darbus to schedule the callbacks against the championship game and the decathlon.

What does Zeke give Sharpay in the post-credits scene of the first film?

He promises a crème brûlée next; Chris Warren Jr. plays the basketball player who loves to bake.

Roughly how many US viewers watched the first High School Musical's premiere broadcast?

By 2019 more than 225 million unique viewers worldwide were calculated to have watched it.

Which lead single from the first film peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100?

In its second week it leapt from number 86 to number 4, the largest single-week climb in the chart's history up to that point.

In-universe, the school musical Kelsi writes for the first film is called what?

'Breaking Free' is the duet she wrote for its second act.

How many copies did the High School Musical DVD sell in six days, a record for a TV film?

It went on sale on May 23, 2006 as the 'Encore Edition' and had sold eight million units by 2010.

High School Musical was the first feature-length video sold on which digital service, in March 2006?

It was a 320x240 download for $9.99, after briefly being mislisted at $1.99.

Which Disney Channel show's musical episode did Gary Marsh credit for High School Musical getting made?

That's So Raven followed with its own musical episode, and The Cheetah Girls (2003) is counted as the network's first musical film.

Roughly how much did the first High School Musical cost to make?

Its success let Disney Channel raise budgets for later 'tentpole' TV movies.

Where do the Wildcats take summer jobs in High School Musical 2?

The Evans family's club is called Lava Springs, and its exteriors were shot at Entrada at Snow Canyon in Utah.

What is the name of the Evans family's resort in High School Musical 2?

Sharpay orders the manager, Mr. Fulton, to hire Troy, who insists his friends be hired too.

Which song opens High School Musical 2 as the students count down to summer vacation?

It reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100 as the sequel's lead single.

Which song does Gabriella sing as she quits her summer job and leaves Troy in High School Musical 2?

Troy answers with 'Bet on It', a number Entertainment Weekly called a 'terrific crisis-of-conscience number'.

Which song do Ryan and the Wildcats perform during the staff baseball game in High School Musical 2?

Gabriella invites Ryan to the game after Sharpay cuts him out of her talent-show act.

Which song does Ryan hand Troy moments before the talent show, which Troy then sings with Gabriella?

Sharpay ends up presenting her brother with the talent-show award.

Which Disney star makes a cameo as a pool-party guest at the end of High School Musical 2?

Sharpay's Yorkshire terrier Boi is played by a real dog named Manly.

Whose pet plays Sharpay's Yorkshire terrier, Boi?

The dog, Manly 'Little Pickles' Ortega, reprised the role in the third film.

How many US viewers watched the premiere of High School Musical 2, then a record for basic cable?

The previous basic-cable record was an ESPN Monday Night Football game between the Giants and Cowboys.

Which animated series, with Ashley Tisdale's voice, previewed after High School Musical 2?

Tisdale voices Candace Flynn in the show.

Which college basketball team does Troy get to practise with thanks to Sharpay's string-pulling?

His father tells him to make the most of the chances, since they might lead to an athletic scholarship.

High School Musical 3: Senior Year differs from the first two films how?

It opened in the US on October 24, 2008, after a London premiere a week earlier.

High School Musical 3's first-weekend US gross of $42,030,184 broke which box-office record?

It took the record from Enchanted and held it until Pitch Perfect 2 in 2015.

Which prestigious school's scholarship are Sharpay, Ryan, Kelsi and Troy all considered for in the third film?

Ms. Darbus secretly submitted Troy's application; Kelsi and Ryan both end up winning.

Where does Gabriella leave early for a freshman honors program in High School Musical 3?

Troy later turns up there on prom night for their own dance.

Which college does Troy finally choose at the end of High School Musical 3?

He picks it to be close to Gabriella while playing basketball and performing in theater; Taylor heads to Yale.

Which British transfer student befriends and then betrays Sharpay in the third film?

She was played by Jemma McKenzie-Brown and was one of three new characters intended to lead a possible fourth film.

What nickname does freshman basketball player Jimmie Zara go by in High School Musical 3?

Troy texts him to be his understudy, and his performance with Sharpay embarrasses her but wins applause.

Which song do Troy and Chad sing while reminiscing in Riley's Auto Parts?

Troy's solo 'Scream' comes later, when he vents in the empty theater after arguing with his father.

What was the third film originally going to be called before its Halloween theme was scrapped?

The final film had a $30 million budget and 41 shooting days, longer than either TV movie.

How much did Utah give the third film as a tax break, its largest ever for a film?

Production returned to East High School and Murray High School in Salt Lake City.

Which original cast member skipped the 2006-07 High School Musical tour to film Hairspray?

Jordan Pruitt opened the shows, which ran from November 2006 to January 2007.

Where does Sharpay move in Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure (2011), chasing a Broadway role?

It was the only Disney Channel Original Movie released on home video before it aired on the channel.

In the 2011 spin-off film, the Broadway producer wants to audition whom instead of the star?

Boi competes for the 'best friend' role in the show A Girl's Best Friend against a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Countess.

Who plays aspiring film director Peyton Leverett opposite Ashley Tisdale in Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure?

Butler would go on to play Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann's Elvis a decade later.

Who created High School Musical: The Musical: The Series for Disney+?

The show is a mockumentary set at a fictionalized version of the real East High where the films were shot.

Which future pop star played Nini Salazar-Roberts in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series?

She wrote the original song 'All I Want' for the show and co-wrote 'Just for a Moment' with co-star Joshua Bassett.

Which stage musical do the East High students put on in season two of the Disney+ series?

Season three moves to Camp Shallow Lake for Frozen, and season four stages Senior Year while a fictional HSM4 shoots at the school.

Which original High School Musical actor appears as himself in season three of the series at Camp Shallow Lake?

Grabeel had appeared as himself in season one, singing alongside Kate Reinders' Miss Jenn.

In the Disney+ series, what is the drama teacher who once danced in the original film called?

Kate Reinders plays her; the character stages the original show as her first winter production.

How many seasons did High School Musical: The Musical: The Series run before ending in 2023?

It won a GLAAD Media Award and two Children's and Family Emmys.

Which ABC Family drama did Lucas Grabeel star in from 2011 to 2017 after playing Ryan Evans?

He played Toby Kennish, brother of one of the two swapped girls.

Vanessa Hudgens played Rizzo in which 2016 Fox television musical?

She later played Maureen in Rent: Live in 2019 and made her Broadway debut in Gigi in 2015.

The actor who plays Chad Danforth headlined which 2007 Disney Channel movie about double-dutch rope skipping?

Before HSM he starred for three seasons in Discovery Kids' Flight 29 Down.

Which summer theater camp staged the first stage production of High School Musical in 2006?

The Disney Theatrical US tour of the stage version ran from May 2007 to August 2008.

Ice-show producer Feld Entertainment launched High School Musical: The Ice Tour where in September 2007?

The skating cast included 2004 World Junior bronze medallist Jordan Brauninger.

The Latin American spin-off High School Musical: El Desafío was based on which book?

Versions were filmed for Argentina and Mexico in 2008 and Brazil (as O Desafio) in 2010.

High School Musical: The Junior Novel stayed on the New York Times bestseller list for how many weeks?

By August 2007 the novelization had sold more than 4.5 million copies.

The director of all three films made his feature directorial debut with which 1992 musical?

He later wrote and directed Michael Jackson's This Is It and the first three Descendants films.

At what position did the High School Musical soundtrack debut on the Billboard 200 before later hitting number one?

It sold just 7,469 copies in its first week, then topped the chart twice in March 2006.