Trivia / High School Musical

• Adored by the Network:
  • Disney Channel (at least in Australia) once had a tendency to over-promote any of the films if it's set to air within a week. Almost every commercial break would have at least one ad about it. Considering that, at least between 2005-10, the film aired once a month, this was quite common.
  • Since 2015, Disney's main film channel in Australia tends to play any of the entries several times a week, and will commonly play songs from the three films in-between. The same goes for Camp Rock.
• Blooper: The minute-and-a-half end credits on 2 consist of this.
  • In the first film, towards the end of "Stick to the Status Quo", there's a shot of Sharpay still at her post at the middle of the second level, in between shots of her descending the stairs. Lampshaded by RiffTrax.
• Beam Me Up, Scotty!: During the song "Stick to the Status Quo", Mongo (one of the skaters) asks Ripper to explain what the cello is. Ripper then mimes playing the cello to which point Mongo says "A saw?!". Some people miss hear it as him saying "A song?!".
• The Cameo: Miley Cyrus won a fan vote to get a cameo in 2. She can be seen for a few seconds towards the end of "All for One".
• Cast the Runner-Up: Ashley Tisdale auditioned for Gabriella, but was given the role of Sharpay instead.
• The Cast Showoff: The Russian dub has Troy dubbed by Sergey Lazarev, who was already a well-known pop star at the time.
• Cut Song:
  • In 1, there were a few songs that didn't make the final product. The love song "I Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" was recorded by the four main leads (kind of Squicky because two of them played siblings) and ended up on the album and as a bonus music video on the DVD (it's made to look like they're all recording the song but Efron is there instead of Drew Seeley who did most of Troy's singing. It also made it into the stage version as a Troyella duet, as did "Cellular Fusion" and "Counting on You" but the song between Darbus and Coach Bolton seems to be lost forever.
  • "Humuhumunukunukuapua'a" was cut from the broadcast version of 2. It's reinstated on DVD and onstage.
  • There was a song recorded for Senior Year called "Last Chance" that never made it apart from the reprise in the medley of most of the already featured songs. A 40 second preview leaked in 2008 before release. No full version is known to exist.
    • The home media release includes an "extended version", which features a reprise of "Right Here Right Now".
• Dawson Casting:
  • Many of the actors were actually in their early 20s, though when the films initially started, the characters were played by people close to their actual age. Monique Coleman (Taylor) was 24 at the time of the first film's production.
  • Averted by Austin Butler in Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure, who was nineteen and playing a college freshman. Likewise Bradley Steven Perry as Sharpay's rival.
• Development Hell: A fourth film was announced in 2009 and a casting call went out in 2016. Dara Renee, who wound up playing Kourtney in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, was among those who went out for those auditions. But otherwise, no news has surfaced since.
• Divorced Installment: The film originated as a third Grease, where Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake would have played the children of Sandy and Danny - with the Sharpay-type character being Rizzo's daughter (played by Christina Aguilera).
• Dyeing for Your Art: Efron had to practice basketball three hours a day during the first film.
• Fake American: Olesya Rulin (Kelsi) is a marginal example, as she's Russian born but was raised in America.
• Fake Nationality: Gabriella is Hispanic, but Vanessa Hudgens is of Filipino and Native American descent.
• Fandom Life Cycle: It's sitting at Stage 3, mainly thanks to Disney Channel continuing to air it well into the 2010s to new sets of preteen girls.
• Follow the Leader: High School Musical's success was a clear factor in the format of Glee - to the point that in its early days, people thought it was a Deconstruction of HSM, although its creator adamantly denies it. Camp Rock and Descendants are also clearly inspired by it. Nickelodeon also produced the similar Spectacular!. Ever since, every most live-action fare on Nick and Disney Channel has featured it’s young stars recording music.
• Hostility on the Set: Tisdale and Grabeel didn't get along making the first film, though they eventually buried the hatchet and became friends during the sequels.
• Incestuous Casting: In-Universe. Taylor remarks that if Sharpay could find a way to play both Romeo and Juliet, Ryan would be out of a job, suggesting that the two have played romantic partners in the past.
• Non-Singing Voice: Efron's singing in the first film is done by Drew Seeley. This is because Troy was envisioned as a Tenor Boy, and Efron is a baritone range. Efron was the last person cast and they didn’t have the time to rewrite the music. Troy's vocal range is adjusted in the sequels as a result.
• The Other Marty: Cassie Steele was cast as Gabriella based on her performance in Full Court Miracle, but she had to drop out due to commitments with Degrassi: The Next Generation.
• Playing Against Type: Oddly, Tisdale as Sharpay - at roughly the same time, she played Maddie on The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, a completely different role. If you want to go into detail, Tisdale basically played a bitchy version of London in these films. Lampshaded in an episode of Suite Life where Maddie tries out for Sharpay in her school's production of HSM, and is told she's too nice for the role.
• Romance on the Set: Between Efron and Hudgens, who were together for over five years. They confessed to liking each other during the first film and got together during the second (although they hid it for as long as they could to avoid the media). Director Ortega admitted that he'd noticed their chemistry since the beginning, and deliberately paired them during auditions.
• Sleeper Hit: Seriously, nobody thought this Disney Channel Original Movie would end up being a giant hit that would encapsulate the late 2000s.
• Star-Making Role: For Efron and Hudgens. It's hard to believe that Tisdale was a more recognizable name than them at the time.
• Throw It In!:
  • According to the first film's pop-up edition, the scene where Sharpay kicks a bathroom door was ad-libbed.
  • Bleu randomly decided to wear three different watches at once, which can be seen at Chad's first scene in the film.
• Utah Doubling: Although the movie is set in Albuquerque, New Mexico, it was filmed in Salt Lake City, Utah.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Drew Seeley, Hunter Parrish and Matthew Underwood auditioned for Troy before the casting of Zac Efron. Seeley would go on to provide Efron's singing voice for the first film. Apparently MatPat also auditioned and has resented Efron ever since for beating him out in getting the role.
  • Naya Rivera read for the role of Gabriella Montez before Vanessa Hudgens was cast.
  • A duet was planned between Ms. Darbus and Coach Bolton, but it never got filmed. Stage versions usually have them sing.
• Word of Gay: Grabeel wanted Ryan to be gay (and possibly end up with Chad), but then the Moral Guardians came. This didn't stop "I Don't Dance" from happening though. Ryan's sexuality became confirmed in stage versions. In 2020, Ortega reveals that Ryan was “probably going to come out in college”.

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