High School Musical is an Emmy Award-winning American television film, and the first in the High School Musical film franchise. Upon its release on January 20, 2006, it became the most successful movie that Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM) ever produced, with a television sequel High School Musical 2 released in 2007 and the feature film High School Musical 3: Senior Year released to theaters in October 2008. It is the first Disney Channel Original Movie to have a theatrical sequel. A fourth installment, High School Musical 4, has been announced to be in the writing stages. The film’s soundtrack was the best-selling album in the United States for 2006. High School Musical was Disney Channel’s most watched movie that year 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 it the second most watched program for the Disney Channel (UK) of 2006. On December 29, 2006, it became the first Disney Channel Original Movie to be broadcast on the BBC. With a plot described by the author and numerous critics as a modern adaptation of Romeo & Juliet, High School Musical is a story about two high school juniors from rival cliques – 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 to the status quo”. High School Musical was filmed at East High School located in Salt Lake City, Utah, the auditorium of Murray High School, and Downtown Salt Lake City. Ashley Michelle Tisdale (born July 2, 1985) is an American actress, singer, songwriter and television producer. Tisdale gained her first major role as an actress in 2005 when she played the role of Maddie Fitzpatrick in Disney’s The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. She went on to appear in the High School Musical film series as the female antagonist Sharpay Evans. She made music history by becoming the first female artist to debut with two songs simultaneously on the Billboard Hot 100 with “What I’ve Been Looking For” and “Bop to the Top”.|After her first Emmy-winning High School Musical performance, she pursued a solo music career and on February 6, 2007, she released her debut album Headstrong. The album debuted at number five on the U.S. charts, selling over 64,000 copies in the first week, and was later certified Gold. Tisdale has a supporting role as Candace Flynn in Disney Channel’s Phineas and Ferb. Tisdale is working on her second studio album, Guilty Pleasure which is scheduled to be released worldwide in June 16, 2009. and on North America in July 28, 2009. Tisdale will be starring in Aliens in the Attic, which will be released on July 31, 2009. Lucas Stephen Grabeel (born November 23, 1984) is an American actor, singer, songwriter, director and producer. He is perhaps best known for his role as Ryan Evans in Disney Channel Original Movie’s 2006 High School Musical and its sequels, High School Musical 2 (2007) and High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008), and as Ethan Dalloway in the third and fourth instalments of the Halloweentown series, Halloweentown High (2004), and Return to Halloweentown (2006). |
