What’s up? It’s Sussan Mourad here with Clevver News and as we all anxiously
await for season 2 of ‘High School Musical: The Musical: The Series’,
the cast is spilling some behind the scenes secrets of the show. Let’s get into it!
High School Musical: The Musical:
The Series has been a huge hit since it landed on Disney + in 2019.
Disney + confirmed that a second season is underway, but like many other productions,
they had to stop filming and shut down their set during last year’s lockdowns.
Thankfully, they’ve found ways to safely get back to filming and since then,
they’ve even announced new cast members.
So while they haven’t revealed an official release date for season two,
we know it’s coming this year and hopefully sooner rather than later!
And while we wait, let’s get into some of the behind the
scenes secrets you might not know about the show.
Starting with the fact that all the songs you hear the cast sing on the show,
aside from one, are recorded live.
That means they aren’t singing them in advance,
having them edited, and then lip syncing over them.
BuzzFeed reported that only the song “The Start of Something New” was pre recorded.
The show was created by Broadway’s Tim Federle and he told Playbill that when he was casting
the show he wanted young performers who could sing live and bring authenticity to their roles.
He said quote, “I knew that really talented singers who could really sing
live can do something that touches an audience that autotune can’t.”
And the casts’ talents certainly show throughout the entire first season.
Many of them have also revealed that they were huge fans of the original
High School Musical movies. I mean who wasn’t right?!
Joshua Bassett told the Sioux City Journal that the movies
were his “first introduction to musical theater ever” and Olivia Rodrigo said
her favorite movie is by far the second High School Musical film.
But in particular, High School Musical:
The Musical: The Series star Sofia Wylie was a diehard HSM stan.
During a D23 chat, she revealed just how serious her fandom was.
Sofia said quote, “When I was around 5 years old, there was this contest at my local mall:
You had to walk across a red carpet and you could win tickets for your whole family
to fly out to L.A. and be a part of the High School Musical 3 premiere.”
Sofia ended up winning the contest and says that she still
cherishes the photos she has with her family from that day.
She added that quote, “Now, 10 years later,
it’s weird to think I’m able to be part of this amazing show.”
And given the fact that so many of the cast members were such huge fans of the original
movies, you can imagine their excitement when they found out the show was being filmed at the same
real-life East High School that they used in the movies.
East High School is an actual school in Utah that’s now been used for both
the High School Musical movies and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.
Matt Cornett, who plays EJ on the show, also opened up during their D23 chat about how
much he loved the films and how he was starstruck by East High School
Matt said quote, “I didn’t think it was possible to be star-struck by a building,
but I was genuinely star-struck by the school
whenever we walked up! It was like, it was magical, in a way.”
The cast even confirmed that Sharpay Evans’ locker is still there.
You know I’m going to be looking for it in the background of season two!
And last but not least, while she isn’t on ‘High School Musical: The Musical:
The Series,’ fans might not know that To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before star
Lana Condor actually auditioned to be on the show.
Last January, she spoke to Teen Vogue about how before her days as a Netflix star,
she actually was almost on Disney.
She said when she first started hearing about ‘High School Musical:
The Musical: The Series,’ she recalled her audition.
She said quote, “I actually don't think it was
Disney+ when I shot for it, I think it was just Disney.”
And at the time, Lana said she was so excited
about the possibility of being in a High School Musical reboot.
She said quote, “I was the biggest High School Musical fan when I was a child.
I was like oh my God, I want to be Gabriella. I thought it was so cool.”
Lana looked back on her audition process and remembered that quote,
“They didn't want us to sing High School Musical songs, which I'm sure everyone was like,
okay I'll go in and sing ‘We're All in This Together’ or whatever.”
So Lana ended up singing Christina Perri’s “A Thousand Years” for her audition.
Umm does this tape exist somewhere because we’d love to see it...
Ultimately, Lana didn’t land the role, but she said she still thinks of the moment as
“an amazing memory” and loves the High School Musical series.
And it all worked out for Lana because she landed the role she was meant to have as Lara Jean.
Anyway, I hope some of these behind the scenes secrets have held you over as we
wait for season two of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.
We will keep you guys posted on if we hear anything else about the release date!
Until then, if you want more on who the new cast members are and
what roles they’ll be playing, click right over here for another Clevver News video.
Also, let us know down in the comments below which
of these behind the scenes tidbits you found the most interesting.
I’m your host Sussan Mourad, bye guys!