BACKGROUND
High School Musical took the world by storm in 2006.
So, what happens after a movie is shown to be a huge success? Do you just leave it alone, not wanting to push your luck? No, of course not! You make a sequel obviously!
If you were watching Disney Channel during the mid-2000s, it was almost impossible to get away from High School Musical as clips and music videos from the movie filled up any available space between its scheduling. During the summer of 2007, these spaces were filled with promotion for High School Musical 2. Disney Channel knew that High School Musical 2 was going to be highly anticipated after the first film, so they had to whip viewers up into a frenzy, to ensure the second film outshone the first.
Sequels aren’t always very popular, as fans can think that the original film is so pure that a sequel will only ruin the film’s legacy and change how you feel about that first movie that you love. Others like sequels because they give an opportunity to improve upon the world where the first film is set, and in many cases, more minor characters get a chance to shine in a sequel. But sometimes a sequel is simply a rehash of an original and nobody wants that, because that is lazy filmmaking, although sometimes it can still be entertaining.
In my case, I actually prefer a lot of sequels over their originals; not all the time, but quite a lot of the time. I think I like the increased production budget that comes with most sequels so the overall look of a sequel is just better. That was definitely the case with High School Musical 2 and is a big reason why I like this sequel so much more than the first film. I also like how other characters outside of Troy and Gabriella get some screen time in High School Musical 2, particularly Ryan who finally sees his sister for the villain she can be.
I hadn’t avoided the interest in High School Musical 2, and threw myself right into it, getting excited for the sequel, which only came to UK screens a month after the US premiere, much better than the nine-month gap between the US premiere and UK premiere of High School Musical. It still missed summer, as we were back to school by that point, but it didn’t matter. High School Musical 2 made us all feel summery regardless of when we watched it. I also got the soundtrack for the film on CD prior to seeing the film. I got it in a Tesco supermarket, and my sister asked why I’d want to spoil the film for myself by listening to the CD obsessively over the summer.
Easy. I had to be prepared. It was that much of an event in my life.
PLOT
High School Musical 2 begins back at East High, on the last day of school before summer. Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez, along with Sharpay, Ryan, Chad and Taylor, and their other classmates are counting down the minutes, the seconds even, until summer break, while their homeroom and drama teacher Ms. Darbus drones on about…something. The bell finally rings and it is officially summer!
As the gang walk through the corridors, they discuss their summer plans. Sharpay offers Kelsi a job as the pianist at her family’s country club, and starts wondering how she can use the summer to get Troy to be interested in her. Gabriella has regularly moved every summer, so Sharpay has hope that Gabriella is about to leave again, but Gabriella tells Sharpay she is staying in Albuquerque until she graduates. Bad luck, Sharpay! Gabriella thought Sharpay was starting to warm up to her after helping her with the school musical; obviously not! The others are hoping to find jobs over the break, because with college coming up, they’re looking to earn some extra cash and have something to put on their college applications, however, Gabriella and Taylor have both been struggling to find anything. Troy tells Gabriella not to worry as he has plenty of plans for their summer together. He then gives her a necklace with a “T” on it, as in Troy. They are about to kiss but are interrupted by a student wanting Troy to sign his yearbook… After that, they head home.
The next day, Troy has been playing basketball with his friends when he gets a phone call. It is from Mr. Fulton, the manager of the Lava Springs Country Club, offering Troy a job. He accepts, also saying that he has plenty of friends who would be great employees for the summer, especially Gabriella.
At Lava Springs, Sharpay and Ryan have arrived in Sharpay’s bright pink car and are greeted by Mr. Fulton. Lava Springs is owned by Sharpay and Ryan’s family, and it turns out Sharpay asked Mr. Fulton to hire Troy. She is happy to hear that Troy has been hired, and starts thinking about “her” summer talent show that the country club put on for members and employees alike. The prize for winning is called the Star Dazzle Award, something Sharpay – and Ryan – have won every year for years. This year won’t be any different.
Sharpay heads down to the pool and meets up with her girls, Jackie, Lea and Emma, also known as the Sharpettes. Sharpay starts to moan about how her drama club was infiltrated by other kids at school, but Ryan reminds her it’s summer now, so she can forget all that. Sharpay soon gets into the summer spirit when she sees Troy arrive at the club, however, she spots him waving at someone. Following that wave, Sharpay is horrified to see Gabriella here, working as the lifeguard, as well as all the others from East High. In her shock, Sharpay falls into the pool, and is “saved” by Gabriella. Sharpay then heads directly to Mr. Fulton, and asks why he hired them. Mr. Fulton was told to hire Troy whatever it takes; I guess it took the hiring of all the Wildcats! Mr. Fulton said the board did clear the hiring of them, so Sharpay goes directly to her mother, who is on the board, interrupting her yoga class. Sharpay’s mother refuses to fire them and doesn’t see the problem, thinking this is a good thing to have their classmates here. Not getting anywhere, Sharpay tells Mr. Fulton to get the others to quit. But not Troy, obviously.
In the kitchen, Mr. Fulton gives everyone their jobs. Zeke is assisting the chef, and Martha and Jason are also kitchen help; Taylor is head of member activities; and Chad and Troy have been hired as waiters, and occasional golf caddies. Kelsi is the pianist. Mr. Fulton warns them all that he runs on the “three strikes and you’re out” rule. Just at that exact moment, Gabriella comes into the kitchen for lunch three minutes earlier than she should do. Mr. Fulton says he’ll overlook this one timing issue, but no others. Suddenly, jobs don’t sound much fun, do they? Troy tries to encourage the others, saying summer will be great.
Later that day, Troy and Gabriella have a romantic picnic on the golf course, which Sharpay and Ryan watch over. Sharpay asks maintenance to turn on the sprinklers to ruin their date, but instead of ruining it, Troy and Gabriella simply run through the sprinklers together. They are then caught by Mr. Fulton, who tells them that is strike one.
The next day, Gabriella and Troy arrive at Lava Springs and hear Kelsi playing something new on the piano. They go over to her, and she tells them she’s been working on something for the employee talent show, hoping Troy and Gabriella will sing the leads. Troy doesn’t want to focus on singing anymore now that the school musical is over, but Gabriella convinces him to try out the song. The others hear their performance and join in, deciding this has to be their talent show number. All this has been heard by Ryan, who reports back to Sharpay. Sharpay has a plan to stop the employees from ruining her talent show and taking her Star Dazzle Award; it all starts with Troy.
That afternoon, Sharpay has Troy and Chad caddy for her family as they head out on the golf course together. Troy and Chad therefore meet Mr. and Mrs. Evans. Midway through, Troy asks Gabriella on a date, a poolside picnic, for later that evening. She accepts, shortly before Sharpay whisks Troy back to the golf course on her golf cart. Sharpay gets Troy to take a shot, and Mr. Evans is impressed. Sharpay asks her father to consider Troy for a scholarship to the University of Albuquerque, since Troy has talent in both basketball and golf. Troy isn’t so sure, but appreciates the support, being concerned about college.
After golf, Troy and Chad are rightly exhausted. Troy is then told he will be dining as a guest of the Evans’, giving Troy suitable attire to wear. Jason and Chad will be the waiters for the evening. This makes Troy uncomfortable, but he feels he has no choice. Also joining them for dinner are board members at the university, who want to talk to Troy about his college plans. They feel he would be a suitable candidate for a scholarship. To top it all off, Sharpay also reveals Troy’s singing abilities. Putting him on the spot, Sharpay says Troy should sing with her sometime. Troy has no choice but to say he will, before making his excuses and leaving the table. He apologises to Gabriella for being late for their date. He just needs to change out of the suit and he’ll be ready. Gabriella tries not to let it bother her.
At this point, Troy is led away by Mr. Fulton to a dark room and placed in a chair. He is then subjected to an over-the-top performance by Sharpay, her brother, and the Sharpettes. This is going to be her talent show number, but she wants Troy to sing in place of Ryan. Troy doesn’t want to sing with her, not liking how excessive all Sharpay’s performances are. This makes Sharpay think that if she tones it down, Troy will want to sing with her. He doesn’t, and makes a hasty exit! This is actually an extended scene that did not appear in the original film premiere. In place of this, it moves right to Troy getting back to Gabriella at the pool. Back at the pool, Troy immediately jumps right in. Gabriella tells Troy he’s not supposed to be in the pool as it is for members only. He then pretends to drown, forcing Gabriella to jump in and “save” him. They swim around for a bit – before getting caught by Mr. Fulton. He orders them out of the pool. That’s strike two.
Back at home, Troy talks to his dad about how strange dinner felt with his friends being his waiters. Coach Bolton tells Troy not to worry about it, because college is important and sometimes you need to focus on yourself. Troy isn’t so sure about that.
The next day, Troy is called to Mr. Fulton, who promotes Troy to a golf assistant. He is given membership privileges, his own locker, golf caddy, and fancy clothes to match this new job title. Troy is also placed in charge of the kids’ golf lessons. At his first class, Troy doesn’t do a whole lot of teaching, until Sharpay arrives. He sees Sharpay is really bad and teaches her a good golf swing. Sharpay asks Troy to sing with her in the talent show, knowing it would be a good opportunity to impress people from the college to help his scholarship chances. Troy reluctantly agrees to sing with her. Meanwhile, Taylor and Gabriella have seen all this play out and are suspicious of Sharpay’s intentions. It also becomes clear that Sharpay actually plays golf really well, so was only pretending to be bad to get Troy’s attention. Troy then sees Mr. Evans with some basketball players from the university. They invite Troy to practice at the university and have lunch with them. During lunch, Chad continues to be the waiter. Seeing Troy with basketball players, Chad hopes to be introduced, however, Troy only calls Chad back to hand his order back: he ordered Swiss on his burger, don’t you know! Chad is furious and complains to Taylor and Gabriella about how weird Troy is being, not recognising him at all anymore.
Sharpay goes to Kelsi and tells her to transpose her talent show duet into Sharpay’s key as she will be singing it with Troy. Ryan overhears and asks Sharpay what he’s going to do in the talent show. She tells him to figure it out himself. Gabriella then goes to Troy who asks her to a movie that evening, after he’s done with practice at the university. Gabriella warns him to not forget who he is, which confuses Troy. He then sees Chad and the others who ask if the college players want to play basketball against them at the club. Troy says they wouldn’t want to do that and leaves with them. Troy also forgets the employee baseball game he promised to attend, alienating the Wildcats further.
Heading to the baseball game, Gabriella and Taylor see Ryan on his own. They invite him to the game, where Chad is surprised to see him there. Ryan is thinking about helping the employees with their talent show performance, but Chad tells him not to bother and just to focus on the baseball. When Ryan is proven to be a great baseball player, Chad comes round to the idea of performing, cementing Ryan as part of their group now. Meanwhile, Troy tries to call Gabriella during basketball practice but she doesn’t answer, as she is enjoying herself with the employees after the baseball game.
The next morning, Troy finds himself feeling like an outsider, as nobody is talking to him normally. Troy is then called over to rehearse with Sharpay for the talent show. He is stunned by her extravagant performance yet again and just can’t get into it. It’s too intense, but Troy feels he has no choice, especially now that he sees the employees rehearsing their own number without him. Sharpay sees this too, and accuses Ryan of trying to ruin the talent show for her. He ignores her, liking being with the employees more. Not liking how little control she has over her brother, Sharpay goes straight to Mr. Fulton and orders him to ban the employees from the talent show, as they’ll need to work that night. Mr. Fulton doesn’t want to do that, but delivers the news to Taylor, clearly uncomfortable with the position he’s been put in. She sympathises before breaking the news to everyone else. Gabriella immediately realises this is Sharpay’s doing and confronts her. She asks Sharpay why she is going to so much effort to ruin everyone’s summer. Sharpay thinks Gabriella is just sore because she has “won”. Gabriella doesn’t know what Sharpay is talking about, but knows this was either about Troy or the Star Dazzle Award, probably both. Gabriella then quits on the spot. Troy tries to change her mind, but she tells Troy he’s acting too differently now that he has a college scholarship on the line. This isn’t working for her.
At home, Troy talks to his father about how he’s been acting like a jerk, and that nobody is talking to him. His father doesn’t understand, only telling Troy to figure out what will make him be a better person. Troy has a lot to think about.
Back at work, Troy gets the cold shoulder from everyone, except Kelsi who shows him the memo stating that staff are banned from the talent show. Knowing this was at least partially his fault, Troy starts to fix everything. He tells Sharpay he’s an employee so he can’t sing with her anymore. Sharpay is annoyed, telling Troy he is basically a member so that doesn’t apply to him. Troy responds that he asked for his old waiting job back, so that isn’t the case now. He’d rather be a good person than spend all his time stepping on other people to fight for a university scholarship.
On the night of the talent show, Sharpay tells Ryan to get ready as their original number is back on. Ryan refuses to perform with her, putting Sharpay’s chances of winning the show at jeopardy. She can’t understand why nobody is doing what she says! Troy apologises to the Wildcats for his behaviour and for them not being allowed in the show. Chad and the others accept his apology. Ryan then says he doesn’t want his sister to be embarrassed on stage so asks Troy to sing with her. He goes to Sharpay and says he will sing, but only if the others are allowed to perform. She understands and agrees. Kelsi and Ryan say that Sharpay switched songs, so Troy is taken away to a last-minute rehearsal.
On stage, Troy is about to go on and asks Sharpay why she changed songs. She says she didn’t, and learns this was all part of Ryan’s plan. Sharpay won’t be performing with Troy tonight. Troy sings alone with Kelsi accompanying on the piano. He then hears Gabriella’s voice. Looking to the line of employees, he sees Gabriella and she walks to the stage. They sing together, and the employees join in too. Troy even invites Sharpay to join them. At the end of the song, Mr. Fulton is about to hand the Star Dazzle Award over to Sharpay, as this was technically her slot in the show, but Sharpay interrupts and hands it over to Ryan instead. Well, at least someone in the family won it, I suppose!
After the show, the Wildcats, with Ryan and Sharpay, walk through the golf course together with lanterns. Troy and Gabriella finally have their first kiss, and as they do, fireworks are set off. The sprinklers are also set off, shocking everyone, but they don’t care! At the end of summer, the employees are given a pool party for all their hard work. Ryan and Sharpay also join, and the movie ends with Troy and Gabriella jumping in the pool together.
CHARACTERS & CAST
After seeing their romance develop in High School Musical, if you thought things would be smooth sailing for Troy and Gabriella in High School Musical 2, you’d be wrong. Although they begin the movie with high hopes for their first summer together, everything goes badly for them when they arrive at the Lava Springs Country Club. Whilst Troy spends all his time with Sharpay, Sharpay’s parents, or with college people, Gabriella is left to wonder just who Troy really is, as he rejects his friends, breaks dates, and starts to believe his own self-importance. Eventually, everything gets too much for Gabriella and she leaves Lava Springs, signalling that her and Troy are better off apart, at least for the time being. This causes Troy to snap out of whatever college-obsessed trance he was in and comes to his senses, apologises to all his friends for being a jerk to them and reconciling with Gabriella in the usual way: with a romantic duet, written just for them. Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens reprised their roles as Troy and Gabriella in High School Musical 2.
Troy and Gabriella aren’t the only High School Musical pairing to have their dynamic change either, as twins Sharpay and Ryan also grow distant from each other over the course of this film. Sharpay has decided that this summer she will put all her focus on Troy and winning the Star Dazzle Award for another year running; that’s it. Ryan, meanwhile, doesn’t seem to like all these mind games that Sharpay likes to play and just wants to have a relaxing summer. He doesn’t hate the Wildcats being at Lava Springs like Sharpay does, but he wants to keep his sister happy. When he discovers that Sharpay has excluded him from her talent show performance in favour of Troy, it hurts and upsets Ryan. Luckily for him, Gabriella includes Ryan in their group, despite not being an employee, but still being a Wildcat. Here, he finds people that respect him and his worth, unlike his sister, helping them to create a show-stopping number for the talent show instead. When things fall apart for Sharpay, and Troy decides not to sing with her, Ryan stands strong and refuses to sing with Sharpay as her second-best alternative. Sharpay sees the errors of her ways and hands the Star Dazzle Award to her brother at the end of the show – and rightly so. Ashley Tisdale and Lucas Grabeel returned to play their roles of Sharpay and Ryan.
Sharpay is also joined in High School Musical 2 by a group of three girls, who are dubbed the Sharpettes. I guess I’m supposed to say these girls are Sharpay’s friends, except she doesn’t have friends; she has a posse. These girls, Jackie, Lea, and Emma, are there to sing back-up for Sharpay during her performances, as well as suck up to her, and make her feel like the most important person in the world. They don’t have much screen time to develop their own identities – and that’s probably the point.
Jackie was played by Tanya Chisholm, who might look familiar, thanks to her role as Kelly Wainwright in the Nickelodeon series Big Time Rush (2009-13) and its television movie Big Time Movie (2012). She was also recently cast as Jenna in Season 4 of Tyler Perry’s series Sistas (2019-present) and appeared as Holly in the Hallmark movie Dial S for Santa (2023). Lea was played by Kelli Baker, who is credited as being a dancer in the other two High School Musical films as. She was also a contestant on Season 4 of So You Think You Can Dance (2005-24). Baker is the daughter of High School Musical choreographer Bonnie Story. Emma was played by McCall Clark, who, shortly after High School Musical 2, appeared as Justine in The Adventures of Food Boy (2008), which starred Lucas Grabeel.
Taylor and Chad also return in High School Musical 2, this time as a couple. We don’t see Taylor and Chad spend all that much time together at Lava Springs, aside from lunchtimes, as they are kept very busy by their respective jobs at the club. They are also too busy worrying about their best friends, with Taylor warning Gabriella about Troy’s changing behaviour and Sharpay’s intense focus on him, and Chad trying to get Troy to see that he is isolating himself from his friends in place of getting a college scholarship. Because of Taylor’s warning to Gabriella, she stands up to Sharpay, and to some extent to Troy, not allowing herself to be walked over, and Chad’s words clearly affect Troy enough to get him to reconsider what is most important to him: his friends, or Sharpay and her promise of a college scholarship. Monique Coleman and Corbin Bleu were back as Taylor and Chad.
Alongside the main six High School Musical cast members, others have also returned from the first movie. Kelsi is one of those. In High School Musical 2, Sharpay has hired her to be their pianist in the club restaurant, although she finds the music she is told to play quite boring! So, in her spare time, she is of course, composing new music. Two of these songs are for the talent show, with the first originally being for Gabriella and Troy, until Sharpay gets wind of it and alters it to be for her and Troy. Kelsi then writes the second as a new secret duet for Gabriella and Troy. Olesya Rulin reprised her role as Kelsi here.
There are also three other characters that return: Zeke, Chad and Troy’s basketball teammate who likes to cook; Martha, the smart girl-turned-dancer; and Jason, another basketball player who is a little bit dim, but kind to everyone, even their teacher Ms. Darbus. In High School Musical 2, all three of them work in the kitchen, with varying levels of enthusiasm. Zeke is very excited to be working alongside an amazing chef, whereas Martha would rather be dancing, and Jason would rather not be washing dishes. Who can blame him! All three of them are part of the employees’ activities over the summer, like the pool party, and the talent show, and get slightly more screen time compared to the first film.
Chris Warren was cast as Zeke. Shortly after the end of the High School Musical films, Warren appeared as Xander in Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (2009), before going on to be cast in various television series, including in the recurring role of Ty Hensdale in Seasons 3 and 4 of The Fosters (2013-16) on Freeform. Recently, he was cast as Hayden Moss in Tyler Perry’s comedy drama series Sistas (2019-present). Martha was played by Kaycee Stroh, who has had guest roles in various Disney shows like The Suite Life of Zack & Cody (2005-08), Andi Mack (2017-19), and The Disney Family Singalong (2020) since the end of High School Musical. Stroh was also in Season 7 of Celebrity Fit Club (2005-10). Ryne Sanborn was cast as Jason. Prior to High School Musical, he appeared in the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, which Kenny Ortega also happened to direct. After High School Musical, Sanborn was cast as Mike in The Adventures of Food Boy, before retiring from acting and pursuing other career paths, such as being an ice hockey player for the Utah Outliers.
Then, we have the adults. Mr. Fulton is the manager of the Lava Springs Country Club. Since Sharpay’s family own the resort, Mr. Fulton has become accustomed to taking orders from Sharpay herself. In the case of High School Musical 2, Mr. Fulton is tasked by Sharpay with hiring Troy Bolton. Sadly, his hiring of Troy was not “good enough” for Sharpay, because he had to hire all Troy’s friends to get him to consider a job at Lava Springs. This leads Sharpay to wanting Mr. Fulton to be so harsh on the others that they want to quit, so it can just be Troy at the club that summer. Mr. Fulton doesn’t seem to mind being strict, since most managers are, especially with younger employees, but he is pushed to breaking point by Sharpay when she insists he bans all the junior staffers from participating in the talent show simply because she’s scared she’ll lose the competition. Mr. Fulton clearly doesn’t want to do this, to the point that Taylor has to calm him down with a cup of tea! In the end, Mr. Fulton seems to have enjoyed working with the teenagers over the summer – and I’m sure he’s glad to be getting a break from the demands of Sharpay!
Mark L. Taylor was cast as Mr. Fulton. He may familiar to DCOM fans as he had previously played Hank Ogden, Eddie’s father, in Eddie’s Million Dollar Cook-Off (2003), and was also the dad in The Other Me (2000). Outside of this, Taylor was cast as Don Forrester in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) and as Dr. Niles in Innerspace (1987).
Then, we have Mr. and Mrs. Evans. Vance Evans clearly adores his daughter, spoiling her and letting her get away with anything, even ordering staff around! He is also convinced by Sharpay to consider Troy for a college scholarship, without any sort of application or interview process. Troy only needs to keep Sharpay happy and he’d be offered it, which sounds very dodgy to me. I think it’s just easier for Vance to let Sharpay have what she wants so she doesn’t complain, because an angry Sharpay is not something anyone wants to deal with! Darby Evans, on the other hand, seems to be stricter with Sharpay, by not bowing to her demand of firing all her classmates from the club just because Sharpay doesn’t want them there. Darby seems to be closer to her son, Ryan, doing yoga classes with him, and appreciating his mellow attitude, which is the complete opposite of Sharpay.
Vance Evans was played by Robert Curtis Brown. He had previously been cast as Todd in Trading Places (1983), which starred Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd. He has also appeared as reporter Phil Sidleman in Bruce Almighty (2003); as Kyle van de Klok in Halloween II (2009); and as Peter in It’s Complicated (2009). In series, Robert Curtis Brown played Commander Andrew Pryce in early seasons of The Handmaid’s Tale (2017-25), going on to have a recurring role as Paul Montgomery in Seasons 4 and 5 of the drama series Station 19 (2018-24). For Disney Channel, he was also cast as Mark Kar, Zenon’s father, in the Disney Channel Original Movie Zenon: The Zequel (2001).
Darby Evans was played by Jessica Tuck. Prior to High School Musical 2, Tuck was cast as Brooke Anders in the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen film Billboard Dad (1998), before going on to star as Gillian Gray in the legal drama Judging Amy (1999-2005). Since High School Musical 2, Tuck has been cast in the recurring roles of Nan Flanagan in the HBO series True Blood (2008-14) for HBO, and Christine Francis in Seasons 3 and 4 of the Apple TV series For All Mankind (2019-present).
Finally, a few other cast members return to the High School Musical franchise for the sequel. One of these is Bart Johnson as Troy’s father. In High School Musical 2, Coach Bolton is there to listen to Troy’s worries as he fears that going after a college scholarship is making him a different person, and isolating him from his friends. Coach Bolton seems to think focusing on the scholarship is a perfectly fine thing to do, but Troy decides he’d rather salvage what’s left of summer with his friends, rather than spend it thinking about college. Mrs. Bolton also returns for a small scene towards the start of High School Musical 2, where she asks Troy, his father, and his friends to help her bring in the groceries from her car. Mrs. Bolton was played by Leslie Wing-Pomeroy, who played Mrs. Bolton in the first High School Musical, and was also cast as Dr. Goodwyn in a different 2006 DCOM: Return to Halloweentown. Alyson Reed also returned as Ms. Darbus very briefly in the opening sequence of the film, as she tries to keep her students’ attention during the last few minutes of school before summer break starts.
MUSIC
The High School Musical 2 soundtrack was released in the US on 14th August 2007, with the CD coming to other countries around this date or even the day before, meaning many High School Musical fans were able to hear the music days, weeks, or even months before the sequel had come to their respective Disney Channels.
The soundtrack consists of eleven songs, ten of which feature in the original edit of the film, and one other, listed as a “bonus track”, was used in a deleted sequence, which was later included in the Extended Edition of the film.
In movie order, the first song we hear is “What Time Is It”, which is the song the gang sing as soon as the bell rings to signal the end of the school term and the start of summer break, only a few minutes after the film begins. It shows how excited they all are for summer, detailing their plans for it. It’s a perfect tune for anyone’s summer, with its bright and breezy feel. This is performed by the main cast of Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman, and Zac Efron, who does sing all the vocals for Troy Bolton in this film after Drew Seeley was used as the vocalist in High School Musical. It was written by Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Nevil, who also wrote songs for the first movie.
After the setting of the sequel moves from East High School over to Lava Springs Country Club, a song that showcases Sharpay quickly hits the screen. This song is “Fabulous”, explaining how Sharpay wants everything to be perfect this summer and for everyone to understand just how important – and demanding – she is. I love “Fabulous”; it is my favourite song in the sequel, simply because hearing Sharpay talk about things like having towels imported from Turkey, and turkey imported from Maine, as essential parts of her summer vacation are just so funny! She also claims to have iced tea imported from England, despite the UK not being known for drinking iced tea, just hot tea. “Fabulous” is also used in its instrumental form during the End Credits, as some bloopers roll, and gets a regal composition as Sharpay’s father lands his helicopter on the golf course for a family round of golf. The song was performed by Tisdale and Grabeel as Sharpay and Ryan predominately, and written by returning composers David Lawrence and Faye Greenberg.
Next is another group song, performed by the East High gang as they start to stress that their summer jobs aren’t going to be quite as wonderful as they thought, after hearing how strict their manager Mr. Fulton is. Troy and Gabriella perform “Work This Out” as a way of convincing them all to stick together to make the summer great, with the rest of the group joining in by the end of it. This is my least favourite song in the film, although it does have a good beat. “Work This Out” is performed by Efron, Hudgens, Coleman, and Bleu, as Troy, Gabriella, Taylor, and Chad, as well as Chris Warren Jr., Olesya Rulin, Ryne Sanborn, and Kaycee Stroh as Zeke, Kelsi, Jason, and Martha. It was written by Randy Petersen and Kevin Quinn, who also wrote music for the first High School Musical film.
Following that is the expected Troy and Gabriella romantic duet. This song is “You Are the Music in Me”. In the film, it has been written by Kelsi specifically for the couple, so they can lead the employees’ performance at the Lava Springs Talent Show. Efron and Hudgens sing this song brilliantly, as does Rulin as Kelsi sings the opening few lines to encourage them both to sing it. “You Are the Music in Me” easily surpasses the Troy and Gabriella duets in High School Musical for me. This number also returns towards the end of High School Musical 2, as Troy and Gabriella have their first kiss – before being shocked by the sprinklers turning on to water the golf course that evening! “You Are the Music in Me” was written by Jamie Houston, who previously wrote “Breaking Free” for the first film.
In the Extended Edition of High School Musical 2, the next song is “Humuhumunukunukuapua’a”. In this deleted scene, Troy is brought to an outdoor stage by Mr. Fulton to watch Sharpay, Ryan, and the Sharpettes perform this song, which is meant to be their talent show entry, although Sharpay is using her performance to try and convince Troy to replace Ryan as the prince in the song. The song title, “Humuhumunukunukuapua’a”, comes from the name given to Hawaii’s state fish, also known as the reef triggerfish. The song, though, states that this fish is actually a prince that a princess wants to ask the Gods to make human again. “Humuhumunukunukuapua’a” is performed by Tisdale and Grabeel. It is quite a random song. I wouldn’t say it’s bad, but it is such a strange song and performance, with lots of elaborate costumes, smoke, a fake volcano – and “fish noises” … It was written by David Lawrence and Faye Greenberg.
If you’re still following the story by this point, and “Humuhumunukunukuapua’a” hasn’t made you cringe so much you want to stop the film, the next song performed is much better. It is “I Don’t Dance”, performed by Corbin Bleu and Lucas Grabeel as Chad and Ryan. This takes place during the employee baseball game, as Chad tries to get Ryan to give up on creating a routine for the employees’ talent show, since Ryan has been kicked out of his sister’s performance, and Troy is too busy thinking about his future college. “I Don’t Dance” is quite jazzy and kind of hip-hop at times, suiting the frequent dance breaks. My only criticism is silly really, but for someone who apparently doesn’t want to dance, Chad certainly does a lot of choreography in this sequence, going head-to-head with Ryan at times. Perhaps the title should’ve been “I Don’t Dance – But If The Beat is Right Then Maybe I Will”. The song was written by Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Nevil.
After that, we get “You Are the Music in Me (Sharpay version)”, which is exactly as you’d expect it to be – Sharpay’s over-the-top, fast performance of a romantic song that was meant for Troy and Gabriella. She has changed the song to apparently keep the audience awake, but Troy is clearly uncomfortable with Sharpay’s version of the song, having to keep up with her dancing and special effects. Although I generally like Sharpay’s songs, in this case, the original version with Troy and Gabriella is much better. It was written by Jamie Houston and performed by Tisdale and Efron.
Then, we get to the emotional crux of High School Musical 2, as we wonder with Gabriella’s heartfelt number whether her and Troy are over for good. It is the perfect song for this scene, as Gabriella dramatically quits Lava Springs and walks away from her job and Troy, and I love it. “Gotta Go My Own Way” was sung mostly by Hudgens, although Efron as Troy does sing a portion of the song as he tries to convince Gabriella to stay at the country club. It was written by Andy Dodd and Adam Watts.
Troy follows this up with his own emotional breakthrough, but instead of being sad and disappointed like Gabriella, Troy is pumped up and ready to do what’s right with “Bet on It”, running all over the golf course, jumping onto rocks, and splashing water as he sings. “Bet on It” looks great on screen and signals a turning point for Troy. It was performed by Efron and written by Antonina Armato and Tim James. The duo have also written songs for other Disney projects including for the series Hannah Montana (2006-11) and Shake It Up (2010-13) as well as original movies, like some of the Descendants and ZOMBIES movies.
At the Lava Springs Talent Show towards the end of the film, we get a final duet from Troy and Gabriella, as they sing “Everyday” together after Gabriella returns to the club and the two reconcile. It’s a very sweet song that regularly makes me cry, and it’s great to see Troy and Gabriella back together after their little tiff. I also like seeing how all the gang – including Sharpay – come together at the end. “Everyday” was mostly performed by Hudgens and Efron and was written by Jamie Houston.
The final song in High School Musical 2 is another group number, reminiscent of “We’re All in This Together”, as the Wildcats once again realise they are a strong team when they work together. This is “All for One”, which is performed during the end of summer pool party, put on for the employees at Lava Springs. It’s a brilliant way of wrapping up the film, with something so upbeat and party-like. “All for One” was performed by the entire cast. It was written by Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Nevil.
There are also a couple of additional songs that can be heard in High School Musical 2. One of this is a throwback to the first film, as an instrumental version of “Get’cha Head in the Game” is used as Troy’s ringtone early on in the film when he gets the call from Mr. Fulton about getting a summer job at Lava Springs. Another is the song that briefly plays as Sharpay drives into Lava Springs with Ryan in her bright pink car. This song is “You Got It” and was sung by none other than Lucas Grabeel.
The score for High School Musical 2 was composed by David Lawrence, returning after working on High School Musical. Lawrence went on to compose the music for various other Disney Channel Original Movies, including StarStruck (2010), Freaky Friday (2018), and Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas! (2011).
The High School Musical 2 soundtrack became one of the best-selling albums of 2007, although it would seem that Josh Groban’s album Noël beat the Disney movie out for top spot that year in the US, despite selling almost 3 million copies there. This means that High School Musical 2’s soundtrack did not beat out its predecessor in terms of sales. There were around one million less copies sold than the High School Musical soundtrack of 2006.
However, the soundtrack was still successful in other ways, for example, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and staying there for four consecutive weeks, and hitting the top spot in the US Billboard Soundtrack Albums chart. The album also topped the charts in other countries, such as the UK Compilation Albums chart; the Italian Compilation Albums chart; and the Billboard Canadian Albums chart. Many songs also made it into the Billboard Hot 100 chart, including “You Are the Music in Me” and “What Time Is It”. This was a slight underperformance from the success of the first movie’s soundtrack though. However, High School Musical 2 did win the Favorite Soundtrack award at the American Music Awards, after going up against two other very worthy musical film soundtracks: that of Hairspray (2007) and Dreamgirls (2006).
PRODUCTION
The cast of High School Musical had been busy after the premiere of High School Musical in January 2006. They’d had numerous public appearances, interviews, photoshoots, new work opportunities with Disney, like albums and TV projects. Monique Coleman had even been a contestant on Dancing with the Stars (2005-present) back in 2006 in their third season, coming in fourth place. It was an intense rollercoaster of emotions, I’m sure.
But they weren’t about to get any less busy, because they had a sequel to film. Shortly after the US tour of High School Musical: The Concert had finished, running from December 2006 to the end of January 2007, the cast were all back together for the sequel filming to take place in Spring 2007. Only one of the six main cast members did not participate in the concert tour and that was Zac Efron, but don’t worry; he wasn’t being lazy, as he’d been filming the musical Hairspray from September to December 2006.
Despite the tiring schedule, the cast all returned with plenty of energy and enthusiasm, wanting to outdo themselves by making High School Musical 2 even better than the original film. Peter Barsocchini returned to pen the sequel after writing the original film, and Kenny Ortega was also back, in the director’s chair, as were his choreographers, Bonnie Story and Charles Klapow, who had upped the ante with the dancing this time, meaning the cast, although still in shape from the tour, had quite a difficult time during their few weeks of dance rehearsals before filming began!
There were some fun moments to come from rehearsals though. One of these was that, in a similar way that basketball had been incorporated into the choreography of “Get’cha Head in the Game” from the first film, this time baseball was being used in the dance steps for the song “I Don’t Dance”. Another thing to come from rehearsals was that the cast sat in a long line, making a “massage train”, during one of their breaks. Ortega then came into the room and thought he could do something with that for the song “What Time Is It”. He got all the cast whilst still sitting to move to the left and the right, creating a wave. Ortega had them all stand up and do it again, and that is how that specific moment came to be in “What Time Is It”, during the point the whole group are dancing in the school corridor.
For High School Musical 2, the cast and crew returned to East High School in Salt Lake City in Utah for part of filming. The cast enjoyed seeing the cafeteria still decorated from when they’d filmed High School Musical there almost two years before, and liked finding their desks and lockers again. The school is only used for the first ten minutes of so of the film, as the gang sit in Ms. Darbus’ classroom, waiting for summer to start and then head out across the school, into the corridors and the cafeteria, performing “What Time Is It”. They also welcomed visitors to this set, including children from the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and the Governor of Utah at the time, Jon Huntsman Jr., who brought his young daughter to meet the cast as she was a big fan of the first film.
The other main filming location used for High School Musical 2, to be the setting of Lava Springs Country Club, was actually a real country club. Entrada at Snow Canyon Country Club first opened in St. George, Utah in 1996, consisting of an 18-hole golf course, set across 710 acres of desert landscape. It later opened a Sport and Fitness Center in December 2000, before opening its main clubhouse in May 2005. It became Lava Springs Country Club for High School Musical 2 in Spring 2007, with filming apparently completed by May. The cast and crew stayed at The Inn at Entrada, the on-site hotel, during filming and many residents of the country club were extras in the film[1]. The majority of High School Musical 2 takes place at Lava Springs Country Club, meaning that many areas of the country club were used, including the golf course and the pool.
Speaking of the pool, for the final pool party scene and the song “All for One”, Ortega wanted to film every cast member jumping into the pool at the country club for the last shot of High School Musical 2. However, Monique Coleman did not know how to swim prior to filming and had to take lessons in preparation. When it came time for her to jump into the pool, she sweetly asked if Corbin Bleu could jump in with her to make it easier for her. Sadly, after all that effort, her and Bleu’s jump into the pool didn’t even make it into the final edit of the sequel; we only see Troy and Gabriella jump in[2]!
Many behind-the-scenes moments and cast interviews were recorded as part of a mini-series titled The Road to High School Musical 2, which aired on Disney Channel throughout the summer of 2007 to promote the movie to its regular viewers. These were only short episodes, roughly three to five minutes long, that followed the cast through dance rehearsals into filming, and they aired in between the channel’s regular programming.
Another way Disney Channel cleverly promoted the sequel was to encourage viewers to be a part of making the film. This was done via online polls, asking viewers to select just what they wanted to see in High School Musical 2. Some questions that were put to them were what sandwich they wanted Troy and Gabriella to eat at their picnic; which Hannah Montana star should make a cameo in “All for One”; and what should Chad’s shirt in “What Time Is It” say. The winners of these polls were peanut butter and jelly; Miley Cyrus, which is why she can be seen in that final sequence; and “I majored in vacation”. It would seem the polls were open on the US Disney Channel website throughout January 2007.
RECEPTION
Just over a year and a half after the premiere of High School Musical, High School Musical 2 premiered in the summer of 2007, perfect timing considering the sequel’s summer setting.
Unlike the original film, High School Musical 2 did receive an official world premiere, and it was held at the AMC Theatres in Downtown Disney at the Disneyland resort in Anaheim, California on 14th August 2007, attended by the cast. This was the first time a movie made for Disney Channel had premiered at the resort[3].
For everyone else, they had to wait for the television premiere in their respective countries. Obviously, the US Disney Channel premiered High School Musical 2 first, on 17th August 2007. It would seem that the movie was then distributed out to other countries within the next month or two. For example, in the UK, High School Musical 2 premiered on Disney Channel on 21st September 2007. I guess it would’ve been seen as unfair to leave viewers waiting too long between the premiere and the international broadcast date, especially as High School Musical 2 was the most-anticipated DCOM premiere of all time.
High School Musical 2 premiered alongside a telecast hosted by the main cast members and Kenny Ortega. The US premiere of the sequel was also followed by a preview of the new animated series Phineas and Ferb (2007-15), which Ashley Tisdale voiced a character for, and a new episode of Hannah Montana (2006-11), starring the Jonas Brothers. The premiere date was followed by a re-run on 18th August, with an interactive viewer chat with the stars, and a singalong edition premiered the following night[4].
All the attention and hype was worth it though and it paid off in a big way for Disney Channel in terms of viewing figures because High School Musical 2 became the most-watched premiere of a Disney Channel Original Movie of all time. 17.2 million viewers watched High School Musical 2 on its premiere, almost ten million more than the 7.7 million viewers who watched High School Musical on its first showing. High School Musical 2’s viewing figures have never been equalled on Disney Channel. The closest DCOM premiere of any was Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie in 2009, which gained the attention of 11.4 million viewers. There is then another drop compared to third place Camp Rock (2008) with 8.9 million. There were three other DCOMs released in 2007 as well, with the first being Jump In!, starring Corbin Bleu, which got 8.2 million interested viewers. Twitches Too in October ended with a total of 6.9 million viewers. Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board, the channel’s June premiere, didn’t even reach 2 million viewers apparently.
High School Musical 2’s premiere beat even more records. It became the most-watched basic cable telecast of all time, beating the 16 million who watched ESPN’s Monday Night Football game on 23rd September 2006. It would appear that High School Musical 2 has not been beaten in this specific record in the years since. It was also the most-watched TV telecast ever in the Kids 6-11 demographic, with 6.1 million, and the most-watched entertainment telecast ever in Tweens 9-14, with 5.9 million[5].
For High School Musical fans, High School Musical 2 was a hit. The sequel had more energy, it had catchier music, and a better production value, by taking the movie away from the school setting and placing it somewhere fairly exotic– at least in the minds of tweens and teens – in a fancy country club. It was also appreciated by viewers that it highlighted some real teen issues, like college plans and the anxiety that comes with that. Others felt that some of the “secondary” cast members, particularly those who aren’t Sharpay, Troy, or Gabriella, got to have more opportunity to shine in High School Musical 2, especially Ryan, who actually got to develop his own personality here, instead of just being his sister’s lapdog. Ironically, she actually had her own real lapdog this time, her Yorkshire Terrier, Boi, who was director Kenny Ortega’s dog, Manly. It is debated though whether High School Musical 2 was considered better than the first movie, with fans being divided over this, even though most agree they like both of them. I most definitely prefer High School Musical 2 to High School Musical, basically forgetting the first one even exists now, because the other two films are so much better in my opinion.
However, High School Musical 2 wasn’t only limited to being watched by its most dedicated fans, so negative comments remained. Some commented on the fact this movie shouldn’t have even had “high school” in the title, since the sequel is not set in the school for the most part; we only see East High School at the very start of the film for around ten minutes. Others said Disney Channel was clearly milking the High School Musical franchise, and were unable to come up with an original story or decent choreography or staging. That seems a little unfair, although one review did make me reconsider the uniqueness of the story. Someone rightly pointed out that the story of High School Musical 2 does seem to have some similarities to the episodes of hit teen sitcom Saved by the Bell (1989-93). I believe this must have been referring to the set of six episodes from Season 3 that take place at a country club, where all the gang – except Lisa – get jobs. I must say, despite being a huge fan of Saved by the Bell, I hadn’t realised this – and it is a good point. But it doesn’t stop me liking High School Musical 2 because of some potential “borrowing” of storylines.
High School Musical had a fair amount of awards success for a television movie, and High School Musical 2 was no different, although it did not measure up as well. For example, the first movie had won two Primetime Creative Emmy Awards, for Outstanding Choreography and Outstanding Children’s Program. Although still nominated in these categories, High School Musical 2 actually lost out to So You Think You Can Dance in the Choreography category, and to a Nick News Special and the HBO show Classical Baby (I’m Grown Up Now) for Outstanding Children’s Program. Kenny Ortega also won the award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children’s Programs at the Directors’ Guild of America Awards for High School Musical, but was only nominated for the sequel; the award was won by another regular DCOM director, Paul Hoen, for Jump In!
But it certainly was not all doom and gloom for High School Musical 2. Ortega did win the ALMA award for Outstanding Director of a Made-for-TV movie, and the film won the ASTRA award for Favourite International Program over in Australia, as well as the Choice TV: Movie award at the Teen Choice Awards. Plus, Zac Efron proved that his star was still on the rise as he won for Fave Movie Star at the Nickelodeon Australian Kids’ Choice Awards.
LEGACY
After the success of High School Musical, many new experiences and live shows were created to capitalise on the famous franchise. Some of these experiences were not ready until after High School Musical 2 had already premiered.
One of these was High School Musical: The Ice Tour, which was, as you might expect, an ice-skating show where performers came out to dance along to songs from High School Musical, with High School Musical 2 also being included in this show, since it had just premiered. The Ice Tour originally toured the US from 31st August 2007 to 25th May 2008. The show also toured South America in 2007 and 2008, even heading to other continents to hit countries like Australia, the UK, and Spain in 2008 and 2009. I did actually see this in the UK and it was pretty good. I think we still have the glittery hats we purchased there. It would seem in later tour dates of High School Musical: The Ice Tour, a pre-show featuring some songs from the third film was added. Although I can find clips of the ice show online featuring songs from the first two films, I cannot find a video of this “pre-show”.
Following on from the stage production of High School Musical, a stage production of the sequel, titled High School Musical 2: On Stage, was also produced. It would seem that the plot is basically the same as the sequel movie. A new character named Jack Scott was added, though he may simply be an altered version of Jason from the movies. The Sharpettes’ names were also changed, to Violet, Blossom, and Peaches here, and the song “Humuhumunukunukuapua’a” was included into the main story, whereas it was only included as an extended version of High School Musical 2. It would seem that High School Musical 2: On Stage was licensed out for use in both school and professional productions. A UK tour of the show took place from Summer 2009, ending its run in February 2010. The US professional premiere took place in Atlanta in November 2008[6].
Continuing High School Musical’s presence at the Disney Parks, a new pep rally was added, this time promoting High School Musical 2. Replacing High School Musical Pep Rally was High School Musical 2: School’s Out! The concept was still the same, with dancers and singers performing some of the biggest hit songs from the movie. In this case, the songs included “What Time Is It”, “Work This Out”, mixed with “Get’cha Head in the Game” from the first film; “I Don’t Dance”, and “All for One”. It came to Disney-MGM Studios, now Disney’s Hollywood Studios, at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida in August 2007, the same time as it appeared at Disney California Adventure Park at the Disneyland Resort. It appears that Disneyland Paris also got this same pep rally, however, they may’ve been a few months behind in terms of switching between the first movie’s pep rally and the sequel’s one. In the US parks, High School Musical 2: School’s Out! ended in September 2008, ready to be replaced with a new pep rally the next month. In Paris, the High School Musical 2 pep rally ran throughout 2008, not being replaced until Spring 2009.
Also at the Disney Parks, some of the cast of High School Musical 2 made an appearance during the Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade in December 2007. Here, Vanessa Hudgens, Corbin Bleu, Ashley Tisdale, and Monique Coleman recorded a performance of the sequel’s song “What Time Is It” in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle at the Disneyland Resort. Olesya Rulin and Kaylee Stroh were there too. However, this was not just any performance of “What Time Is It” because instead of saying “summertime”, the answer to the question “what time is it?” was of course “Christmastime”. The opportunity was also taken for Disney to promote the High School Musical 2 pep rally at their US parks.
Disney continued to produce new editions of High School Musical 2, like dance along and singalong editions, to air on Disney Channel, novels, video games, and merchandise featuring the High School Musical brand after the premiere of High School Musical 2.
Finally, the biggest announcement to come from High School Musical 2 was the confirmation of a third film. In 2008, we would be getting High School Musical 3, and the plan was for this “threequel” to have a theatrical release, not just a Disney Channel premiere.
FINAL THOUGHTS
High School Musical 2 has a way of evoking a summery atmosphere, because of its setting and its lively soundtrack, regardless of what time of year you’re watching it. It also makes some nostalgic for their own school summer breaks, when watching Disney Channel, rightly or wrongly, may’ve made up a majority of their summer activities! Many think that High School Musical 2 easily outperformed the original film, as I do.
There was no stopping the High School Musical hype train, and with a third film in the works that would be coming to cinemas, it felt like High School Musical 3 was going to be a moment for movie history, as Disney Channel broke out from our television screens into major cinema. Ok, that’s a bit much, but it was still a big moment to see the Wildcats head to the big screen, in a similar way that Lizzie McGuire had in The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003).
We were going to be expecting even more from this third film now, and Disney had no choice but to accept the challenge and not disappoint us.
REFERENCES
[1] Credit: Entrada at Snow Canyon, ‘Club History’, GolfEntrada.com, date unknown.
[2] Credit: Disney Channel, ‘The Road to High School Musical 2’, Kayla Ybanez YouTube Channel Playlist, June 2007.
[3] Credit: Ernio Hernandez, ‘Disneyland Hosts World Premiere of ‘”High School Musical 2” Aug. 14’, Playbill.com, 14th August 2007.
[4] Credit: Kimberly Nordyke, ‘TCA: Disney sings along with “High School Musical 2”’, HollywoodReporter.com, 16th July 2007.
[5] Credit: Ernio Hernandez, ‘Most Likely to Succeed: “High School Musical 2” Draws Record-Breaking 17.2 Million’, Playbill.com, 20th August 2007.
[6] Credit: Adam Hetrick, ‘Homecoming: Disney’s High School Musical 2 Premieres in Atlanta Nov. 6’, Playbill.com, 6th November 2008.
The Disney Purist 