An Overview of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series is a musical drama series released on Disney+ based on the High School Musical movie series. What makes this series interesting for viewers is the set of East High School is a fictional version, as a group of teenage theater students participate in a staging of High School Musical: The Musical. This article will discuss the elements of the series.

Many episodes have noticeable references to the original High School Musical movies themselves. The school building itself and everything inside the school has the exact same appearance as the school seen in High School Musical. Rather than the original teenage characters making their appearances, there is a new group of teenagers who will be cast as the original characters of High School Musical. There are four seasons in this series, spanning over the course of all three movies in the original series of the same name. Song titles such as “Start of Something New” are heavily referenced in all plots and subplots.

Viewers recognize Olivia Rodrigo in her starring role as Nini, a girl who has a strong passion for theater, in Seasons 1 and 2. Nini, like most teenage characters in the series, experiences friendships, love, and drama in the series. Nini shares similar traits with Olivia Rodrigo herself. Olivia Rodrigo left the series in mid-Season 3 to focus on her music career, and her character Nini was written off of the series by Season 4. Readers can read more about her life and background here.

In addition, since this TV series was created and produced by Disney+, viewers see noticeable references to Frozen and Beauty and the Beast, which are two popular Disney Princess movies. There are also references to High School Musical 1 and High School Musical 3. Rerecordings of old songs from the movie series are produced and released as tracks in the album based on this series.

This TV series is similar to Glee, another coming-of-age musical drama TV show. The pilot episode titled “The Audition” gives viewers a brief background of the characters as they start their new year at East High School. At the beginning of each episode is a recap of the events from the previous episode, so all episodes need to be watched in order, just like in episodes of Glee. Both Glee and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series has official soundtracks based on songs from the episodes.

Season 1 is focused on the production of the original High School Musical show. Season 2 is about the production of Beauty and the Beast. Season 3 is about the students’ summer vacation, which is similar to the main plot of High School Musical 2. Season 4, the final season of the series, is about senior year and graduation.

Viewers who are interested in musical theater are encouraged to watch the series from start to finish. We see some representation of a woman of color, specifically a Filipina, as Olivia Rodrigo plays the main role up until mid-Season 3. There is also a strong representation of women as there are a lot of female characters with main and supporting roles.

This musical drama series is perfect for teenagers.