Production is underway in Salt Lake City, Utah, on the highly anticipated, innovative and re-invented High School Musical: The Musical: The Series for Disney+, The Walt Disney Company’s upcoming streaming service. The series is developed and executive produced by Tim Federle (Ferdinand), alongside showrunner and executive producer Oliver Goldstick (Pretty Little Liars,Ugly Betty). Bill Borden and Barry Rosenbush (the originalHigh School Musicaltrilogy) are also executive producers. Sundance Film Festival-nominated film, television and music video director Tamra Davis (Empire,Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) is directing the first three episodes. The choreographer is Zach Woodlee (Glee,Dumplin).
The 10-episode series picks up nearly 15 years after the original movie aired at the real-life location where it all began: East High. It follows a group of students as they countdown to the opening night of their school’s first-ever production ofHigh School Musical. Showmances blossom; friendships are tested while new ones are made; rivalries flare and lives are changed forever as these young people discover the transformative power that only a high school drama club can provide.
“The challenge we handed the creative team was Herculean. How do you recapture the joy and the magic of the originalHigh School Musicalmovie … and simultaneously reimagine it completely?” said Gary Marsh, president and chief creative officer, Disney Channels Worldwide. “That’s like trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube blindfolded. And Tim and Oliver - and this amazingly talented and diverse cast and crew - have done exactly that!”
Brand-new songs and acoustic “rehearsal room” reinterpretations of songs from the originalHigh School Musicalprovide the soundtrack for an unlikely group of theater kids who learn “we’re all in this together” when it comes to pulling off an against-all-odds opening night.
