High School Musical 3: Senior Year finds high school seniors Troy (Zac Efron) and Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens) facing the prospect of separation as they head off to different colleges. Joined by the rest of the Wildcats, they stage a spring musical reflecting their experiences, hopes and fears about the future. With incredible new music and exciting dance numbers designed to take maximum advantage of the big screen, this motion picture extravaganza delivers plenty of high-energy entertainment from East High’s talented ensemble.
Disney’s “High School Musical” phenomenon leaps onto the big screen in “High School Musical 3: Senior Year,” in which the world’s favorite high school students (Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, Corbien Bleu and Monique Coleman) hit senior year. Amidst a basketball championship, prom and a big spring musical featuring all of the Wildcats, Troy and Gabriella vow to make every moment last as their lifelong college dreams put the future of their relationship in question.
A crew of sophomore Wildcats (Matt Prokop, Justin Martin, Jenna McKenzie-Brown) joins in the fun as the film’s incredible new music and exciting dance numbers take maximum advantage of the big screen. Other actors reprising their roles from the first two Disney Channel movies include Olesya Rulin, Chris Warren Jr, Ryne Sanborn, Kaycee Stroh, Bart Johnson and Alyson Reed.
Birth of An Entertainment Phenomenon
An A’HA Moment – Kids Really Do Love Musicals
The phenomenon of “High School Musical” started out as an idea in producer Bill Borden’s living room. “I wanted to make a musical that I could sit down and watch with my kids. It was that simple,” says Borden.
Although the musical had seen somewhat of a revival with the success of adult fare such as “Moulin Rouge!” and “Chicago,” no one was making musicals for the teen audience. “Bill and I are true believers in this particular genre- the musical for teens,” says Borden’s producing partner Barry Rosenbush. “With the first movie, we weren’t trying to invent the wheel… we were trying to reintroduce the wheel.
“Movie history is filled with musical comedy for teens,” continues Rosenbush. “The movies back in the `30s and `40s, the movies that we grew to love-“Westside Story,” “The Sound of Music,” and later “Grease”-were all for young people.”
Borden and Rosenbush were already working with writer Peter Barsocchini on another project when the idea for “High School Musical” gained momentum; they tapped him to write the screenplay.
“They said they were doing a Disney project that involved music and sports,” says Barsocchini. “The world of music and sports was familiar to me-I played basketball during my youth and I was a music critic in the late `60s in San Francisco.”
Multi-talented director/choreographer Kenny Ortega then joined the trio to bring this musical idea to the small screen. “Kenny has many unique talents which make him a really fantastic director,” says Borden. “He is a musician. He’s a great dancer. He’s a choreographer. He’s an actor. He really does mold the screenplay. He can take a concept and make it come alive in a musical like no other person in the world. Kenny really is an amazing force of nature.”
“All I’ve ever tried to do here with High School Musical was to enjoy telling a story from a musical point of view in a light-hearted and joyful way without having an overly complicated story and overly complicated characters,” says Ortega. “I just try to bring it to life with as much fun and joy and color and excitement as possible.”
Seniors’ Story
Growing Up… and Making Choices
Bringing HSM from Disney Channel to a feature film was a dream-come-true for Ortega. “I’ve always wanted to direct a musical for the big screen.”
So when it came time to continue the Wildcats’ story in a big-screen format, Ortega was ready. “The first thing out of Kenny Ortega’s mouth was `I don’t want to remake the first two movies. I want to be true to the `High School Musical’ feeling, but I want to let these kids grow up,’” remembers Barsocchini. “They’re high school seniors, so let’s give them the pressures that high school seniors have about prom, finals, graduation and going away. There’s a balance-we’re making musical comedy but we want to try and base it in some emotional reality.”
Ortega revels in being a part of a creative endeavor. “Peter has given us a wonderful blue print and has been there with me all along in the development of the song placement,” he says. “We were able to do workshops with the actors and throw some improvs out there. The last drafts of this script were actually done in the company of all the actors and dancers in the rehearsal studio.”
The filmmakers admit that a major motion picture’s screen size and production crew did allow them to up the ante. “`High School Musical 3′ features bigger musical numbers with more difficult choreography and more dancers, more elaborate sets with more complicated lighting and sound, and more detailed and fabulous costumes,” says Ortega.
Let the Music Play
A Big Screen Soundtrack for a Big Screen Story
Composer David Lawrence and music supervisor Steven Vincent continue the HSM tradition. The soundtrack for “High School Musical 3: Senior Year” features ten all-new songs penned by several of the hit songwriters/producers from past HSM smash records, including “Now or Never” (Matthew Gerrard/Robbie Nevil), “Right Here, Right Now” (Jamie Houston), “I Want It All” (Matthew Gerrard/Robbie Nevil), “Can I Have This Dance” (Adam Anders/Nikki Hassman), “A Night to Remember” (Matthew Gerrard/Robbie Nevil), “Just Wanna Be With You” (Andy Dodd/Adam Watts), “The Boys Are Back” (Matthew Gerrard/Robbie Nevil), “Walk Away” (Jamie Houston), “Scream” (Jamie Houston), and “High School Musical” (Matthew Gerrard/Robbie Nevil). Multiple reprises and medleys fill in the story about the spring musical called “Senior Year.”
“The returning composers and lyricists and the new folks that have joined us on this venture have turned out a soundtrack that I think is the best of them all,” says Ortega. “It serves the story. It serves the characters. It’s dynamic, rhythmic, romantic, funny, orchestral, symphonic and choral. It gets as big as it can and as intimate as it can and everything in between.”
“`Now or Never’ opens the movie in a really brilliant way,” says Ortega. “We get to see how Troy, through song and dance, is actually facing a dilemma in his life. He’s a great singer and he wants to perform on stage, but he’s also an all-star athlete. We get to show sports, we get to show dancing, we get to show great singing, and we get to combine it in a storytelling way so that we understand the dilemma going on in this boy’s personal life.”
Adds Corbin Bleu, “It is the very first musical number and it starts off in a very heated basketball game. The Wildcats are down at halftime. This is the last game that we’ll ever play as seniors.”
The East High gym was filled with more than 2000 extras for the championship game. “The experience was completely surreal,” says Efron. “It felt like a real game because we were playing against a real team and we had real plays set up. A lot of the basketball you see was just us playing. Every time you missed a shot everyone would boo! When you’d make a shot, even if it was just a lay-up, everyone would go crazy.”
“`Right Here, Right Now’ is Troy and Gabriella’s duet in Troy’s backyard treehouse. It’s about them just enjoying being in the moment and the time that they have. I think all the girls out there are just going to die when they see this number. It’s really magical,” says Hudgens.
“Right Here, Right Now” was shot on location at the Bolton House and on a visual effects soundstage, both in Salt Lake City. “`I Want It All’ is Sharpay’s version of how she sees the school in her fantasy world,” says Ortega. “We’re all blinged out. We’re colorful. Everything’s totally different.”
“It’s the biggest musical number for me,” says Tisdale. “Sharpay wants the Juilliard scholarship and she wants to use her brother to get it. The song itself is very Fergie/Gwen Stefani meets Sharpay Evans. I love it.”
Lucas Grabeel adds, “To coax Ryan into helping her out, or at least thinking that he’s helping her out, Sharpay paints this picture of what life could be like if they both got the scholarship.”
“I Want it All” takes place in the East High cafeteria with almost 150 people dancing on screen at one time. At one point in the number, Grabeel dances in a classic Radio City Music Hall kick line with 24 pink-haired kitty cat Rockettes.
“There’s a wink and a curtsy to the legends of the great White Way,” says Ortega. “It’s an homage to Gene Kelly and Bob Fosse and Jerome Robbins and Michael Kidd. This is a little bit of `Singin’ In the Rain’ meets `Chicago’-all through the eyes of a teenage girl who wants it all: fame, fortune and more.”
For “Can I Have This Dance” Kenny Ortega and his choreographers introduced a new genre of dance to the Wildcat seniors-ballroom. Audiences first hear the song as a duet between Troy and Gabriella on the rooftop of East High.
“It’s a really sweet, romantic and charming dance,” says Hudgens. “You don’t see people doing the waltz very often anymore, so the fact that we got to bring that back was magical.”
“I think it’s a great moment because it shows that Troy and Gabriella thing that’s been there from the very beginning,” says Efron.
Says Ortega, “I was inspired by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and all those wonderful Gene Kelly dances. I just wanted to find a romantic opportunity for the two of them to dance in each others’ arms, away from everybody else.”
The rest of the Wildcats were not off the hook when it came to learning the waltz. A reprise of “Can I Have This Dance” hits the prom when the audience is transported to the prom through a portal in Gabriella’s imagination. “Gabriella is finally at the prom that she’s always wanted with her friends, her boyfriend, just having the most amazing time of her life. It’s a fairy tale. Every girl wants to have a waltzing prom. It’s a beautiful scene,” says Hudgens.
“A Night to Remember” also involves partner dancing-a cha cha cha. It’s the first of many numbers in the film that take place on stage in the East High theatre auditorium.
“The original concept of this movie was always to have a big prom. So we attacked this in a new way, we’ve actually taken our prom and broken it up across the movie,” explains producer Bill Borden. “Preparation, rehearsal, performance and of course, the real prom-we get a taste of it all in the movie and in the end, we bring a big, unique, emotional moment to the prom.”
“With `A Night to Remember’ we suddenly find ourselves not at prom at all, but at rehearsal for a prom musical number,” explains Ortega.
“The play within a play, that’s my favorite thing about that number because when you first see it, you think that it’s part of the movie,” adds Ryne Sanborn. “But then you notice little things that show it’s a rehearsal. So it’s not really our prom, which is kind of cool.”
“Basically East High puts on the school play about ourselves,” explains Hudgens.
“Just Wanna Be With You” begins as a duet created by Ryan and Kelsi in the music room, is reprised as a full-fledged production number in the spring musical featuring the whole cast.
“One of the themes is to live in the moment and not worry so much about the future,” explains Lucas Grabeel. “Kelsi and Ryan have a very interesting relationship. They’re both artists and musicians. I think it’s cool that they can find each other in that way.”
“`Just Wanna Be With You’ works on a lot of different levels,” explains producer Barry Rosenbush. “I really like that song because it’s not only about wanting to be with you in a romantic sense, it’s about these kids knowing that they’re together in this moment and they’re going to enjoy it, but they’re moving on soon.”
“The Boys Are Back” is a fantasy rock duet that takes place in a junkyard at night with Troy Bolton and best friend Chad Danforth. “We’ve never really had a number just to ourselves,” says Zac Efron. “So this is a chance for us to team up and just go off each other’s energy.”
Corbin Bleu explains the characters’ back story. “When we were young boys, we used to hang out in the junkyard and pretend that we were super heroes and spies and ninjas. With all the stressful things that go on during senior year, we come back to relive those childhood moments.”
“`The Boys Are Back” was all about giving Troy and Chad a history and we felt that this style of dance and this space connected to the spirit of these two guys,” says Ortega.
The production number features the pair rolling a giant tire, sword fighting, break-dancing, teeter-tottering and dancing on cars. They’re joined by 19 dancers; some seem to appear out of the junk.
“It’s one of the hardest numbers-really hardcore stuff, rugged and dirty and real guy,” says Bleu. “The energy was through the roof.”
Gabriella’s soulful ballad “Walk Away” takes place at her home. Explains Hudgens, “She has to make some decisions about college and her boyfriend and her friends and she decides to do what she thinks is right and just walk away.”
Troy’s power ballad “Scream” has him contemplating his own situation, dancing throughout East High’s gym, hallways and theatre late at night. “It starts on the basketball court, but he ends up on stage,” says Efron. “That just says it all right there. He’s got these amazing feelings for both.”
“`High School Musical’ is upbeat and fun and makes you want to leap up out of your chair and dance,” says Ryne Sanborn. “I used to think that they could never top `All For One,’ but `High School Musical’ is the ultimate party song.”
The Wildcat’s high school graduation big finale was shot over two days on East High’s football field. Approximately 1000 people participated, including a 25-piece orchestra, a 40-member concert choir (led by Justin Martin’s “Donny Dion”), and 600 background artists who created a Wildcat head with human animation. “It was crazy putting on the Wildcat graduation robes,” says Efron. “It was really symbolic, I felt like we were graduating in so many different ways. Everyone was pretty emotional.”
“The song has a simple message,” says writer Peter Barsocchini. “What’s great about high school doesn’t have to end at graduation. Friendships can go on.”
In staging the final moment of graduation, Kenny Ortega took his inspiration from a Fred Astaire movie. “It looked like the whole world was a stage and I thought that would be a great thing to bring back for a new audience. The entire football field became our stage, complete with a gigantic red curtain.
“On the last shot, I was so moved, so touched, so happy and so satisfied, that I couldn’t even get the word `cut’ out,” continues Ortega. “It was a really an emotional day and deeply satisfying after three movies.”
The song `High School Musical’ is an anthem,” says Rosenbush. “It represents the culmination of High School Musical 1, 2 and 3.”
The Walt Disney Records soundtrack hits stores on October 21, 2008.
Continue Reading and View the Theatrical Trailer
High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008)
Directed by: Kenny Ortega
Starring: Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman, Matt Prokop, Jemma McKenzie-Brown, Olesya Rulin, Alyson Reed, KayCee Stroh, Jemma McKenzie-Brown
Screenplay by: Peter Barsocchini
Production Design by: Mark Hofeling
Cinematography by: Daniel Aranyó
Film Editing by: Don Brochu
Costume Design by: Caroline B. Marx
Set Decoration by: Ken Kirchner
Art Direction by: Wing Lee
Music by: David Lawrence
MPAA Rating: G for general audience.
Distributed by: Buena Vista Pictures
Release Date: October 24, 2008
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