Magical RewindStarring Corbin Bleu as Chad Danforth in “High School Musical”
You gotta get’cha head in the game!
Corbin Bleu is taking a trip down memory lane talking about the “High School Musical” franchise, his current projects and so much more!
Thank you so much for joining us over here in our park Hopper episode of Magical Rewind, where we could not be more excited to talk to our guests today.
What a get.
We just watched High School Musical and I think Sabrina was amazed that I liked it as much.
As I did. I was. I was so happy and I cannot wait to get some of the insights. How about you. Let's bring them in Corbon Blue.
Hey, what a good you?
Oh my god, I can't crazy.
I wish I could give you a big hug right now. I can't.
I feel like the last time I actually saw you was one of your birthdays. It was a big one. It was like it was at a club or something. We were young.
Oh, we were young.
We were young.
I think you're talking about my twenty fifth birthday.
Yes, I think so. That's literally the last time I think.
I see it was like that was the last, like big shin, So I'm five.
That's not cool.
There's no way that it's.
Been ten years, I think.
So, man, you gotta be kidding.
We gotta fix that because we are such grown ups now in the show. Wow, thank you so much for coming on this or thank.
You for having me. I will, how are you.
I'm fine, I'm not gonna say anything. I'm gonna sit back and you.
Let you talk.
Because you and I met once at a convention. Yea much more recent, much more recently. Yes, and of course I uh walked right up and I was like, you got to come on our podcast. Him will by the way, but you got to come on our podcast. I'm so happy that you are here to join us. Sabrina has been gushing about.
Just so excited.
Because we were going through this together, right, I mean, we were seeing each other at Disney Channel stuff over and over the games this, I mean seeing each other at the different premieres that was on the channel and just everything that the channel did, high school musical and the Cheetah Girls were there.
It was just always a statement.
Yes.
And then to go and watch you then go on to Dancing with the Stars was I mean once I saw I've.
But knowing how much like you and I loved her perform, I.
Was really excited for you because I was you were going to get to show off your dancing ability, which is obviously shown in the movies, but not on that level.
Latin and ballroom dancing.
It's just a whole difference.
And I was excited for you to like experience this other world that you know, we didn't know before we did the show.
So you were phenomenal, Oh my gosh, phenomenon.
I mean, show stopper after show stopper after show stopper. I could go on and on, but we're here to talk about the d Coom High School Musical. I had no idea until we got all the information that this was a billion dollar franchise.
The franchise is a billion dollar franchise.
We joke all the time that that we bought them Star Wars.
You did?
You did this franchise like single handedly changed the Disney stock. Yes, I mean stock went up after this came out. That's insane. Now do you.
Remember the first time you heard about High School Musical? And anyway, was this just another random audition that came across.
Your It was another it was another dcom.
Yeah, And at that time it was crazy because I was I definitely was at a crossroads just in my life in general. I was, I was in high school. I was, I was fifteen when we shot that first movie Wow, and I was just accepted into Stanford for it just like and fit.
Wait at fifteen you got into Stanford?
I was so I was a year ahead in school and I had applied also a year ahead. So I ended up. Yeah, at that and that moment, I was deciding if I was going to continue this as a career. I knew I loved doing it, and I've been doing it since I was a kid. I started off at at two years old as a child actor, and my dad's a performer as well, so I just sort of I grew up in the industry and always loved it, but I was considering a different path. I knew that I always wanted to perform, but is this what I actually want to do for the rest of my life. I auditioned for high School Music. The audition price to Musical came about because of Pannah Montana. Okay, that was how that all began, because I I auditioned for Ana Montana booked that I was Miley's first love interest in the pilot episode. Yeah, that was that was that and then that of course that that began the relationship with jud Taylor in to read for for High School Musical, which was on paper an amazing project. It was an original musical I got to do. I was getting to show up all these things that I love to do that I've been I was actually also at an arts high school and it was doing musical theater, and like, this is really cool, but also who knows, who knows what this is going to be. I ended up, of course booking it, and and that was the same time that I had to go, Okay, well I need to I need to defer first of all, right, and uh and you know the three three movies later with franchise that at that point I was going, Okay, well, this is this is what I'm I'm doing, this is what.
Yes, So the pilot of Hannah Montana and then High School Musical, did you do any other groundbreaking things for the.
Channel while you're at it?
I mean, my god, and I did this little first thing with Mickey Mouse.
They didn't no one kne who he was at the time.
Ill and then that that spawned jump In, Yes, which which.
I forgot about.
Jumping broke the numbers of High School Musical. Jump In actually had had had even better ratings than the original film the.
First the first time they aired it.
That was what and that at that time I didn't understand the impact of Jumping specifically because again I was at that time, I was seventeen. I'm just working, I'm living in the moment, I'm I'm having fun, I'm enjoying it. I'm focusing on on the job. And for that to have been in a very very small group of black movies that Disney Channel had at that time.
Yeah, we just watched proof Point, which is one of their other and one of the other few.
Yeah, one of the other few. Exactly true.
And now, I mean, you know now as an adult, and I talked two people you know who grew up with that film and the impact that it had on them at that time too, see, you know, actually young but right.
To have a starring role. Yes, yes, it.
Made a big difference because with High School Musical, while we were featured and it was amazing, you know, I I at the end of the day was still in a token role. Yeah, and so that was that was was I know, it was a huge Jumping was also another really really big step up. And again I didn't realize the impact at that time.
Right now, I have a question, did when you got the script for High School Musical, as somebody who you're a singer, you're a dancer, You're at fifteen, you already got into Stanford. Did you read the script and go, why doesn't he just do both?
I'm you do? I mean, you're doing everything in your life.
Did that ever come to your head where you're just like, why, okay, so go to both stay.
I feel like the the the stereotypical, all the tropes that we knew at that time too. It was it was every there's all the different clicks, and there's the you know, there's the there's the jocks, and there's the weird theater kids, and and you know, there's the science nerds, and like you, that's always been the case, and I feel like that separation at that time was more prevalent. You feel like that that that the the art did mimic real life to an extent at that time. I know, And I was lucky. I went to an arts high school, so I was surrounded by all the weird arts kids, and I didn't do I wasn't into sports growing up. My parents tried with me. They put me in basketball and baseball and taekwondo, and like they gave me my first pair of dance shoes my first pair of tap shoes, and that was it, see you later, This is this is me, this is my life. But you know, showing up on the set of the Highol Musical and having to play the basketball that was very very foreign to me.
Was that was tough for you to do.
So it was so hard. It was so nice that Hope.
I mean that whole process was.
The whole process was crazy because because I showed up and they went, oh, he can't play, maybe.
We should have had him bounce a ball or two.
He's like them. Because the for the for the dance portion of the audition with Chucky Claypowe, I knew that there was going to be basketball choreography. I showed up in a jersey and basketball short brought the like I played. I was like, and he was like, all this kid's a baller and went back. Of course, it was like no, no, no, Like he showed up like he's ready, and I was using everything that we were doing his choreography and I got great control over my body, so I was able to do that. But the second you put me on a court and go okay, now go do a layup, that's when turned into Gumby like I don't know.
They're like give the ball to somebody else, somebody get takes.
All right, So what you said the dance portion of the audition? How how many auditions did you have to do for high school musical and were they broken up in sections?
They weren't broken up in sections. Actually, it was a long process that ended very quickly with booking the job. I think on like a on a Friday and having to fly out on Monday or something like that. Wow, Okay, you know went in originally just just to read. Then they brought me back in for a chemistry read with and I actually read with Monique Coleman and that was also with Kenny Ortega.
Okay.
Then had to come back in and do a song huh. And then the final portion was that dance slash basketball performance.
Where did they have you do that?
Debbie Reynolds, Debbie Reynolds Okay, l A, yes.
School dance studio where you go to rehearse. So that's a that's a dance studio. Debbie Rentals, Debbie Reynolds.
Debbie Reynolds is like one of the oldest here.
I mean singing in the rain.
I think rehearse there at least they have the they have these she has these epic pictures of stuff that she she's a well known choreographer and she epic pictures and stuff of what she's been in. And you walk in and you just feel I mean talk about a place of nostalgia.
You've walk in and you feel, you feel the history, you.
Feel like he's here, like, I mean, it's amazing that's been there.
And I would take classes there like yeah, and I was. I was part of a dance core that would like that. We would go and do competitions and.
Like, oh wow, I was.
That was always a Debbie Reynolds dance studio. So even showing up for that dance edition, I was like, this is my.
House, this.
Is my player.
Okay, so you've got You've got the role and you said you got to fly out like a day or two later. How long was was the rehearsal process? How grueling was it to rehearse for this?
The rehearsal process was incredible. That was that was when I think back on it. The rehearsal processes for all three of the films were always my favorite because we one, we had time. I swear we sometimes it feels like we had a month. I don't think it was that long, but I know we had usually between two and three weeks of just being in a dance room, just being in a studio in Salt Lake City.
And oh so they had you guys go up and rehearse there.
We rehearsed there.
You guys didn't rehearsal week.
We traveled there and immediately got into rehearsals, which created such camaraderie right off the bat.
He built your relationships that.
Love, Yeah, that relationship that you form a family, and really also just understanding the tone and the vibe of what they're they're going for. Getting to know Kenny and work with Kenny and seeing his genius in the room and how he just is so spontaneous with with iconic moments that he comes up with.
Yeah, and he does that just you. I love.
It's one of my favorite things to watch him when he's walking around the room and he's just yeah, he's got.
He does this thing with his finger overs.
And all of a sudden he goes and then he just breaks out some crazy thing that you're like, he goes to go do this, do this, do this, and you watch it you're like, how did you think of that?
Yeah, So when we work together, him and Chucky would basically choreograph big chunks of things together before we came in. They would give it to us, and then he would kind of critique and mold it. Is that how he molded your guys' choreography or was it just all taught?
It was a little bit of both. I mean, it was definitely taught. They would always have the choreography already set, but there would be moments where someone would do something different or interesting, and then of course they would they would pull pull on that and expand and expand from that.
Yeah.
But the the the all the choreography was such an amalgamation of Chucky Claypow. Bonnie's story was another one of our choreographers in Utah. And then of course Kenny and the you know, Chucky style on his own is so mj I know, but he's so sharp, and he's and and he's just gotten to such a fluidity about him. And then then you have Kenny, who was just it's so it's so vibrant and performance big. And then Bonnie really I thought, brought in so much more of the classic jazz elements that you see in there too.
Yeah, I know nothing of dance, by the way, to the record, I know nothing about dance, and so I always sit there and I'll watch these movies and I've never seen them. I'm I'm I was the last person in the world to have not seen High School Musical.
I think that was my wife.
It wasn't okay, she still hasn't seen it, by the way I watched last night.
Yeah, them, but that was meant to be, you know, like she when we met, she had never seen them, and it was a good thing that she had never seen them.
That's what you want.
Totally.
I always have to look to Sabrina and I'll be like, look, it looked good to me, but is this good?
And She's like, yeah, this is this is very good. She's showing me the.
Whole way, like no, don't you see how And even as a complete neophyte, again knowing nothing of dance whatsoever, I could see the complexity of the choreography. I could see the levels where there's things happening on every spot of the screen where it's in the background. These people are doing something in the foreground, these people are doing something off to the sides and the wings. There was no section of the frame that wasn't filled with choreography. It was almost overwhelming. And how amazing it was.
The cafeteria routine. A man, how long did that take you guys to film? Because that is a huge, epic number.
On our biggest numbers, we had maybe a maximum of three days, which is amazing actually because I also went back and I worked on the high School musical, the musical the series and I did that. Now for that we had, I did a whole huge number in that we had one day of rehearsal in a room and we shot it in one day. Wow, and how quick the turnaround. It just made me so grateful for the all of the time that we had those numbers and actually working on the original films, all of that. What you're talking about, Will that's Kenny.
Yeah.
So first of all, just because it's I don't like go watch my own stuff over and over again, I hadn't watched them in a very long time. And because I went back to go do the series, I actually went back and watched some of the old numbers and that was that was cool in itself because it had been so long there was a separation. I didn't feel like I was watching me. I was watching this kid. I was just watching and I was able to and I was able to truly see it from just a viewers perspective, and I I was like, this is really good. Yeah, and it holds up. It holds up. And I feel like the reason that that is is because of the detail becau, because of there wasn't a single moment that Kenny wasn't just trained on that monitor and wanting every aspect of that screen field, like you said, and he really demanded of everyone, not just our principles, but background like you would constantly, and and you know that's that's for those who don't know, there are rules that directors are not allowed to directly give direction to background. That has to usually go through a first a d oh wow.
I don't even think I knew.
I didn't know that for Dance. I knew that was for regular film.
But that adds a whole other layer of complexity when you're dealing with danting.
So yes, so there would, and he was always always relaying information and sometimes he would just go and get on the b directly to talk to them. But but yeah, it was he He was also always inspiring. He was always talking about what what ultimately he wanted and the feeling, and he was always allowing everyone to participate in that because that too, you often get a separation between principal actors, background actors, whatever that may be, and the background actors often feel like they're in the dark.
Yeah, and he never left.
He was always involving everyone, which is why when you watch the movies, like every single person on that on that screen is vibrant.
And a lot.
Yeah, and they look like they're having a blast.
Do you guys look like you had so much fun filming these movies.
Well, that's truly.
I mean, I know this is people are gonna be like, oh, come on, you can't compare the two, but you really can. That's that's an old school throwback to almost Shakespearean theater where the chorus was just as important as everything else going on, right, and so you were a cast all the way around.
Oh you have no lines. I don't care what if my eye goes to you.
You have to be doing whatever you can the same way that the principles are in the front. And that really is old school theater with stuff like that. So that's great to hear because.
It's it's it's the little deaths.
Yeah, are little deaths.
Throughout any project that that just because it's not in the foreground. If you're watching, there's something subconsciously that we're all going it's not it's not real.
It's not all yeah, right, and I mean, look.
It's at the end of the day, it's it's it's a Disney Channel movie. Yeah, you know, we have it's it's there's the there's elements of it that we all know are silly. Yeah, but but there there is a a truth that is there that everyone was tapped into.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's great. That's absolutely.
So you guys went on to do your tours. How many tours did you guys do? We did two tours and you were on both of them.
North American and South American tour, and I was on both of the When I think back on all of my high school musical memories, my the tour is my favorite.
Really Okay, good to know. That's very cool.
Did you guys share buses or were you all on separate buses because there was I mean, everyone was on this tour with what the exception of Zach like everyone was basically on these Yeah.
All the all the guys had all the guys shared a bus, all the girls and all the girls shared a bus, and then all of our background and.
Then all of our dancers shot a bus, and then and then it was a.
Whole It was a whole entourage. But as probably the lead cast it was. It was the guys and the girls, so on a bus with juw seely and and Lucas Cravedo.
Okay, no, that would be so fun fun And I'm guessing there was no mingling between the buses either that that never happened either all the time.
Well, actually funny we you know we mentioned jump In when Jumping aired. We were on tour and I remember everybody, they all came onto the guy's bus and we were en route to wherever, I don't know what the next city that we were on our way to, and we actually watched it live on the television on the bus.
The whole cat cool rad.
It was really really supportive.
And you got to work alongside with Kiki Palmer that within jump In and how how was that? She seems like she is and I've only just kind of met her here and there, but to be able to hang out with her. She seems like she's hilarious, just laugh all the time, does.
And it's funny. She she again just eight age differences, so so she was twelve. I think, oh my gosh, that movie.
Okay, we actually.
Had a big age gap.
Yeah.
I was her first kiss ever, not not on screen, first kiss period.
Oh that's oh cute.
Yeah, so it was definitely you know that that whole element was delicate in it in itself. But we we had a great time.
Yeah, did you had you jump? Were you a jumper? A jump roper?
But again, just because of my dance background, I'm athletic, but I never jumped before.
But again we did you tell them? Is it? No? We did last jump roper?
We went through training. I went back several weeks of training with like the national like jump rope team. Oh cool, wow from Canada because we shot and we shot that one in Toronto.
Okay, those are only two places Disney shoots.
It's either or Toronto. That's what. They flip a coin and they go and they go from there.
Okay, So question when it comes to a dancer and Sabrina you can answer this as well because I don't know any of the stuff. If they were to put on the music right now, could you do all the numbers still the way you did back then without even thinking about it?
No, absolutely not, I would not know anything. I think I might. I could do strut because we basically just kind of ran along the line the streets of Barcelona, So I could.
Do that one I could I couldn't do. I think that the choreography I did.
On tour I would probably able to do easier because we did it so much, right, So what about you, Corbyn?
Do you think you could do it?
The ones that we did on tour We're all in this Together is probably the one that I would remember. Yeah, everything else I would need I would need a refresher.
Yeah, you probably taught that that choreography to how many people? On how many interviews everyone wants the news anchor to learn all in? Like, why you want to see these people doing this choreography? I don't know, but that's always what happens, right, That's probably what So.
Speaking of all the interviews you had to do, the film comes out and is a cultural phenomenon, What is your life like? I mean, first of all, I have to ask this question because everybody does, but everybody kind of knows the answer to these even though you asked, did you know it was going to be as big as it was? Of course nobody ever does. But how did your life change when this thing just exploded everywhere?
Uh?
Yeah, So, as I mentioned before, I I did grow up in the business. So I had done films like feature films with with notable actors before. And my first lead in a film was a film called Catch That Kid, alongside Kristin Stewart and Max's Theiot, and it was the kids who were like robbing a bank. And you know, so I had I had received recognition every you know, sometimes like once in a blue movie, someone out on the street might might recognize me from something I did. I did another movie called Galaxy Quest.
Yeah, great movie.
Yeah, awesome movie and creatile cast and I'm in it for a scene. So like there were there were moments, brief brief moments, but this was all of a sudden life went from A to Z. Just as far as the extremity of it it was. I was working on a different television show called Flight twenty nine down for the Discovery Kids. We were shooting in Hawaii awesome, honest ice. Yeah, And they do this carnival every year called Punaho Carnival, and basically like the whole island goes to this. It was the high school musical Hit Air and then the carnival was that weekend. Went to this carnival and got moped, like to the point, something that I never experienced before. I had no idea what how to react, what is going on. I was with my mom at the time, who is the woman, but like this little like five foot three Brooklyn Italian woman. We're both just overwhelmed and just tried to get ourselves back to the car. And as soon as the door is closed and we drove, we just did this. We just both sat in silence for a minute, going what happened? And I'll never forget. I remember my mom started singing tears for Figures and she started welcome to.
So similar situation we were in.
I want you to just tell Will, because I don't remember exactly what happened or exactly what you were doing. But we were in Barcelona filming the second movie when you Guys came when your movie came out or shortly after that, and I remember it might have been you that called Kenny or something, and it was you guys were as a cast in Times Square? And what was that? Because I remember hearing in all of us going.
The Today Show or GMA.
Yeah, I think it was Good Morning America, and he was like, these kids have like literally become like the Beatles. They shut down Times Square basically, right.
It was that epic.
When we toured, we toured sold out stadiums, seventy thousand people to night.
My gosh, it was it was like.
It was like the Beatles, And and what's I am as a person? I'm a very in the moment, present person, and even within this today's climate of social media, I'm actually it's at a detriment because I'm not the one to always go, hey, let me pull this out and hoard this moment. If it wasn't for my wife, I would have no pictures of my life or anybody. There's no documentation whatsoever that's me. And because of that, though during that whole process, I was always again just so in the moment and just enjoying all of it. But when I look back on it now, I think about how it was such a long and important part of my life. But that also flew by in a blink. And now I just everything that I do. I'm so aware of the moment in time that I'm in right now. I just finished playing Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, which is a dream role. I can't believe.
Congratulations.
I love that be a part of that.
Every day I was, I was actively going, this is happening, This is happening. Remember this, Know that this is a part of life right now, because you know, again at that age, it all happens so quickly and it's such a whirlwind. And when I think back on it now, I'm like, I don't know how president I will as president of person I was. I don't know if I was truly taking into account and aware of that, like this, this is this moment in time.
Right now, just right take it all in.
Yeah.
Will Will's actually asked me like, do you have any regrets at all? During the Cheetah Girl's time, And that was exactly what I said. I feel like life was happening so fast that I didn't soak in as much as I could.
But that's part of being young, too, right. You know, when.
You're young, you live, You're you're gonna live forever anyway, Today's just today. This is my life, how it's going totally Why they say youth is wasted on the.
Young, So true though it is, and that's.
When you're older, you look back and you're like, oh my god, yeah, same.
I was a picture person, so I do have tons of pictures and and everything. But at the same time, just like really soaking it in and going, when's the next time you're gonna be in Barcelona filming? You'll come back, but like, when are you going to film?
You know?
I just feel like I wish I had done that a lot more. And you know, you got your nailed there right on the head. Well, like, it's just it's such a waste somebody when you're younger, right, I know you were saying that you just got off Broadway. Congratulations. That is just so incredible. And now you're going to be performing at the Hollywood Bowl. It's a Disney's eighties to nineties celebration.
Where do you buy tickets for this? This just sounds so freaky.
Everybody nostalgia, talk about Disney nostalgia. I mean again, I'm living my best childhood memories right now in rehearsals. Project it is all eighties and nineties Disney music. So that includes all of our classics that we've grown up with, Beauty and the Beast and Toy Story and Lawn and movie h Bermaid like, it's all of those. And it's at the Hollywood.
Bowl with the La Philharmonic.
Man, it's and it's a lineup of all mainly Broadway performers, okay, because we're just so cool, and not only broad reforms, but we have also some of the originals who who what originals? Example, so Susan Egan, who was the voice of Meg in her the singing Voice of Meg. She is going to be performing her number Phil Farmer goofy wow.
Yeah.
So that just it's it's really really cool.
Have you have you performed at the Bolt before? I feel like you.
Did multiple times.
Yeah yeah, yeah. I did hear to Pray there and.
I did Mama Mia there geez. But this is I've never done with Oh okay.
We haven't started rehearsal as a group yet. I've be've been in so rehearsals with the choreographer and because when we get into the rehearsal time with everyone, it's going to be so fast and furious that they want to just be able to put everything on the dancers and just have it all done so right now, I'm I'm sort of working with her to build What are we going to be doing?
Wow? We have to go, Oh, we have to go.
Yes, please come to July nineteenth and twentieth.
July nineteenth and twentieth, the eighty nineties Celebration in concert.
Well, if we get tickets, I have got to be able to come back.
And give your wife a squeeze. I swear.
I just miss you guys so much, and you guys are I'm so so excited.
How well and amazing.
Everything is happening in your life and everything you've done. I feel like whatever you touch it turns into gold. It's just incredible and it's so so amazing. And honestly, you you you deserve every accolade because you are really just so talented.
It's unreal crazy.
I appreciate it, I hear it, and I appreciate it. Thank you so much.
The other thing I know that our our listeners are going to want to know is are you still in touch with any of your high school musical cast mates?
Yeah?
I mean so, I see, I see Lucas and Monique all the time.
You just did a movie with Monique. Is it a lifetime movie or.
Home you get a lifetime movie together. That was the first time back on camera together.
Yes, that was pretty cool.
It was it was a dance movie, so awesome.
And then both of them came out and saw me in little Shop.
Oh that's amazing.
Yeah, we're I just went over to Lucas's place last week and we had like a karaoke night at his play.
Oh my gosh.
Yeah all the time.
Oh God, Broadway karaoke night, bad Way people doing karaoke.
I'm sure it's a lot different than me doing karaoke. Nine drinks in I'm sure it's a lot different part of it.
There's no judgment.
What about Zach and Vanessa? Did you ever get to Yeah, I.
Haven't seen Zach in a long time, but but Vanessa, I just saw her in Paris last year, okay. And then Ashley I think I also saw like near the end of last year because her niece had her bot Mitzvah, which is crazy. And then I went to that I got to see Ashley there, and so we always always always like wherever you.
Can, You're connected. You're connected forever. I mean, that's how it works with stuff like this, You're connected forever.
And I feel that way with I mean that is that Disney Channel era.
I feel that.
I mean when I shoot, when I look at you, it's like I have you are such a part of me and my childhood and my life and what it wasn't And it always felt like like the Justice League or the Avengers, like everybody their own d com would all come together. And and even that, I don't know if it's the same as far as like I hope, so all connected in such a way because because it was, we would we would always go and do all those interstitials together and all.
Those events, or even if we were at a random premiere for something, if if we saw somebody from the Channel, we belined it to each other because it was like it just was always so awesome, so many so much excitement was going on for all of us in our careers at that point we were growing up together.
I honestly think the.
Disney Channel Games was one of the best times with us all at you.
Know, going on rides together, filming together.
Were you able to actually win at any of the Disney Channel games because I know Sabrina's.
Got a little bit of a yellow team, one nothing, blue team, one everything team.
He was on the blue team. Okay, damn blue team.
I think I had one or two events that that I didn't.
He won the dance one with.
But we did pretty well.
And not only that, but we performed. I remember you guys performed.
Uh huh and you you did you.
Perform because I performed.
Album.
Your album had come out pretty like this.
There was a big perform at big, big concert at the end of it. It was super fun and we were just like taking over Walt Disney World, like all my.
Time to the Walt Disney World.
Yeah, Disney Channel game time.
You cannot go back and not do it the same way.
And you know, of course they hooked it up like we went with a guide.
We had.
The plaid just completely ruined me. Yeah, oh yeah, it does.
What we did in one.
Day is what take because we would get in the vans, we'd all pile in the vans and they would just take us backstage, behind the parks, get us right onto.
The the rides.
I mean, what we did in one day, I now know it takes families like five days to do. I mean, it's just it's unreal to do it so quickly. Oh, you want to go on Mount Everest, Sure, the fan, let's go. We've got a half hour.
You were you were also there for the for the initial Expedition EVER ride.
Weren't you.
I feel like you were.
I think so. I think so.
I think we rode like the inaugural Expedition EVER Ride.
Yes, very first one.
Yes, but yeah, just I mean everyone, it was also similar energies from everyone that time.
I you know, I think back to that time again, and I know we've all had There's always ups and downs, there's always stuff behind the scenes that you know goes on. But for the most part, everyone was It was good people. It was really good people, and everyone I felt like I had a similar drive and focus, which was it was like, what.
Are you after high school? Musical? What are you going to do? What your what do you want to do?
And we were all kind of pushing and encouraging each other and bringing up ideas of things are options for all of us, and we were all so hungry and just never wanted this part of.
Our life to end.
You know what I mean, You're like, you can't do a seventh Cheetah girl. You can't do that? Why not? You know type of things.
So, oh man, it's so good to see you. We will and I will have to get on top of this ticket situation. That would be so fun to come watch you perform live. I haven't gotten a chance to do that in so long.
We'll have to so for you know, we want to let you go. Obviously, I know you you're super busy and you have a lot to do. But for the last question here, you're approaching the twentieth anniversary, yes of High School Musical coming out.
How do you feel about being part of.
The franchise and the effect that it's had on the entire culture, because it really has, I mean is it's it's everywhere.
Because I am such a theater lover and musical theater lover and always have been, but especially you know, even post High School Musical. That's really where my folks, because it has been in my career. This last show that I did that was my fifth Broadway show and I and I'm even just that's just New York. I'm always doing theater all across the country. And the fact that High School Musical to this day has become a part of the musical feeder cannon. It's it's humbling, it's mind blowing. I mean, I'm grateful for it. It's surreal. And again there's there is like a separation at this point that it's been. I know I was a part of it. I know that I had a hand in making that what it was.
Yeah, definitely, But at the.
Same time, it became its own entity in a way that none of us could have forced, none of us could have intentionally made that happen. It just was. Somehow all of the elements collided and the universe made this so so the fact that to this day there's still new generations that not only the people who grew up with it, but there's kids who hear the music and learn it. And and also it introduces them to musical theater. You know, kids whill like maybe come to one of my Broadway shows and they love theater because high school musical was their introduction to the magic of what musical theater is. Yeah, to me is the fact that that's a part of my life and my being. I'm just so grateful for it.
Yeah, so awesome.
And and two like for what it was for people that were already in musical theater and loved it, and for it to be made into something that was super cool and an awesome thing to do on campus was awesome. You know.
It was so great that.
It broadened people's perspective of what they think of musical theater and whose I.
Mean, Sabrina knows this about me. Full disclosure, I you not like musical theater. It's not my thing.
I was so nervous for him and why.
Really really liked high school musical I really liked it.
He did, and he has not liked all of them. No, he has not liked them.
To me, I'm always like, why are they breaking in the song? Did you guys get together and choreograph this before?
And what are you thinking? What's going on?
I've still kind of had a hard time getting past the point of why is it that he's singing and dancing with his friends and telling him that he wants to sing and dance and they haven't.
It had trouble and dancing with it.
I don't want to tell my friends that I want to be a singer and a dancer while we're all singing and dancing together.
I was like, I mean, that's like in the second movie, we have the number I Don't Dance, which is between me and Lucas Grabiel, and the whole number I'm dancing and singing I don't dance.
That's yourself in the second movie.
Okay, again happened. I don't like them.
I know I don't like them, and we always rate them one out of ten. And I gave High School Music a solid night.
Yeah, oh so much.
The cast was great. You could not have cast this movie better.
Perfectly cast.
It was Judy Gauging and it was very, very good.
Queen duty is the Queen.
We are trying very hard to get Judy Taylor on the podcast and we will hopefully towards the end of summer.
But she's just phenomenal and you know she.
Sees and she's so encouraging too when you see all you're doing great or you know, she's just such a great soul.
And she's been doing it for not just Disney, but you look back on I mean great example is she casted the Little Rascals movie.
Oh my gosh, I forgot about that.
Yes, I mean like she's been doing it and has been finding young talents for long time.
Yes, goonies.
She casts goonies.
Wow, man, I mean she is it's.
Somebody who is back to the future. She casts back to the future. So this is somebody who obviously has a very specific talent of finding undiscovered talent.
And that is such a hard thing to do. It's a hard thing to do, and it's.
A beautiful thing too. And and again, where we're at in this age now, it's always about finding a name to attach to the project. And that's what I also admire so much about what what Judy did and what also the that that Disney Channel era. And yes, we are always still trying to find new talent, but there's we've gone so much more corporate right that that it's the importance of finding that new, that new fresh talent and what what what what is the potential that's helpful?
Yeah, yeah, but well that's what Disney Channel loved to do, was we're not going to find the names, We're going to create them. And that's something that Disney Channel did for years and years and years and they were so good at and Disney eighties and nineties celebration in Concert of the Hollywood Bowl on July nineteenth and twentieth go check this out, because it sounds like it's going to be so much.
Fun, done done.
One of the best venues in the world, some of the best music in the world, and you've got the Philharmonic behind you.
Yeah, one of the best orchestras in the world too.
The first time I heard them was it was like teary eyed, breathtaking because it's just so incredible.
Now imagine that put to all of your childhood memories.
Totally.
Yeah, I got I got to do a chorus line, which is just such an epic, you know, I mean, incredible production and hearing these songs that you've grown up with as like a you know, a theater person is like, it was just yeah, I mean I just started crying. I literally just I couldn't even help it. I'm like, don't care, I'm sobbing like a baby.
Right, It's amazing. Yes, Well, that's thank you Corn.
So much for having all the best of you both.
You as well bring Leg on the show and hopefully you get a chance to see you there.
Definitely, thank you, Thank you. Bye.
Wow, isn't he the best?
I'm sorry when you start the interview by saying, so I was fifteen and just got into Stanford.
It's like, wait, you are exactly what this movie.
Is not about, because I knew that about him, and I totally forgot, Like how do you forget something like that about someone that is just so epic?
But it's just his It is obviously an actual like an actual genius where you're singing, dancing, has it that kind of mind? Yeah, you're an Actually she is.
So down to earth and such a wonderful human being. He's married to an incredible woman, And I mean he is just like I said, his whole family is like that. I mean, you walk, They're just so loving and you just want good things for good people like that, right, And he is killing it. So I'm so happy for him and everything he's done. And like I said, I mean, I really want to go to the show now. I'm like, we're trying to figure out my schedule. What's going to happen? How are we doing that?
I got to figure it out too.
Let's do it.
It would be a ton of fun.
It really would so fun.
Well, thank you all for joining us for what might be one of my favorite interviews we've ever done, frankly, and for a movie that I should have hated and absolutely did not.
I love that.
We I really didn't.
Pulling you to the bright side.
You're bringing me to the dark side. You're bringing me the dark the.
Bright and shiny and sparkly sound nice.
Yeah, you're right, it's the fabulous side. I love that. It's so thank you all for joining.
That's something you have to look forward to.
Is a song called fabulous in what in High School Musical two?
Oh?
Okay, I didn't know if it was for cheating girl. I've got so We got so many sequels coming out, so many descendants too. There's another teen beach move. There's another Johnny Tsunami, for God's sakes.
I know.
And we haven't even touched on zombies yet, and there's like none of those. There's one coming out soon.
I think.
Did they make Brink two? Bronk? Was that all?
They didn't make Brink too?
They didn't make Brunk?
Okay, Well, thank you everybody for joining us, and join us next time. And I think we're going to be watching Lemonade Mouth.
Is that right? Lemonade Mouth, which we still don't know what that is.
At all, not even a clue.
I think it probably has something to do with lemonade mouths, but I'm not entirely sure that's.
Sure what that is.
I'm not either, and but we're gonna find out, aren't we. Thanks everybody, and we'll see you next time.
Bye bye,
