High School Musical2007

David Simpatico

SynopsisAct 1

At East High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Troy Bolton tells his Jock friends, Chad Danforth and Zeke Baylor about meeting Gabriella Montez on New Year's Eve whilst he was on a winter vacation ski trip with his family. Gabriella, who has just moved to Albuquerque, also tells her newfound Brainiac friends Taylor McKessie, Kelsi Nielsen and Martha Cox of her vacation where she met Troy. We meet Sharpay and Ryan Evans, the two who have starred in every school production to date. Sharpay can be selfish, and Ryan follows her orders but tries to be friends with everyone at the same time. Troy and Gabriella have a flashback to New Year's Eve when they meet each other again at East High during homeroom (form).

In homeroom, Mrs. Darbus (the drama teacher) tells her class of the upcoming winter musical, ‘Juliet and Romeo’, a new version of Shakespeare's ‘Romeo and Juliet’, written by East Highs very own Kelsi Nielsen. When Ryan, Sharpay, Troy, and Gabriella start using their ‘cell’ phones during class, Mrs. Darbus gives them all detention. Chad interferes, telling Mrs. Darbus that Troy cannot go because they have basketball practice after school and that they have an upcoming championship game so then Mrs. Darbus gives Chad a 30 minute detention as well. Taylor also gets detention when she remarks that Chad can't even count to 30. As Gabriella is looking inside her locker, Troy runs into her and they share their amazement of how they found each other again. Sharpay walks by and tries to flirt with Troy, but he shows no interest in her as usual. Sharpay observes that he is interested in Gabriella and that Gabriella is interested in him. Later, the Jocks have basketball practice with Troy's dad as the coach.

Later in a Science class, Gabriella points out a flaw in the teacher's equation showing her hidden ability in mathematics. Taylor is impressed and asks, on behalf of her Science Club, if Gabriella could join their team and help to win the upcoming Scholastic Decathlon, although Gabriella refuses as she just wants to fit in and get used to East High for now. Sharpay overhears and has Ryan investigate by searching for her on Google. He Discovers that Gabriella was a very intelligent Brainiac at her old school who won prestigious awards. Sharpay prints off her newfound information and puts it in Taylor's locker, in hope that Gabriella will not refuse the opportunity to join the science team; in order to be court up in work and not have time for love affairs. The students later head to the Mrs. Darbus's room for detention, and act like animals. Taylor then asks Gabriella again to join the Scholastic Decathlon team based on the printouts Sharpay planted in her locker, and Gabriella eventually agrees. Coach Bolton come to collect Troy and Chad for practice and him and Mrs. Darbus debate in front of the class which subject is more important.

The next day, the thespians audition for the play. Sharpay and Ryan audition as well – but of course for the lead roles. After the auditions have been declared as closed, Gabriella and Troy sing the audition song as Kelsi intended it to be - much slower, rather than Sharpay and Ryan's upbeat cheesy version. Although Troy and Gabriella did not intend it to be an audition they are called back for a second audition. When their friends hear the outrageous news they spread it via their mobile phones across the whole of East High.

Sharpay is furious, believing Troy and Gabriella have stolen the lead roles and broken the 'rules' of East High. Though most of the school agrees, chaos erupts during a lunch break when students begin telling their secret obsessions outside of their cliques e.g. a jock who can bake, a mathlete who likes to dance. The scene culminates with Sharpay getting 'caked' by Zeke who has a love interest in Sharpay, after Gabriella spins into him. Act I ends with Sharpay angrily shouting "Someone is going to pay for this!"

SynopsisAct 2

Jack Scott recaps previous events to the audience before Troy and Gabriella dance on the rooftop garden. Zeke comes to Sharpay's locker and tries to flirt with her but she’s used to the male attention. Meanwhile, the Jocks and Brainiacs plot against the infuriated duo during study hall. Sharpay and Ryan see the Jocks and the Brainiacs mingling together and imagine they are trying to help Troy and Gabriella. Sharpay sees red and lies to Mrs. Darbus saying that Troy and his dad are trying to ruin the auditions because she gave Troy detention. Later at practice, Mrs. Darbus talks to Troy's dad and then he talks to Troy. Gabriella comes to practice to see Troy while Martha comes and takes her to the lab. Troy's dad thinks Gabriella is the reason why Troy got detention and has become so distracted recently with his basketball. He tells Troy that he is a playmaker and not a singer he was born to play basketball. This infuriates Troy who angrily asks his father if he ever wondered if he could be both and storms off in a rage, leaving his father stunned.

The Jocks and Brainiacs put their plan against their ‘friends’ to work, pushing at Troy and Gabriella to 'split up'. Eventually Troy, furious with his friends for telling him the same things his dad did, gives in and pretends that he doesn't like Gabriella but he is completely oblivious to the phone in Zeke's hand which is transmitting Troy's words directly to Gabriella. Gabriella hears and becomes extremely upset about the situation. The Jocks and Brainiacs then realize that they have gone too far and feel guilty for ruining Troy and Gabriella's relationship.

The next day, Sharpay and Ryan are rehearsing for their callback while Sharpay talks to Ryan about her role in the school. Then Troy comes in looking for Gabriella and Ryan tells him that she is in the theatre. Troy goes to the theatre and tells Gabriella that they were set up and he didn't mean what he said and sings to remind her of New Year's in order to try and win her back.

As head of the drama club Sharpay requests that the callback date could be moved knowing that the new date would be the day of the basketball championships and the Scholastic Decathlon. Troy and Gabriella announce to the Jocks and Brainiacs that they are going to not do the callback, but instead help their respective teams to win their events although the Jocks and Brainiacs say they should do the callbacks but Troy and Gabriella still refuse. Both teams then come up with a plan.

On the day of the big game/decathlon/callbacks, the students are all very hyped up. Sharpay and Ryan perform their callback song ‘Bop to the Top’, which at the same time simultaneously happens alongside the basketball championship and the science decathlon, during which Taylor engineers an electronic meltdown in the decathlon and light malfunctions in the game, which forces all the students to move to the theater. Chad and Taylor explain to Troy and Gabriella that this is their only chance as their running on borrowed time. Mrs. Darbus, hesitant to allow Troy and Gabriella an audition due to their lateness, has no choice but to let them audition when the auditorium fills with students from across stereo groups in East High. Mrs. Darbus gives Troy and Gabriella the parts on the spot with everyone watching.

The end of Act II brings us to the gym where all the main characters wrap up their individual plots - Chad asks out Taylor, Zeke gets Sharpay to be nice to him, Jack Scott and Kelsi literally fall for each other, and Sharpay makes up with Gabriella and Troy. The Wildcats win the big game and the Decathlon and all of East High celebrate with ‘Were All in this Together.’

Contextual Understanding

‘High School Musical’ on Stage is a musical based on the Disney Channel Original Movie. It contains music and lyrics by Matthew Gerrard, Robbie Nevil, Ray and Greg Cham, Drew Seeley, Randy Petersen, Kevin Quinn, Andy Dodd, Adam Watts, Bryan Louiselle, David N. Lawrence, Faye Greenberg and Jamie Houston. Set in modern day It has quickly become a very popular choice for high school musical theatre productions everywhere.

‘High School Musical’ is set at East High, High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, just after New Year. High school students from various cliques sing and dance together despite their social stereotypes. Within the musical there are a variety of social groups of middle and working class within East High’s Society just like every place of education; the main ones are listed below.

The JocksThe CheerleadersThe ThespiansThe BrainiacsThe Skater DudesThe Adults

Within the musical there is a sense of Conformity. Conformity is the act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to a group normal. People often conform from a desire for security within a group and tend to typically conform with people of a similar age, culture, religion, or educational status. The unwillingness to conform can lead to social rejection which is clearly seen within ‘High School Musical.’ ‘High School Musical’ is about braking the boundaries, being yourself and not conforming to what everybody else thinks and says despite other people’s social opinions.

Main Character AnalysisTroy Bolton

Troy Bolton is the main protagonist of ‘High School Musical’ and the boyfriend of Gabriella Montez. He meets Gabriella Montez at a lodge while on vacation, and the two sing together. The two later find themselves attending the same school as Gabriella moved to Albuquerque. Through a series of events, they fall in love, then the two end up singing together once more and become boyfriend and girlfriend. Troy is the captain of the schools basketball team, making him at the peak of popularity amongst students at East High. He is the son to coach Bolton and the best friend to Chad Danforth. Not only does Troy’s passion lie with basketball but also with musical theatre despite his dad’s and team mates opinions.

Gabriella Montez

Gabriella is the girlfriend to Troy Bolton. She is extraordinarily beautiful and very academically-gifted. She meets Troy at a family bar during their winter break and are forced to sing in the New Year's Eve party at the Ski Mountain Resort. They instantly feel a connection with one another, and as fate would have it, they end up attending the same school in Albuquerque, East High. It is at East High where they become close friends, and eventually begin dating. When the two meet up at the auditions for the winter concert, they try out for the callbacks and do a duet of a song called Breaking Free. Since Troy, being the basketball star of East High and not known to have a passion or talent for singing, and Gabriella, the shy, nerdy new girl with a liking for science, start singing, they cause a large amount of social unrest at the school. Although this wans’t Gabriella's plan – Gabriella moved a lot as a child and just wanted a quite fresh new start when her nemesis Sharpay sees how much attention she begins to create, she becomes very jealous indeed.

Ryan Evans

Ryan Evans is one of the main characters within ‘High School Musical.’ He's co-president of the Drama Club with his fraternal twin sister – Sharpay. Together they have both co-starred in 17 school productions to date. In ‘High School Musical’, Ryan functions almost exclusively as Sharpay's sidekick, as the 2 attempt to keep Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez from winning the roles of Arnold and Minnie in the school's Winter musical, ’Juliet and Romeo.’ In spite of a few moments where Ryan appears annoyed by Sharpay's domineering attitude, he accepts her leadership unquestioningly throughout the movie, most often acting as a source of comic relief.

Sharpay Evans

Sharpay and her fraternal twin brother Ryan are the co-presidents of the East High Drama Club. Her parents are the owners of the Lava Springs Country Club which is why her and her brother seem to have a ‘Well Off’ persona about them. Sharpay is first shown to be a self-centered drama queen who loves to be, and often is, in the spotlight. Her and Ryan being the only two in the school truly shown to have interest in the performing arts, are Ms. Darbus's favorite students. The Evans twins have starred in all school productions since kindergarten, and she craves the spotlight. Previously, she hadn't had to try very hard to keep it; anyone else shown auditioning was never very good enough. However, she has an overwhelming desire to be the best that often dictates her actions, and it was once mentioned that if she could play both lead roles "her own brother would be aced out of a job.’ Because of the rigid clique system established in East High at the beginning of High School Musical, Sharpay is very defensive of her position as star of all school plays and she refuses to tolerate that anyone could take it away from her which is why Gabriella becomes a leading target for Sharpay. Sharpay has a sexual desire towards East Highs most popular male Troy Bolton.

Main Character AnalysisChad Danforth

Chad Danforth is one of the main characters within ‘High School Musical’. He is the best friend, co-captain and fellow basketball teammate of Troy Bolton. He as well as many others is at first extremely against the idea of Troy's whole "singing thing.” This leads him to plot a plan against Troy and Gabriella Montez to stop them from singing in the musical - with the help of Taylor McKessie. Sports and basketball mean everything to Chad as you can be able to tell throughout the musical. He is rarely seen without a basketball under his arm and during competitions, he always yells "What Team?" and his teammates respond "Wildcats.”

Taylor McKessie

Taylor McKessie is the best friend of Gabriella Montez, she is captain of the East High Scholastic Decathlon team and is the brain box within the musical. She an Chad Danforth, Troy Bolton's best friend, try and stop Troy and Gabriella from continuing to purse the lead roles in the winter musical because of their time spent practicing instead of cooperating in their clique's activities i.e. Basketball and Science. In the end, she helps with the plan of getting Troy and Gabriella to the callbacks on time as she feels guilty with interfering with their love affair. She and Chad both share a sexual desire for one another which is obvious within the musical.

Kelsi Neilson

Kelsi Neilson composed the musical ‘Juliet and Romeo’ in her junior year at East High School. This musical included several wonderful songs, but the ones that appear in the script are ‘What I've Been Looking For’ and ‘Breaking Free.’ Unlike other main female characters, Kelsi's love-life is mostly ambiguous, and almost entirely implied it us not until the finale where she let’s her hair down (literally) and gets male attention. She is perhaps the most talented individual at East High as she not only has the ability to direct but to compose music. She can often been seen playing the piano.

Initial IdeasWe will need to collect the backing tracks and edit them accordingly for the following songs:

Act I Wildcat Cheer - Cheerleaders Start of Something New - Troy, Gabriella, Cast Get'cha Head in the Game - Troy and Jocks Get'cha Head in the Game (Reprise) - Troy and Jocks Auditions - Thespians, Ms. Darbus What I've Been Looking For - Ryan and Sharpay What I've Been Looking For (Reprise) - Troy and Gabriella Cellular Fusion - Taylor, Chad, Martha, Zeke, Kelsi, Sharpay, Ryan, Company Stick to the Status Quo - Ryan, Sharpay, Zeke, Martha, Ripper, Company

Act 2 I Can't Take My Eyes Off of You - Troy and Gabriella Wildcat Cheer (Reprise) - Cheerleaders Counting on You - Chad, Taylor, Martha, Zeke, Jocks and Brainiacs, Troy, Gabriella When There Was Me and You - Troy, Gabriella, and Company Start of Something New (Reprise) - Troy and Gabriella We're All in This Together - Kelsi, Jocks and Brainiacs Bop to the Top - Ryan, Sharpay, Taylor, Moderator V.O., Coach Bolton, Jack Scott, Cast Breaking Free - Troy, Gabriella & Cast We're All in This Together (Reprise) - Troy, Gabriella, Sharpay, Ryan, Cast Mega mix - Company

We should also create soundscapes such as people talking in classrooms and the canteen, cars and buses as people get dropped off at East High and basketball matches. Added background music will need to be added for dramatic effect such as when Sharpay is looking over the cafeteria balcony at the social groups in East High. Sound effects such as school bells and ticking clocks should be used to set the context of the play and create an educational environment.