Troy and Gabriella

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
For other uses, see High School Musical (disambiguation).
High School Musical

High School Musical poster
Directed by Kenny Ortega
Produced by Don Schain
Written by Peter Barsocchini
Starring Zac Efron
Vanessa Anne Hudgens
Ashley Tisdale
Lucas Grabeel
Corbin Bleu
Monique Coleman
Music by Greg Cham
Ray Cham
Andy Dodd
Faye Greenberg
Jamie Houston
David Lawrence
Adam Watts
Matt Gerrard
Drew Lane
Eddie Galan
Andrew Seeley
Cinematography Gordon Lonsdale
Editing by Seth Flaum
Distributed by Disney Channel
Release date(s) January 20, 2006
Running time 98 min
Country United States
Language English
Budget $4.2 million[1]
Followed by High School Musical 2 (2007)
Official website
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile
High School Musical is an American telefilm. Released on January 20, 2006, it was one of the most successful Disney Channel Original Movies (DCOM) produced, with a television sequel released August 17, 2007 and a feature film sequel in the planning process.[2] The film's soundtrack was the best-selling album in the United States for 2006.[3] The film was shot almost entirely in the Wasatch Front in Utah (namely Salt Lake City and Murray).

With a plot described as a modern retelling of Romeo & Juliet,[4][5] High School Musical is a story of two high school juniors from rival cliques[6][7][8]: Troy Bolton (Zac Efron), captain of the basketball team, and Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Hudgens), a shy transfer student who excels in math and science. Together, they try out for the lead parts in their high school musical, and as a result, divide the school. Despite other students' attempts to thwart their dreams, Troy and Gabriella resist peer pressure and rivalry, inspiring others along the way not to "stick with the status quo."

This was Disney Channel's most successful movie at its time with 7.7 million viewers in its premiere broadcast in the US. In the UK, it received 789,000 viewers for its premiere (and 1.2 million viewers overall during the first week), making the film the most watched program for the Disney Channel (UK) of 2006. It was also the first ever Disney Channel Original Movie to be broadcast on the BBC on December 29, 2006 . On August 16, 2007 ratings went slightly up to 6.0 million viewers
Main characters

Troy Bolton
Troy Bolton (portrayed by Zac Efron) is the male protagonist of the story and the captain of the East High Wildcats basketball team. His best friend is Chad Danforth. At a New Years party at a ski resort, he was pressured into singing 'Start of Something New' with Gabriella Montez; prior to that, he had only sung in the shower.[9] Troy is torn between basketball and singing; he wants to sing with Gabriella (the girl Troy has a crush on), but his teammates push him away from it with peer pressure and even trickery because they are worried it will affect their chances at winning the championship game, as Troy is the coach's son, Wildcat captain, and star player. Troy also enjoys snowboarding.


Gabriella Montez
Gabriella Montez (portrayed by Vanessa Anne Hudgens) is the female protagonist, who secretly has a crush Troy. She is a shy and a very intelligent student who has just changed schools. She originally met Troy when they were forced into a karaoke duet at a New Years party at a ski resort. She meets him again when she moves to the same school as Troy in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is hesitant to let everybody know of her past achievements, although they find out, through the internet, that she previously won numerous Scholastic Competitions. She had previously been in a church choir, but passed out after having everybody stare at her while singing solo. She and Troy audition, get a callback, and then win the lead parts for the Winter musical. She also helps East High win the Scholastic Decathlon award.


Sharpay Evans
Main article: Sharpay Evans
Sharpay Evans (portrayed by Ashley Tisdale) is the antagonist of High School Musical. She is an arrogant person who always wants her way. She overdominates and likes to be in control even of her twin brother Ryan. She auditions with him for the winter school musical against Troy and Gabriella. When she hears that Troy and Gabriella have a callback, she changes the callback date so Troy and Gabriella wouldn't be able to get the leads. The plan however fails with the aid of Taylor and Chad who have. Sharpay ends up being the understudy for Gabriella, and in the end, wishes Gabriella good luck by telling her to break a leg. Chad, at one point, calls Sharpay and Ryan "show dogs"; the Shar Pei, a homophone of Sharpay, is a kind of dog. She also makes reference to famous Broadway songwriter Stephen Sondheim by calling Kelsi "my sawed-off Sondheim". Despite her resentment of Troy and Gabriella taking the lead from her in the school musical, she seems to have a small crush or interest in Troy, and somewhat jealous of Gabriella. It also should be noted that at the end of High School Musical she seems to at least get along with Troy and Gabriella. Yet in High School Musical 2, she has reverted to hating Gabriella, and actually developed an interest for Troy.


Ryan Evans
Ryan Evans (portrayed by Lucas Grabeel) is the twin brother and acting partner of Sharpay Evans, with whom he has starred in seventeen school productions to date. In High School Musical, both Ryan and his sister function as antagonists, while in High School Musical 2, he acts as a protagonist. Ryan is an excellent dancer and singer, tending to lean toward high-energy, upbeat songs and expressive choreography, often to the point of absurdity. He has a much more highly developed sense of fashion than most East High students, wearing button down shirts and slacks and topping each outfit with some type of hat. The hats are one of Ryan's most notable features; he wears over twenty different ones throughout the two films. In High School Musical, both Ryan and his sister function as antagonists, attempting to keep Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez from winning the lead roles in the school's Winter musical, Twinkle Towne. In spite of a few moments where Ryan appears annoyed by Sharpay's domineering attitude, he accepts her leadership unquestioningly throughout the film. In the second movie, however, when Sharpay replaces him with Troy in their talent show performance, he gains enough confidence to stand up to her, befriending the Wildcats and agreeing to choreograph their show, instead. In the end, after many twists and turns, Ryan orchestrates a plan to have Troy sing with Gabriella (instead of Sharpay) in the Wildcats' show, performing the hit duet "Everyday." Sharpay, apparently moved by the performance, announces Ryan as the winner of the talent show. The two reconcile, joining the Wildcats in singing the movie's final number, All for One. Ryan shows an extreme taste in hats as in total he wears 34 different hats in High School Musical, High School Musical 2 and High School Musical: The Concert.


Chad Danforth
Chad Danforth (portrayed by Corbin Bleu) is a member of the East High Wildcats team and Troy's best friend. He seems to be extremely devoted to basketball. From the start, he's a little snobby, selfish, and unsupportive of Troy's auditioning for the musical. He thinks that the musical isn't for basketball players. However, he realizes later that singing is something that Troy really enjoys and so Chad gives his support to his best friend's audition endeavor. After teaming up with Taylor McKessie to pull Troy and Gabriella apart, and then to put them back together again, he asks her out. In High School Musical 2, he develops a friendship with Ryan Evans.


Taylor McKessie
Taylor McKessie (portrayed by Monique Coleman) is the leader of East High's science club, which competes in the Scholastic Decathlon. She befriends Gabriella when she arrives to the school and convinces her to join the Scholastic Club. While she at first tried to stop Gabriella from singing, she eventually ended up supporting her. She has a strong dislike for athletes including Troy Bolton, stating that they "contribute nothing to society other than slam dunks and touchdowns." However, her opinion of athletes changes over time. She is asked out by Chad Danforth by the end of the film and accepts. In the Japanese dub, she is voiced by Maaya Sakamoto.


Recurring characters

Ms. Darbus
Ms. Darbus (portrayed by Alyson Reed) is the drama teacher at East High. She is an advocate of theater and has a strong dislike for cell phones. She has gotten into arguments with Coach Bolton numerous times. She has shown that she has little to no knowledge of basketball.


Jack Bolton
Coach Jack Bolton (portrayed by Bart Johnson) is the Wildcats' coach and Troy's father. He is a former champion Wildcats player, and expects his son to follow in his footsteps. He has gotten into numerous heated arguments with Ms. Darbus and is upset over his son's decision to go out for theater but then he eventually comes around. Similarly, he disapproves of Troy's relationship with Gabriella because it may interfere with basketball.


Kelsi Nielsen
Kelsi Nielsen (portrayed by Olesya Rulin) is a pianist and the composer of the Twinkle Towne musical. Kelsi is not confident at first. However, by the end of the movie, she stands up to Sharpay. Troy calls her the playmaker to build her confidence. She also has a crush on Jason.


Zeke Baylor
Zeke Baylor (portrayed by Chris Warren, Jr.) is a member of the Wildcats team, who secretly enjoys baking and has a crush on Sharpay.


Jason Cross
Jason Cross (portrayed by Ryne Sanborn) is a member of the Wildcats team, who hangs out with Chad and Zeke and develops a crush on Kelsi.


Martha Cox
Martha Cox (portrayed by Kaycee Stroh) is a braniac who secretly loves hip-hop and is friends with Gabriella, Kelsi and Taylor.


Mrs. Montez
Mrs. Montez (portrayed by Socorro Herrera) is Gabriella's mother. Although she is never shown to have a strong feeling of approval or disapproval of Gabriella's singing, she is shown to support her daughter at the end of the movie. She also approves of Gabriella's relationship with Troy.


Synopsis
Strangers Troy Bolton (Zac Efron) and Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Anne Hudgens) attend a New Year's Eve party at a ski lodge over Christmas Break. They find they have amazing chemistry after singing "Start of Something New" in a karaoke contest, and exchange numbers. A week later, Gabriella's mother is transferred and Gabriella begins classes at East High in Albuquerque, New Mexico where Troy sees her in homeroom. After checking that it's her on his cell phone, Troy accidentally gets detention, along with Gabriella, his best friend and teammate Chad Danforth (Corbin Bleu), scholastic decathlon captain, and soon-to-be best friend of Gabriella, Taylor McKessie (Monique Coleman), and Drama Club co-presidents Ryan and Sharpay Evans (Lucas Grabeel and Ashley Tisdale).

After homeroom, Troy and Gabriella see each other and start to re-introduce themselves. As they talk near the sign-up sheet for the winter musical auditions, Sharpay sees them and assumes Gabriella wants to sign up. With Ryan's help, Sharpay determines that Gabriella is an "Einsteinette", and put an article of her previous academic achievements into Taylor's locker. During detention, Taylor approaches Gabriella and invites her to join the school's scholastic decathlon team. As a result of the detention, both Troy and Chad miss their basketball practice, much to the annoyance of Coach Bolton. During a confrontation between the coach and Ms. Darbus, it is made clear that neither of them has any real respect for the work that the other does. Troy eventually takes part in basketball practice, but he can't seem to stop thinking about Gabriella ("Get'cha Head in the Game").

Troy skips basketball practice during free period to go to the auditions, which Gabriella also attends. However, both are too shy to come forward, so they hide behind a janitorial rolling cart as Sharpay and Ryan perform their version of "What I've Been Looking For". When Gabriella finally decides to audition, Troy offers to sing with her, but Ms. Darbus says it is too late.

After a confrontation with Sharpay, Kelsi Nielsen, the composer of the musical, trips and drops her notes and piano music. Troy and Gabriella rush to help her, and she offers to let them hear how the song was supposed to sound. Troy and Gabriella then sing the slower version of the song, "What I've Been Looking For". Ms. Darbus hears them from behind the auditorium entrance and gives both Troy and Gabriella a callback. The next day, Sharpay sees the callback sheet and is furious. Once Chad and all the basketball players find out that Troy skipped basketball practice to audition for the musical, they all are shocked.

At lunch, everyone has learned that Troy is doing something highly out of basketball players' nature, and the students start confessing their secret passions and talents ("Stick to the Status Quo"), including basketball player Zeke Baylor's love of baking. Gabriella slips and accidentally spills her lunch all over Sharpay's shirt. Sharpay tells Ms. Darbus that Gabriella did it on purpose and tries to convince Ms. Darbus that Troy and Gabriella are trying to destroy the musical.

Troy asks Gabriella to meet him in his secret hideout, the balcony of a greenhouse. There, she reveals that singing with him at the party was like meeting a new friend at kindergarten; he felt like a best friend although she hardly knew him. Meanwhile, Zeke attempts to talk to Sharpay, who says that she would rather stick pins in her eyes than watch Zeke play basketball. He asks if that would be uncomfortable, and she snaps back, "Evaporate, tall person!"

Chad and Taylor decide that they need to devise a plan so that everything can go back to normal. The basketball team tricks Troy into saying that Gabriella isn't important while she watches them through a wi-fi link. Gabriella is hurt and confused about where she and Troy now stand ("When There Was Me and You"). Troy tries to talk to Gabriella as normal, but Gabriella tells him she does not want to do the musical anymore and that it was never really important to her.

After feeling guilty about ruining Troy and Gabriella's friendship, and noticing that they are no longer interested in the basketball game or the decathlon, Chad and Taylor decide to tell them the truth. Chad, Zeke, and Jason explain everything to Troy in the greenhouse and offer to support him at the callbacks. Taylor and the scholastic decathlon team tell Gabriella what they did, but Gabriella is still angry and hurt because of what Troy said, convinced that he meant it. That night, Troy goes to Gabriella's house, but she pretends to be busy with homework. Troy phones her from her backyard, telling her that the guy she met on vacation is much more like him than the guy that "said those stupid things". He climbs onto her balcony and starts singing the harmony of "Start of Something New" in attempt to persuade her to go to the callbacks with him. Gabriella then forgives him, and they start practicing the callback piece at school together with Kelsi.

Soon Sharpay and Ryan overhear Gabriella and Troy practicing, and feel intimidated by the competition. Together they convince Ms. Darbus to change the callbacks to the same time as the basketball championship and scholastic decathlon. Kelsi overhears their conversation with Mrs. Darbus, she and the others are devastated, but the scholastic decathlon and basketball teams and Kelsi work together to come up with a plan.

On the day itself, Taylor and Gabriella send a code by computer into the system to disrupt the basketball game by shutting down the scoreboard, and boil a hazardous chemical to stall the decathlon.

As Troy and Gabriella then rush to the theater, Sharpay and Ryan finish performing their song, "Bop to the Top", confident that they will get the part. Troy and Gabriella show up after Ms. Darbus has called their names twice, and she tells them again that they are too late. Many other students start streaming into the auditorium to support them and Ms. Darbus has no choice but to allow them to perform "Breaking Free." After they sing Breaking Free Troy kisses Gabbriella on the cheek. In the end, Ms. Darbus gives the parts to Troy and Gabriella. After winning both the scholastic decathlon and the basketball game, the entire school gathers in the gym to celebrate ("We're All in This Together").

After the celebrations, Sharpay finds Zeke alone in the gym and tells him that the cookies he made are the best things she has ever tasted. Zeke answers (quite suggestively) that he might even make her a crème brûlée.