August 16, 2007

Can "High School Musical" do it again?

BY BILL KEVENEY
USA TODAY

What time is it?

If you're a preteen or teenager — or the parent of someone who is — you probably know the answer.

The hours and seconds are ticking away until the sequel to the surprise TV hit of last year, "High School Musical," airs Friday on the Disney Channel. Disney has given the movie's young fans a glimpse of what's to come by releasing "What Time Is It," the first music video from "High School Musical 2."

If you're not sure what this is all about, here's the score: "High School Musical" is a pop culture and marketing phenomenon, innocent enough for the Disney Channel and cool enough to fuel a new generation's interest in musicals.

Since its premiere in January 2006, the original two-hour TV movie has been seen by roughly 160 million people, according to Disney. It has generated $500 million in sales of DVDs, soundtracks (it was the No. 1 album of any type for 2006) and other retail items. There has been a concert tour by the cast and a stage version that just opened in Chicago. An ice show premieres in New York in September and will arrive at East Rutherford's Continental Airlines Arena in November. The movie also has inspired about 2,000 real-life high school musical productions, Disney says.

Now the question is: Can Disney catch lightning in a bottle again, and come up with a sequel as popular as the original?

"Sequels have a built-in audience. Some people will see one even if it stinks," says Kirk Wakefield, who heads Baylor University's music and entertainment marketing program. "The key is whether it sustains, whether it is as good in quality."

"HSM 2" picks up soon after the original, which followed basketball star Troy Bolton (played by Zac Efron) and math wiz Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Hudgens) as they reluctantly, then joyfully, sang their hearts out and fell for each other while trying out for East High's annual musical. The simple message of the first movie: Don't let peer pressure keep you from your dreams.

At a time when kids expect increasingly sophisticated animation in movies, TV shows and video games, the original "HSM" was a relative throwback: a live-action musical with catchy songs and a lead character (Efron's Troy) who fretted over what his friends and his father might think about him singing.

Girls are "HSM" 's core fan base, but it gained fans among boys in part by building sports into the plot and choreography.

To observers of cultural trends, "HSM' s" broad appeal is part of a larger picture.

"It keys into the popularity of music and dance that's sweeping the country with shows like "So You Think You Can Dance,' "Dancing With the Stars' and "American Idol,' " says Neil Meron, producer of the new movie musical "Hairspray."

"There's a hunger for that type of entertainment," says Meron, who didn't work on "Musical." "There are no more variety shows, so people are getting a taste of singing and dancing with musicals and (those) shows."

Disney tapped into a desire others weren't satisfying, says Craig Zadan, Meron's producing partner on "Hairspray" and Oscar-winner "Chicago." (They're working on a new "Peter Pan" movie for ABC.)

"Nobody had bothered to make a movie musical for kids," Zadan says. "The moment Disney Channel was smart enough to do one, it was a sensation."

Bill Borden, producer of both "HSM" movies, says many boys saw themselves in Troy, a basketball star who initially was reluctant to sing in a musical.

"I have three boys who love musicals. They all dance. I figured if these three kids — who were already into sports — liked musicals, why wouldn't other boys?" Borden says.

The "HSM" movies could energize a pop music format that has faded in popularity, says Nancy King, director of the center for entertainment and tourism at California State University-Fullerton.

"Pop music in the early 2000s kind of died off," she says. "Things like "High School Musical' drove this (genre) back."

Sequel more "mature"

"HSM 2" starts as school lets out, taking the East High Wildcats — including spoiled drama queen Sharpay (22-year-old former Ocean Township resident Ashley Tisdale), her brother Ryan (Lucas Grabeel) and Troy and Gabriella's pals Chad (Corbin Bleu) and Taylor (Monique Coleman) — to a ritzy country club for work, play and more music.

Troy's moral compass takes a spin when he must weigh Sharpay's blandishments, including a cushy job and potential college scholarship, against his loyalty to Gabriella and his other friends.

The sequel is "a scootch more mature," Disney Channel Worldwide entertainment chief Gary Marsh says. That means that in the sequel, unlike the original, there is a real kiss. Even so, "HSM 2" still is solidly G-rated chaste.

"It's still Disney Channel," Borden says.

Borden thinks that kids who sometimes face harsh situations at school see such innocence as ideal.

"I actually think that's the high school every kid would want," he says. "They want to be able to walk into high school and enjoy it. They want to be able to change cliques. They want to be able to be a rock star."

"HSM" fans crowded New York's Times Square when cast members recently appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America."

"It's testament to how the movie crosses cultural, international and class boundaries," Coleman says.

STORY CHAT ON THE WEB: Visit www.app.com and click on this story in Entertainment to discuss the "High School Musical" phenomenon.