The High School Musical universe will acknowledge that one of its founding characters is gay in an upcoming episode of the series adaptation.
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series is a spin-off of the original trilogy of Disney films that were released between 2006 and 2008.
As well as making stars of lead actors Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens, the musical teen movies featured the character of Ryan Evans (Lucas Grabeel), who was known for being the sidekick and twin brother of the films’ campy villain Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale).
Though many viewers thought Ryan was gay, this was never an explicit part of his depiction and he ended the third film in a relationship with his female classmate, Kelsi (Olesya Rulin).
In the series’ fourth and final season, Ryan makes a return to the story.
Released on Tuesday (26 July), the trailer shows Ryan returning to his high school for a reunion performance with his old friends Chad (Corbin Bleu), Taylor (Monique Coleman) and Martha (Kaycee Stroh).
One scene shows him sharing a kiss with another man and being grateful that he showed up to watch him perform.
“This means so much to me that you’re here,” Ryan says as the two meet backstage. “Gimme that mic.”
Ryan kisses partner in High School Musical— (Disney)
The film and series creator Kenny Ortega has previously addressed fans’ questions on whether Ryan was gay, and why this wasn’t represented in the films.
In 2020, Ortega confirmed that he’d considered Ryan as a gay character, but that he thought he would discover himself after high school. “The character of Ryan in High School Musical, Sharpay’s twin brother, we decided he’s probably going to come out in college,” Ortega told Variety. “It was less about coming out and just more about letting his true colours come forward.”
Asked whether he ever considered making the character openly gay, he said: “I have to be honest with you, I didn’t think at the time.”
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After insisting that Disney was “the most progressive group of people I’ve ever worked with”, Ortega admitted that he was hesitant to openly depicting a gay teen character in the late 2000s. “I was concerned because it was family and kids, that Disney might not be ready to cross that line and move into that territory yet,” he said.
“So, I just took it upon myself to make choices that I felt that those who were watching would grab. They would see it, they would feel it, they would know it and they would identify with it. And that is what happened.”
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series’ final season will begin streaming on Disney+ on 9 August.
