Mild High School Musical: The Musical: The Series Season 4 SPOILERS ahead.
Disney+’s High School Musical: The Musical: The Series has always found a way to balance the story of a new generation of theatre-loving Wildcats with the nostalgia of the original Disney Channel movies. In the final season of one of the best Disney+ original shows, this is kicked up a notch as more of the original cast is in play this time around as High School Musical 4 is in production at East High. However, after CinemaBlend talked to the series’ creator, one should manage their expectations on the High School Musical reunion front.
As it was previously announced in the fall, a High School Musical original cast reunion is occurring in Season 4 of HSMTMTS notably with Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman and Lucas Grabeel from the core six returning to East High to play themselves as actors returning for High School Musical 4. Early in the season, there’s mention of what’s going on with Troy and Gabriella, but when I asked series creator Tim Federle if Sharpay will get her moment, or some explanation of her absence, he had this to say:
We touch on a lot of those things. I think, you know, High School Musical 4 is a really fun, I hope meta layer to the whole series that sort of gets Disney back in the building, officially. But to be honest, most of the time that we spend is on the new generation putting on High School Musical 3 and singing these new songs and getting in and out of romances. I think High School Musical 4 is more of a grace note.
There you have it. The final season isn’t as much about the original cast coming together as it is a final encore and send-off for the high schoolers audiences have been following for the past few years. Federle teased the use of the original actors as more of a “grace note” than anything else, so if you’re tuning in for the OG Wildcats alone, be warned, it doesn’t shuffle ball change into any massive reunion with the original actors.
That being said, as a longtime fan of the original franchise and fan of this new series, it’s fun to see some of the original cast roam around and interact with the new Wildcats without the focus completely turning to them. Plus, during our conversation, Federle spoke to how the original cast who does return contributed to the storylines of playing themselves on screen and reprising their characters all at once. In his words:
Kaycee Stroh, we have a line about what Martha's doing now and she weighed in on that, which I loved. And Allison Reed has a really meaningful [arc], as Ms. Darbys, but also as herself has a really meaningful interaction in the season with Ms. Jen. So [the original cast did have a say in their portrayals] because they're playing themselves, which I understand is sort of sensitive. They just could not have been more gracious or lovely. They came in, they trained so hard, they danced so hard in the first number, and it really was like riding a bike for them. It was a joy to watch them step back into these characters.
We can’t wait to see how the series handles the reunion and how it says goodbye to the current Wildcats! This is especially true when it comes to Lucas Grabeel, who has already been confirmed to be canonically gay, per a previously released clip of the upcoming season.
You can check out the full final season of HSMTMTS with a Disney+ subscription now. Also, check out our exclusive interview with the cast talking about the emotional finale and see what questions we’ve had since the end of Season 3.
