High School Musical is like a goldmine for upbeat musical lovers and that’s why the movie has become a popular cultural phenomenon especially among young viewers who want romance in every scene.
Created by Peter Basocchini, the American media franchise follows the story of a basketball star Troy Bolton and shy but smart tranfer student Gabriella Montez who has a passion for singing.
While Gabriella is introverted, Troy is the star athelete of East High School. Despite their poles apart personalities, the two collides and realize that they have a mutual love for singing.
The movies of the HSM franchise are based on the books of the same name written by NB Grace, the novel remained on #1 in the list of NY Times best selling list for sixteen weeks that has sold more than 4.5 million copies.
High School Musical Filming Locations
There are three movies in High School Musical franchise and all of them were filmed in and around different locations of Salt Lake City, Utah. Let’s discuss filming locations of each movie one by one.
High School Musical (2006)
Filming of the movie began on 15 May 2005 and wrapped on 13 July 2005. The opening scene where Troy and Garbriella meets for the first time was filmed at Salt Lake City’s Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort, this is the fictional ski lodge with the snowy backdrop.
The “Getcha Head in the Game” basketball scene was done in Murray High School located in Murray, UT. Murray was used to cover another gymnasium and was utilized for the shooting purposes because of its close proximity to other locations.
Another important filming location for all the three HSM films is East High School, a real high school located in Salt Lake City. The scene where Montez and and Bolton sing “Breaking Free” was done at the rooftop of the same school.
High School Musical 2 (2007): Where was high school musical 2 filmed?
Production team entered into the University of Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium to shoot the performance of Wildcats. This is the place where they perform “What Time Is It” and the filmmakers used the location because of its resemblace to the fictional Lava Springs Country Club.
The golf course shown in the movie in “Bet on It” performance is located at the Salt Lake City Country Club, it has lush greenery and jawdropping scenery. A private residence was used to shoot “I Don’t Dance” of Wildcats because of the large pool and privacy.
High School Musical 3 Senior Year (2008): Where was high school musical 3 filmed?
The opening scene of the movie where the Wildcats perform “Now or Never” was also done at Rice-Eccles Stadium of Utah like “What Time is It?”. The stadium offers a large capacity and is familiar to hold large crowds without any ruckus.
After that, the rooftop of Los Angeles City Hall building was used to film “Can I Have This Dance?” song, the place was suitable for a romantic setting. Moreover, it provides stunning views of the city.
Filming crew moved to East High School to film the final performance of Wildcats, the same place where the first part was done. The final part of the franchise was also done at the same places where the first two movies were filmed.
What is the movie about?
The musical comedy film is about the story of a popular athlete at East High School, Troy Bolton and a new shy student named Gabriella who loves to sing. On a New Year Eve’s party, they discover that they share a common bond of singing.
So, the duo decide to audition for the school musical and their challenging journey begins. Their friends and classmates do every effort to break their bond and try in every possible way to discourage them in pursuing their passion.
However, this only acts as a fuel to their singing career. On their journey, they learn various important things like the importance of true friends, social barriers, and loyalty.
Is High School Musical worth watching?
The movie has generally received positive reviews from audience while critics have praised the film for its energetic choreography, and positive messages that motivates the viewer to pursue his/her career while having big dreams in your mind.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie has got 81% score from the audience side while Metacritic has given a score of 72%. While some are finding the movie to be cheesy and predictable, others are praising the movie for its entertaining characters and original songs.
If you love HSM then you will also love to watch The Power series and Daisy Jones & the Six on Amazon Prime Video, those series are inspired from real stories of legendary hip hop artists. The best part is that, both the series are trending on Prime Video charts and Daisy Jones & the Six is currently ranked number 1 in Prime Video’s streaming so make sure to check that out too, you will not regret.