Love it or hate it, this thing is bringing in the big-time ratings and ultimately, the dollars. In addition, one thing our paper had yesterday is that it went from #86 to #4 on the Billboard charts--the largest leap ever in Billboard history.
'High School Musical' bops to the top
'Romeo and Juliet' and 'Grease' combine in this surprise teen hit
Since it first began airing in January, Disney Channel's "High School Musical" has been the little cultural mouse that roared: a $4 million made-for-TV musical that has seen ratings boom with every subsequent airing.
"We never planned on this," says Gary Marsh, president of entertainment for Disney Channel Worldwide. "This movie has taken on a life of its own."
As of its last airing in March, the movie was seen by 28.3 million unduplicated viewers. If the pattern holds, it again will be the top-rated cable movie in its time slots when the cable channel rebroadcasts it Friday in not one but two showings:
*A dance-along version, which walks viewers step-by-step through the choreography seen in the film, will air at 7 p.m.
It will be followed at 9:10 p.m. by a sing-along version that will be played "karaoke style," with lyrics for songs displayed across the bottom of the screen.
Chances are, if you're over 17 and tune in to check out ground zero of a cultural phenomenon, you'll be left scratching your head.
The plot is a cross between "Romeo and Juliet" and "Grease." After meeting at a New Year's Eve karaoke party, varsity basketball star Troy and brainy academic Gabriella shock their friends and threaten the entire high school status quo when they set their sights on auditioning for the high school musical.
Television and music critics have for the most part dismissed the movie as being bland, boring and corny. Marsh is understandably defensive.
"Kids' lives are awash in strife and stress, and this movie is optimistic, hopeful and celebratory," he says. "If being hopeful is corny, so be it. There's nothing wrong with being optimistic."
Corny or not, the musical has struck an unexpected chord with teens.
"There isn't another movie out right now that's quite like it," says Claire Ryan, 14, who attends Stevenson High School in Deerfield. "I go to a school with 4,500 other kids, and just about everyone I know has seen it."
Ryan says the teens have embraced the film because they recognize characters from the film in their own schools. "We had a sign-up board for auditions for our school musical, and there was a girl who was watching who was signing up for what roles," she says. "I don't even know this girl's name, but I recognize that she's just like the character of Sharpay in the film."
Songs from the film, such as "Stick to the Status Quo," even set typical teen issues like peer pressure to a pop beat. Still, Ryan admits she's as surprised as anyone else to admit she's a fan.
"Disney and the Disney Channel are so middle school," she says. "But it's set in high school, we can relate to it -- and I guess that's why it's OK to admit to watching it."
Children's marketing expert Chris "the Toy Guy" Byrne says the truly amazing thing about "High School Musical" is the fact that something originally marketed to "tweens" (children 8-11) has managed to appeal to teens.
"It's aspirational for younger kids because it's about people they look up to," Byrne says. "Yet older kids have tuned in because it reflects their social world, touching on what it means to be a teenager.
"Kids of all ages are relating to the underlying truth in the movie, even if the characters are a bit over the top."
Old-fashioned is perhaps the best way to describe it, Byrne says.
"There's only one kiss in the film, and it's on the cheek. Its success contradicts the perception people have of kids being jaded, over-sexualized and more sophisticated than their age.
"It speaks to the inherent innocence of children."
Byrne says Disney also marketed it by good, old-fashioned word of mouth.
"We live in a culture where it's all about the big opening weekend and nothing else," he says. "That isn't what happened here, though. They've allowed it to build slowly by word of mouth, and quite frankly I think it's in a much stronger position as a result."
Byrne says even the show's best-selling soundtrack is a bit of a cultural throwback.
"In Broadway's heyday, American musical theater was the source of popular music," he says.
"High School Musical" certainly has resurrected that tradition. The show's soundtrack racked up a number of firsts on its way to being certified double-platinum [more than 2 million sold]: first No. 1 album from a cable project, first No. 1 album from a made-for-TV movie and first album to have nine singles place on the chart at one time. The last time a TV soundtrack hit No. 1 on Billboard's chart was "Miami Vice" back in 1985.
It's a larger success story than previous teen musical phenomena "Rent" and "Wicked;" neither of those cast albums ever hit Billboard's top 10.
In fact, Geoff Mayfield, Billboard magazine's director of charts and senior analyst, says "High School Musical" is the biggest surprise of the year.
"Album sales have grown every week it's been on the market -- even weeks in which it wasn't No. 1, it still sold more than the prior week," Mayfield says. "No one saw it coming."
Mayfield believes downloadable sales of the cast album, which at one point accounted for a quarter of all sales, were so high because retailers never anticipated the demand for the record.
"Kids went to stores and there wasn't any stock on the shelves," he says, "and when they couldn't find it in traditional brick-and-mortar music stores, they bought it online."
What is perhaps most amazing is that the album has continued to sell well (it's currently No. 3 on Billboard's charts) without the benefit of any of its songs getting radio play.
Mayfield expects the CD to top the charts again when the DVD of the film is released on May 23.
"I would anticipate a bump for a week or two," he says. "If it doesn't happen, that will be a story in and of itself."
Even after the DVD release, don't think you've heard the last of "High School Musical." Just in time for back-to-school sales, a licensed line of clothing and other merchandise will hit store shelves in August. In the fall, Disney Theatricals also will begin licensing a stage version of the show to high schools.
The movie also will air on Disney Channels in 23 foreign markets in the fall. In India, the soundtrack is being re-recorded in Hindi with a Bollywood flavor.
If all that isn't enough, Marsh says a sequel will air next January. "We've already signed the four principal cast members, and I can't say much about the plot other than it will have a summer setting."
Will lightning strike a second time? If the movie's growing legions of fans have anything to say about it, you can count on it.
'High School Musical' bops to the top
'Romeo and Juliet' and 'Grease' combine in this surprise teen hit
Since it first began airing in January, Disney Channel's "High School Musical" has been the little cultural mouse that roared: a $4 million made-for-TV musical that has seen ratings boom with every subsequent airing.
"We never planned on this," says Gary Marsh, president of entertainment for Disney Channel Worldwide. "This movie has taken on a life of its own."
As of its last airing in March, the movie was seen by 28.3 million unduplicated viewers. If the pattern holds, it again will be the top-rated cable movie in its time slots when the cable channel rebroadcasts it Friday in not one but two showings:
*A dance-along version, which walks viewers step-by-step through the choreography seen in the film, will air at 7 p.m.
It will be followed at 9:10 p.m. by a sing-along version that will be played "karaoke style," with lyrics for songs displayed across the bottom of the screen.
Chances are, if you're over 17 and tune in to check out ground zero of a cultural phenomenon, you'll be left scratching your head.
The plot is a cross between "Romeo and Juliet" and "Grease." After meeting at a New Year's Eve karaoke party, varsity basketball star Troy and brainy academic Gabriella shock their friends and threaten the entire high school status quo when they set their sights on auditioning for the high school musical.
Television and music critics have for the most part dismissed the movie as being bland, boring and corny. Marsh is understandably defensive.
"Kids' lives are awash in strife and stress, and this movie is optimistic, hopeful and celebratory," he says. "If being hopeful is corny, so be it. There's nothing wrong with being optimistic."
Corny or not, the musical has struck an unexpected chord with teens.
"There isn't another movie out right now that's quite like it," says Claire Ryan, 14, who attends Stevenson High School in Deerfield. "I go to a school with 4,500 other kids, and just about everyone I know has seen it."
Ryan says the teens have embraced the film because they recognize characters from the film in their own schools. "We had a sign-up board for auditions for our school musical, and there was a girl who was watching who was signing up for what roles," she says. "I don't even know this girl's name, but I recognize that she's just like the character of Sharpay in the film."
Songs from the film, such as "Stick to the Status Quo," even set typical teen issues like peer pressure to a pop beat. Still, Ryan admits she's as surprised as anyone else to admit she's a fan.
"Disney and the Disney Channel are so middle school," she says. "But it's set in high school, we can relate to it -- and I guess that's why it's OK to admit to watching it."
Children's marketing expert Chris "the Toy Guy" Byrne says the truly amazing thing about "High School Musical" is the fact that something originally marketed to "tweens" (children 8-11) has managed to appeal to teens.
"It's aspirational for younger kids because it's about people they look up to," Byrne says. "Yet older kids have tuned in because it reflects their social world, touching on what it means to be a teenager.
"Kids of all ages are relating to the underlying truth in the movie, even if the characters are a bit over the top."
Old-fashioned is perhaps the best way to describe it, Byrne says.
"There's only one kiss in the film, and it's on the cheek. Its success contradicts the perception people have of kids being jaded, over-sexualized and more sophisticated than their age.
"It speaks to the inherent innocence of children."
Byrne says Disney also marketed it by good, old-fashioned word of mouth.
"We live in a culture where it's all about the big opening weekend and nothing else," he says. "That isn't what happened here, though. They've allowed it to build slowly by word of mouth, and quite frankly I think it's in a much stronger position as a result."
Byrne says even the show's best-selling soundtrack is a bit of a cultural throwback.
"In Broadway's heyday, American musical theater was the source of popular music," he says.
"High School Musical" certainly has resurrected that tradition. The show's soundtrack racked up a number of firsts on its way to being certified double-platinum [more than 2 million sold]: first No. 1 album from a cable project, first No. 1 album from a made-for-TV movie and first album to have nine singles place on the chart at one time. The last time a TV soundtrack hit No. 1 on Billboard's chart was "Miami Vice" back in 1985.
It's a larger success story than previous teen musical phenomena "Rent" and "Wicked;" neither of those cast albums ever hit Billboard's top 10.
In fact, Geoff Mayfield, Billboard magazine's director of charts and senior analyst, says "High School Musical" is the biggest surprise of the year.
"Album sales have grown every week it's been on the market -- even weeks in which it wasn't No. 1, it still sold more than the prior week," Mayfield says. "No one saw it coming."
Mayfield believes downloadable sales of the cast album, which at one point accounted for a quarter of all sales, were so high because retailers never anticipated the demand for the record.
"Kids went to stores and there wasn't any stock on the shelves," he says, "and when they couldn't find it in traditional brick-and-mortar music stores, they bought it online."
What is perhaps most amazing is that the album has continued to sell well (it's currently No. 3 on Billboard's charts) without the benefit of any of its songs getting radio play.
Mayfield expects the CD to top the charts again when the DVD of the film is released on May 23.
"I would anticipate a bump for a week or two," he says. "If it doesn't happen, that will be a story in and of itself."
Even after the DVD release, don't think you've heard the last of "High School Musical." Just in time for back-to-school sales, a licensed line of clothing and other merchandise will hit store shelves in August. In the fall, Disney Theatricals also will begin licensing a stage version of the show to high schools.
The movie also will air on Disney Channels in 23 foreign markets in the fall. In India, the soundtrack is being re-recorded in Hindi with a Bollywood flavor.
If all that isn't enough, Marsh says a sequel will air next January. "We've already signed the four principal cast members, and I can't say much about the plot other than it will have a summer setting."
Will lightning strike a second time? If the movie's growing legions of fans have anything to say about it, you can count on it.
. And I had never seen the very end after the credits when Sharpay tells Zeke she loved his cookies. One of the funniest parts, if not the funniest! :lol:
