The Cast of 'High School Musical': Where Are They Now?
Go, wildcats! High School Musical took over 7.7 million TV screens in the United States when it premiered in 2006, making it the highest-rated Disney Channel Original Movie at the time.
The modern Romeo and Juliet tale follows two teenagers from completely different cliques who bond over their love of music. Troy Bolton (Zac Efron) the captain of the East Side High School basketball team and the most popular boy in school, meets shy and smart transfer student Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Hudgens) at a holiday karaoke party. When they return to school, Troy and Gabriella decide to audition for the high school musical — but Drama Club president Sharpay Evans (Ashley Tisdale) and her twin brother, Ryan Evans (Lucas Gabreel), aren’t happy about the competition.
As Troy and Gabriella try to avoid Sharpay and Ryan’s wrath, they struggle with their own personal issues. Troy’s interest in the musical baffles the Wildcat basketball team, including his best friend, Chad Danforth (Corbin Bleu). Troy tries to decide if basketball or the musical is the right path for him, realizing, “My head’s in the game / But my heart’s in the song.” Gabriella, meanwhile, joins the scholastic decathlon team and works on overcoming her shyness in order to transform into a leading lady.
The wildly popularr film spawned multiple sequels including High School Musical 2 (2007), High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008), which was released in theaters, and Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure (2011). High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, a television series based on the original film franchise, was released in November 2019 on Disney’s streaming platform, Disney+.
In April 2019, Monique Coleman, who portrayed Gabriella’s friend Taylor McKessie, exclusively told Us Weekly what it was like filming with a young cast.
“We just actually are really close friends and I cared. You know what I mean? … I feel like so many people get into a position and then tear each other down. And it was really important for us to, like, stay very, like, tight-knit and to protect each other. Because, at the end of the day, these were adolescents,” she told Us.
One year later, the cast reunited to perform for a good cause amid the global coronavirus pandemic. Hudgens, Coleman and more of the former Wildcats joined forces on ABC’s Disney Family Singalong to give healthcare heroes a special shout-out during the worldwide COVID-19 crisis.
“Everyone we reached out to was quick — and you’ll see it in their spirit and the way they come together from their homes. They recognize this is an opportunity to strengthen spirits for those joining us for the broadcast,” the film’s director Kenny Ortega told Deadline of the April 2020 reunion. “It’s a really nice, fun coming together of a lot of young people that are banding together under the lyrics of this song for the show.”
Scroll down to see what the East Side High Schoolers look like now!
After High School Musical skyrocketed Efron to stardom, he grew to become one of the biggest hunks in Hollywood. He starred in big-budget films such as Hairspray (2007), 17 Again (2009) and the Oscar-nominated movie The Greatest Showman (2017). The California native portrayed infamous serial killer Ted Bundy in the Netflix film Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile in 2019, and explored the globe in the streaming service’s 2020 docuseries Down to Earth. Efron famously dated Hudgens from 2006 to 2010 and had a series of flings before Us confirmed that he found love with his Neighbors costar Halston Sage in January 2020.
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Like her character, Gabriella, Hudgens continued her passion for musical theater with a starring role in Gigi on Broadway. She went on to land starring roles in two live TV musical adaptations: Rizzo in Grease: Live and Maureen in Rent: Live. Hudgens is on her way to becoming the queen of Christmas with roles in Netflix's holiday films The Princess Switch (2018) and The Knight Before Christmas (2019). After splitting from Efron in 2010, she moved on with actor Austin Butler. Us confirmed that the two parted ways in January 2020 after nearly nine years together.
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Following her breakout roles in Disney Channel’s Suite Life of Zack & Cody and High School Musical, Tisdale continued her pop music career with songs such as "He Said She Said" and "Not Like That" in 2007. She had a starring role on the 2010 teen cheerleader series Hellcats and small roles on Sons of Anarchy and Scary Movie 5. From 2007 to 2015, she served as the voice of Candance Flynn on Disney Channel's animated series Phineas and Ferb. She married musician Christopher French in 2014 and released her first album in nearly a decade, Symptoms, five years later.
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Before he donned Ryan’s signature colorful outfits, the Missouri native appeared in the third installment of the Halloweentown franchise, Halloweentown High, in 2004. Seven years later, he scored the starring role of Toby Kennish on the Freeform drama Switched at Birth, which ended in 2017. Gabreel has shifted his career toward voice acting with a recurring role on Family Guy and voicing the title character on Pinky Malinky. In 2019, Grabeel became one of the only East High alum to appear in the new Disney+ show, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, playing a fictional version of himself on the teen musical comedy. “It was an immediate 'yes'!” he told Entertainment Tonight of the cameo in December 2019.
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After starring as Troy Bolton’s right-hand man, Bleu went on to take the lead role in 2007’s Jump In. Three years later, he lit up the Broadway stage in Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical In the Heights. Bleu competed on the 17th season of Dancing with the Stars with his dance partner, Karina Smirnoff, in 2013. The pair placed second in the competition and Bleu later returned to the ballroom to dance a salsa with Jordan Fisher and his partner Lindsay Arnold in season 25. In February 2020, it was announced that the Brooklyn native was set to star in a musical adaptation of Catch Me If You Can at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., set to open at the end of October 2020.
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Since her role as East High’s resident brainiac in the High School Musical trilogy, Coleman has taken a step back from the spotlight. She competed on the third season of Dancing With the Stars in 2006 and finished in fourth place behind Joey Lawrence, Mario Lopez and winner Emmitt Smith. Colman launched her online talk show, Gimme Mo', in 2010 and married sweetheart Walter Jordan in Thailand two years later.
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Rulin played Kelsie, the school musical's composer and pianist, in all three High School Musical films after making appearances in other Disney Channel Original Movies like The Proof Point (2001) and Halloweentown High (2004). The Russian-American actress landed roles in NCIS, Family Guy, Greek and the PlayStation Network series Powers, but hasn’t scored another big part since the Disney musical franchise.
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The Utah native’s High School Musical character was known for loving to “pop and lock and jam and break” — and for her refusal to “Stick to the Status Quo.” Three years after making it big in the Disney Channel musical, Stroh tied the knot with Ben Higginson in her hometown, with a handful of her costars in attendance. The couple welcomed two daughters, Zetta in May 2013 and Lettie in October 2015. Though she’s taken time away from the spotlight, Stroh competed on season 7 of VH1’s Celebrity Fit Club, which aired in 2010.
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