High School Musical 2 (also known as High School Musical 2: Sing It All Or Nothing!) is the sequel to the Disney Channel Original Movie, High School Musical. It debuted on August 17, 2007 on Disney Channel in the U.S., and on Family in Canada. The premiere brought in a total of 17.3 million viewers in the United States—almost 10 million more than its predecessor—making it, at the time, the highest-rated basic-cable broadcast in U.S. history.[3] [4]

Plot

The summer brings excitement to the East High Wildcats as they go over their plans for their break from school. Troy Bolton (Zac Efron) stresses over getting a job, with the price of college looming on his mind, as well as trying to make sure he and Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Anne Hudgens) are able to stay together all summer. The final bell rings, and the students converge in song ("What Time Is It?"). As a symbol of his feelings for her, Troy gives Gabriella a necklace with his initial "T" on it on the last day of school. Sharpay and Ryan Evans (Ashley Tisdale and Lucas Grabeel) plan to spend the summer at their family's country club, Lava Springs ("Fabulous"). However, Sharpay's summer plans also include breaking up Troy and Gabriella by getting Troy hired at Lava Springs, and making her move on him. But what Sharpay does not count on is Troy talking the club's manager, Mr. Fulton (Mark L. Taylor), into hiring Gabriella and their close group of friends; this includes Gabriella's best friend, Taylor (Monique Coleman), and Troy's best friend, Chad (Corbin Bleu). Mr. Fulton is unable to fire the "extras" at Sharpay's command, since her mother (Jessica Tuck) approved of their hiring, so she orders him to make them want to quit. Fulton exerts his powers of intimidation upon explaining their place at the club. Seeing how his friends are intimidated and lacking confidence, Troy offers to help his friends working in the kitchen, and convinces them that they can work their hardships out ("Work This Out"). While Troy continues to worry about obtaining a college scholarship, Gabriella is simply thrilled to be in one place over the summer; the first time in her life when she doesn't move to a new city. Sharpay schemes harder than ever to make the Wildcats miserable, and win Troy, who has to choose between two worlds: his own with the Wildcats and Gabriella; or another, in which Sharpay's family can offer him an easy way to college and other luxuries he has only dreamed about. Meanwhile Kelsi, inspired by their relationship, writes a ballad for Troy and Gabriella, and Troy agrees to sing with his friends in the upcoming talent show ("You Are the Music in Me"). Sharpay conspires to get Troy to perform with her in the show, holding his future over his head. In the DVD version, she and Ryan trap him as he prepares for a date with Gabriella, and show him the song she wants to make him do with her ("Humuhumunukunukuapua'a"). Later, she takes Kelsi's song away, speeds up the tempo, and forces Troy to sing it with her. A visit from a local college basketball team, The Red Hawks, causes a rift between Troy and Chad when Troy chooses to spend time with the Red Hawks, instead of his friends, alienating especially Chad. As Troy grows further away from what was formerly his, Ryan realizes he doesn't mean much to Sharpay anymore. Taylor and Gabriella even invite Ryan to the baseball game, and Chad offers him Troy's place in the game ("I Don't Dance"). Troy and Gabriella's relationship is silently strained to the breaking point when Troy sees Ryan with Gabriella, sparking a little jealousy. Troy's relationship with Chad is tentative, as the latter feels Troy is abandoning him and the rest of their friends. Despite that, Troy (forced by Sharpay) and Sharpay (singing all but one line) then practice their song for the Midsummer Night's Talent Show ("You Are the Music in Me: Sharpay Version"). When Sharpay discovers that Ryan and the Wildcats are putting together their own performance in the show, she finally crosses the line by getting Mr. Fulton to ban all junior staff members from performing in Lava Springs' annual Midsummer Night's Talent Show, even though Ryan has been working with the group to put together a performance. Gabriella, frustrated, kneels over and confronts Sharpay. She makes it clear that she refuses to play Sharpay's "game", and that she has quit her job at Lava Springs. Troy overhears the exchange, and tries to persuade Gabriella to change her mind. Gabriella expresses her loss of trust with Troy, and how she just can't stay while she has a broken heart ("Gotta Go My Own Way"). The song ends with her leaving Troy's necklace in his hand, and running to her mom's car, and Troy walking back toward the country club alone. Shortly after, he has a discussion about this with his father, who remains supportive of his son. Troy returns to work the next day to find that all his friends refuse to talk to him, but Kelsi silently shows Troy the notice from Mr. Fulton. Troy becomes fed up with the downhill events that are occurring for his friends ("Bet on It"), and goes to tentatively reconcile with Chad. Troy confronts Sharpay, and tells her that he won't sing with her because of how she treated his friends, causing Sharpay to burst into tears. The Wildcats and Chad forgive Troy for his absence and later convince him to sing in the talent show, which he does only under the condition that they are allowed to perform as well. Ryan gives Troy a new song to learn moments before the show, saying that Sharpay wants to do to this song instead. As Troy goes onstage, he asks Sharpay why she switched the song, and Sharpay is shocked to find that her brother tricked her. Troy sings the song "Everyday" alone—until Gabriella is revealed from behind the Wildcats. In the end, Sharpay herself proudly presents her brother, Ryan, with the award for the talent show. After the talent show, the Wildcats (including Ryan and Sharpay) all head out to the golf course to enjoy the fireworks. Troy and Gabriella finally share their first kiss ("You Are the Music in Me"). The next day, the staff celebrates a great summer and a job well done with a "staff-only" pool party ("All for One").

Characters

Main

• Troy Bolton (Zac Efron) is the male protagonist of the movie. He is the most popular male student at East High School, and the captain of the varsity basketball team. He is in a relationship with Gabriella Montez, who is played by Vanessa Hudgens. They met at a ski lodge while attending a New Year's Eve party in High School Musical, and were called on stage to sing a duet together. During the countdown to the New Year, Troy and Gabriella exchanged cellphone numbers. Gabriella later moved to Albuquerque due to her mother's career, surprising Troy when she arrived at his school. They audition and eventually win the lead roles in the high school's Winter Musical. In this newest edition, Troy, along with most of East High, takes a summer job at Lava Springs, the country club owned by Sharpay and Ryan Evans' parents. Over the summer, he gets new opportunities to go to a great college, and easily obtain a basketball scholarship, but becomes arrogant as a result; this causes jealousy in his best friend, Chad Danforth, and Gabriella starts to worry that he has forgotten about his friends. During the middle of the movie he hints jealousy when Gabriella spends time w/ Ryan(Troy catches Gabriella dancing with Ryan ALONE but is inturrupted when they see Troy staring at them). He is also friends with Jason and Zeke. For this movie, Efron did all of his own singing, whereas in the first High School Musical, his singing was blended with singer Drew Seeley's voice.

• Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Hudgens) is the female protagonist of the movie. She is an academic , who won East High the Scholastic Decathlon in the first film. Known as the "freaky math girl" in her old schools, she is shy and intelligent, but finds a new popularity for herself at East High when she enters into a relationship with Troy Bolton. Along with most of East High, she takes a summer job at Lava Springs (as a lifeguard), the country club owned by Sharpay and Ryan Evans' parents. As the summer progresses, she feels Troy has become a different person when he gets new opportunities via promotions. Gabriella starts spending time and befriends with Ryan but doesn't notice his crush on her. The pair(Gabriella and Troy) briefly split up but get back together at the end of the movie. Her best friend is Taylor McKessie. She is also good friends with Kelsi Nielsen and Martha Cox. Near the end of the movie, she shares a kiss with Troy.

• Sharpay Evans (Ashley Tisdale) is the antagonist of the film. She plans to spend the summer lounging around her parent's country club, Lava Springs, and winning the country club's mid-summer talent show (which is heavily biased in her favor). Sharpay is attracted to Troy Bolton and tries to steal him away from Gabriella and his friends throughout the movie. Her plan is taken to a whole new notch when she promotes Troy to be an honorary member of the club, and cancels the Wildcats' performance in the talent show. She is convinced that Troy and Gabriella singing together could steal her spotlight -- after the pair previously beat her and her brother out to star in the lead roles for the Winter Musical of "Twinkle Town". Not only does Sharpay succeed in alienating herself, once again, from her peers, but she causes a rift between herself and her brother, Ryan. Her plan fails when Troy confronts her about how she has treated his friends, but in the end she is accepted by her classmates.

• Ryan Evans (Lucas Grabeel) is Sharpay's fraternal twin brother, who is stuck between being an antagonist, and a male protagonist. Throughout the first movie, we see that he owes his total devotion to Sharpay. He is portrayed as being minimally intelligent; in High School Musical, he is unable to read the word "Drama". Both impressions change during the second movie, when his sister decides to sing with Troy during the talent show instead of Ryan. During the middle of the movie Ryan shows unnoticable flirting with Gabriella and showing a crush on her too. Desiring to spite his sister because of this, he decides to direct the talent show performance of the Wildcats working at Lava Springs. He also becomes friends with Chad Danforth.

• Chad Danforth (Corbin Bleu) is Troy's best friend, and is also very good friends with Jason and Zeke. He has a summer job at Lava Springs as a waiter and part-time golf caddy, and is saving the money from his job to get a car to impress his girlfriend Taylor, whom he appears to be in a serious relationship with. After Troy gets promoted, Chad becomes a little jealous of him and hated the way Troy is being treated by Sharpay while he and the others tend to the customers. He begins to drift away from Troy, and as they begin to separate from each other he becomes great friends with Ryan Evans by playing baseball together.

• Taylor McKessie (Monique Coleman) is Gabriella's best friend. She is also friends with Kelsi Neilsen and Martha Cox. She is captain of the school Scholastic Decathlon team. She has a summer job at Lava Springs as an Activities Coordinator. She always sees through Sharpay, and tends to be cynical when it comes to boys.Chad is her boyfriend.

Supporting cast

• Kelsi Nielsen (Olesya Rulin) is a student at East High. She is a pianist, and is hired as such at Lava Springs. She is friends with Gabriella, Martha, and Taylor. She is also dating Jason Cross.

• Jason Cross (Ryne Sanborn) is friends with Troy, Chad, and Zeke. He is dating Kelsi. He also plays for the basketball team. His job at Lava Springs is working in the kitchen as a dishwasher. He is very naive.

• Zeke Baylor (Chris Warren, Jr.) has a huge crush on Sharpay, and a secret love for baking, which was later revealed in the first High School Musical. His summer job at Lava Springs is Assistant to the Head Chef. He is friends with Troy, Chad, and Jason. He also plays for the basketball team.

• Martha Cox (Kaycee Stroh) is a student at East High. She enjoys hip-hop dance, which before her secret was revealed she was a "nerd". Her summer job at Lava Springs is in Food Preparations. She is friends with Gabriella, Kelsi, and Taylor.

• Mr. Thomas Fulton (Mark L. Taylor) is the manager of Lava Springs. It is apparent he is happy with the Wildcats' employment, but Sharpay orders him to do whatever is necessary to rid the club of Troy's friends.

• Jack Bolton (Bart Johnson) is the father of Troy. He is very supportive of Troy's basketball career. He is also the coach of East High's basketball team. He also was helping with Troy's scholarship.

• Mr. Evans (Robert Curtis Brown) is the father of Ryan and Sharpay. He is a very wealthy man, who owns the Lava Springs Country Club. He is an alumnus and member of the Board of Directors of the University of Albuquerque, the college which Troy would like to attend and play basketball for.

• Mrs. Darby Evans (Jessica Tuck) is the mother of Ryan and Sharpay. She is a very wealthy woman, and is the president of the Lava Springs Board. In the movie, She enjoys yoga.

• Ms. Darbus (Alyson Reed) is the drama teacher at East High. She dislikes cellphones and physical activities, like sports, and has an obsession with musical arts.

• Jackie (Tanya Chisholm) is one of Sharpay’s friends (a.k.a The Sharpettes).

• Lea (Kelli Baker), another Sharpette.

• Emma (McCall Clark), another Sharpette.

• Mrs. Lucille Bolton (Leslie Wing) Is the mother of Troy Bolton and the wife of Mr. Bolton, she is kind and a sensible character.

Musical numbers

See also: High School Musical 2 (soundtrack) Song Chiefly Sung By Other Singers Scene

What Time Is It?	Troy, Gabriella, Sharpay, Ryan, Chad, and Taylor	Company	East High School's Classrooms, Hallways, Cafeteria
Fabulous	Sharpay, Ryan	Sharpettes	Lava Springs Pool
Work This Out	Troy, Gabriella, Chad, Taylor, Zeke, Martha, Jason, and Kelsi	Wildcats	Lava Springs Kitchen
You Are the Music in Me	Troy, Gabriella, Kelsi	Jason, Zeke, Martha, Chad & Taylor	Lava Springs Dining Room
Humuhumunukunukuapua'a	Sharpay and Ryan	Sharpettes	Lava Springs Theater
I Don't Dance	Chad and Ryan	Gabriella, Taylor, Wildcats	Baseball Field
You Are the Music in Me (Sharpay Version)	Sharpay & Troy	Sharpettes	Lava Springs Stage
Gotta Go My Own Way	Gabriella	Troy	Outside Grounds of Lava Springs
Bet on It	Troy	None	Lava Springs Golf Course
Everyday	Troy and Gabriella	Company	Lava Springs Stage
All for One	Troy, Gabriella, Sharpay, Ryan, Chad, Taylor, Zeke, Martha, Jason and Kelsey	Company	Lava Springs Pool

Release

The premiere of High School Musical 2 aired at 8PM Eastern Time on August 17, 2007, and included a telecast hosted by Kenny Ortega and the movie's cast. On Saturday, August 18, Disney Channel aired "High School Musical 2: Wildcat Chat", in which the stars of the movie answered questions posed by fans. On August 19, Disney aired a sing-along version of the movie.[5] On May 23, DirecTV announced that they would be hosting an exclusive high-definition airing of the movie a few days after the August 17 premiere on its network-only channel, The 101.[6] Disney Channel aired a weekly program called Road to High School Musical 2, beginning on June 8, 2007, and leading up to the premiere of High School Musical 2 in August. The show offered viewers a behind-the-scenes look into the production of the movie. The world premiere of the opening number "What Time Is It" was on Radio Disney May 25, 2007,[7] while "You Are The Music In Me" premiered on July 13, 2007.[8]

DVD Release

The DVD was released on December 11, 2007 with an a Exclusive Scene, Rehearsal Cam, Music Video, and More. Disney is going to re-release on September 23, 2008 "High School Musical 2: 2-Disc Deluxe Dance Edition".[9]

Reception

The first broadcast of the film on August 17, 2007 broke records, receiving 17.2 million viewers.[4] This number made it, at the time, the most-watched basic-cable telecast in history (the previous record was held by an edition of ESPN's Monday Night Football between the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys on October 23, 2006, which attracted 16 million viewers), the most-watched made-for-cable movie ever (the previous record was held by TNT's January 21, 2001 airing of Crossfire Trail, which brought in 12.5 million viewers), and the largest audience of any program on broadcast or cable in the 2007 summer television season, along with Friday nights for the past five years. Ratings for the second showing of the movie fell to 8.4 million, and the third showing fell to 7.4 million, totaling the premiere weekend to 33.04 million viewers.[10] In Latin America, the premiere of High School Musical 2 was be seen by 3.3 million viewers in the north region. The film was the most-watched in its schedule, among all cable channels, and produced the highest rating of the channel, surpassing all originals films of Disney Channel. Among other records, the premiere in Argentina surpassed the debut of High School Musical the last year, in a 107 percent, while in Brazil the sequel reached 208 percent, and Mexico did so with 61 percent. [11] In the United Kingdom, the movie became Disney Channel UK's most viewed program ever, totalling 1.2 million viewers in its first showing.[12] The film was generally well-received by critics, gaining a score of 77/100 at Metacritic.[13] USA Today's Robert Bianco awarded the film three stars out of four, saying High School Musical 2 was "sweet, smart, bursting with talent and energy, and awash in innocence".[14] While critics enjoyed the film, they noted that the timing of the movie's premiere seemed odd, premiering just when school was about to start up again, while the movie's plot involved the gang going on summer Vacation.[15] High School Musical 2 won the "So Hot Right Now" award at the Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards 2007 in which High School Musical castmate, Zac Efron hosted with The Veronicas.