Wildcats, it’s almost time to say goodbye to another class of high schoolers from East High! In just one week, the final season of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series drops for those with a Disney+ subscription (all in one go this time) and I don’t think we’re ready for the emotional finale coming our way, especially after hearing from the cast and creator about filming the final moments of the series.
When CinemaBlend spoke to Julia Lester, Frankie A. Rodriguez, and Dara Reneé (prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike being called) about their reaction to the finale of the series, they teased what’s to come from its ending. In Reneé’s words:
It was very bittersweet. I mean, it's so amazing because first of all, the finale is absolutely beautiful and it really ties together and it's so well written how it all connects. But, you know, it's just like my family and finally saying our last precious, precious goodbye. But it's so beautiful how it's done and I can't wait for our supporters to really love it and to see it and to see themselves through it cause it's very realistic.
The High School Musical series first premiered in the fall of 2019, right when the Disney+ subscription service began, if you can believe it. Four seasons later, here we are about to witness the final musical season for the next generation of Wildcats. As Renée shared, the cast has become somewhat of a “family” but she felt like how the TV show wraps up was really well done.
The series’ creator Tim Federle also spoke to us about what it was like to pen the finale and present it to his cast. In his words:
We cried pretty hard at that final table read, but I think they were grateful tears. I took them out to dinner the night before we were shooting episode 406, which when the fans watch it, it's a pretty emotional episode, they'll sort of understand why the cast was so weepy on camera while we were shooting 406…. [During dinner] I said, we're gonna read 408 tomorrow and this is the final episode. So shooting it, yes, it was emotional, but actually it was mostly like a party. It was a party because I think we all feel so lucky we got to go four seasons during the streaming era, sing these amazing songs from High School Musical 3 and ultimately get the role of a lifetime, which for me was running the show.
Prepare your tissues for the sixth and eighth episodes of Season 4 when you binge the final season of one of Disney’s best original shows thus far. The upcoming season centers on the cast putting on a stage musical version of High School Musical 3 alongside Disney deciding to use East High as the setting of High School Musical 4: The Reunion, where original cast members like Corbin Bleu, Lucas Grabreel, Monique Coleman, Kaycee Stroh, and Alyson Reed return to play their Disney Channel roles.
Along with Season 4 answering our major questions about the High School Musical series after Season 3’s summer camp season, the final season will offer up more nostalgia from fans of the trilogy with moments featuring some of the original cast, including confirming Ryan’s sexuality.
Just don’t expect to see Vanessa Hudgens, Zac Efron, or Ashley Tisdale in the series! Even though Hudgens and Efron separately returned to East High recently, it was apparently unrelated. As Hudgens shared back in October, she decided to return to the set when her boyfriend had a nearby baseball game, not because she was reprising the role of Gabriella.
We’ll obviously have to wait and see come August 9 how High School Musical: The Musical: The Series ends. We’ll keep you posted here on CinemaBlend with additional exclusive coverage.
