When I initially heard that High School Musical was going to have a spin-off series on Disney+, I scoffed and claimed I would never watch it. High School Musical was such an iconic movie for my generation particularly, it made me sick to think that it would be twisted into a “new Disney Channel” show.

I happened to stumble across the first episode of the series when my sister was watching it in my living room. I didn’t know what the show was but I sat down to watch about five minutes of the middle of the first episode, mostly to spend time with my sister. 

After that first glimpse into the show, I collected that this mockumentary-style series reminded me of both Glee and The Office simultaneously. I had become interested enough at this point to ask my sister was the show was and when she responded with “High School Musical: The Musical – The Series” (HSMTMTS), I didn’t believe her.

After the initial shock of hearing the verbose title, I soon realized that I had been too quick to form an opinion on the show and found that I genuinely enjoyed the new take on High School Musical that the show provided, as well as the more mature themes that were woven in simultaneously with the plot.

The show centers around a new theater teacher named Ms. Jenn (Kate Reinders) at East High High School, which happens to be where the original High School Musical was filmed. Ms. Jenn said she was “triggered” to hear that the school had never put on a production of High School Musical: The Musical and almost instantly begins production with her student choreographer, Carlos Rodriguez (Frankie A. Rodriguez).

Drama quickly develops on the show as we meet the main characters, Nini Salazar-Roberts (Olivia Rodrigo) and Ricky Bowen (Joshua Bassett), who are both students coming back from summer break with different goals in mind. 

Bowen’s goal is to potentially rekindle his relationship with Nini after their pause in their relationship over break as Salazar-Roberts was attending a musical theater camp. Salazar-Robert’s goal, however, is to officially break up with Bowen and move onto life with her new boyfriend, E.J. Caswell (Matt Cornett). 

The motivation to win Salazar-Roberts back drives Bowen to audition for the musical, which creates tension as Salazar-Roberts and Caswell are also auditioning. 

While many aspects of HSMTMTS tailor specifically to younger kids, there are more mature themes in the show that allow it to be enjoyed by all audiences. The wide range of representation in this show exemplifies just how aware Disney is of their audience and how they tailor to those demographics while also appealing to viewers outside that specific range. Some of these themes include the effect of divorce on kids, LGBTQ+ representation and strong feminist characters. 

These themes explore areas Disney has rarely conveyed to a younger audience, and in a way that is not in-your-face obvious. Rather than focusing on just showing these themes, the writing on the show rather uses them as devices for character development.

For example, LGBTQ+ representation is written in with the plot in a way that normalizes same-sex relationships so they are viewed as just as natural as any of the other relationships in the show. 

One very notable character in the show is Salazar-Roberts’ best friend Kourtney (Dara Reneé). Kourtney has an incredibly vibrant personality and establishes herself as a fighting feminist, who claims her goal this year is to “dismantle the patriarchy,” starting with Bowen’s best friend Big Red (Larry Saperstein).

My only complaint about HSMTMTS is the fact that it is still, undeniably, a show tailored to younger kids, which results in far-fetched situations being written in. However, the writers of HSMTMTS admit they are well aware of the mediocre writing, even poking fun at themselves within the show by adding in many lines that reference the absurdity of specific events. The relevance of this recognition is essential in a society where writing on Riverdale is collectively accepted as normal.

A big concern I had going into this series was that it would not live up to the high expectations that 2006’s High School Musical set. However, what I discovered is that the show, rather than trying to outdo director Kenny Ortega, paid copious homage to the original movies while also establishing that it is its own show. So while it may never live up to the magic that was High School Musical, it doesn’t have to.

To view the trailer for High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, click here.