School's out, summer's very in for 'Musical 2'
July 17, 2007
BY DOUG ELFMAN Television Critic
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Old people can think of Zac Efron as the new John Travolta (circa "Grease"). His character Troy, singing and dancing star of last year's Disney Channel hit "High School Musical," returns in this summer's sequel, "High School Musical 2."
But Efron is only now getting to sing all his vocals. His voice isn't what you always heard in the first movie. Efron has been singing in semiprofessional musicals since he was a kid, so he insisted on singing all of Troy's lines for the sequel, which premieres Aug. 17.
"I really had to fight for it," Efron, 19, says. "It was always sort of an awkward, awkward subject in the first movie, when my voice didn't get used. And to be honest, no one has really come to me and told me why. So it's innately awkward when you have no idea why your voice isn't going to appear on the album."
I ask "Musical" director Kenny Ortega about it. First of all, he says, none of the singers in the sequel has been dubbed, "honest to God."
"The first time around, we shared Zac's [vocals] with another singer because the music was written before we started the film, and before we cast. So not everything was written in Zac's range," Ortega says.
"This time, everything is written in the character of Troy for Zac, and every other character as well. They're all singers," says Ortega, who choreographed "Xanadu," "Dirty Dancing" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."
In my interview with Efron, his tone isn't whining but determined. He's thankful to Disney for even giving him the role. "Regardless," Efron says, "it's great to come back and kind of put my foot down. It's paying off."
He's right. All the singers sound quite good vocalizing catchy and well-crafted songs in "High School Musical 2." And I don't even like Disney musicals, usually.
This week, Disney.com is uploading a video of the new song "You Are the Music in Me" from "Musical 2." And a free simulcast of the soundtrack is premiering at Disney.com/DXD.
The sequel follows Troy and Gabriella as soon as school lets out for summer. The plot (which is secondary to the music and dancing) asks: Will Troy be manipulated into abandoning his friends to hang out instead with villainess Sharpay and her rich trappings?
More girls than boys watched the first "Musical." So the sequel includes golf and baseball scenes to try to lure in guy viewers.
That means there are more male singers in "Musical 2," including Lucas Grabeel, 22, and Corbin Bleu, 18. Bleu, who portrays Chad, acted but didn't sing in the first "Musical." In "Musical 2," he and Grabeel sing, dance and play baseball.
Grabeel, who plays Ryan, credits Ortega for hiring backup dancers from Utah, where "Musical 2" was filmed.
"Every one of those kids wanted to be there every day, and wanted to put every single ounce of themselves into it," says Grabeel, 22, a St. Louis native.
"That's something you won't find a lot of times when a dancer grows up in L.A., wears the sideways cap, and only cares about what he looks like and dances. There's no soul in that. That's why there are so many unemployed actors and performers in Los Angeles. There's no soul. There's no life.
"You can do the moves, but can you tell me a story with your dancing?"
BY DOUG ELFMAN Television Critic
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Old people can think of Zac Efron as the new John Travolta (circa "Grease"). His character Troy, singing and dancing star of last year's Disney Channel hit "High School Musical," returns in this summer's sequel, "High School Musical 2."
But Efron is only now getting to sing all his vocals. His voice isn't what you always heard in the first movie. Efron has been singing in semiprofessional musicals since he was a kid, so he insisted on singing all of Troy's lines for the sequel, which premieres Aug. 17.
"I really had to fight for it," Efron, 19, says. "It was always sort of an awkward, awkward subject in the first movie, when my voice didn't get used. And to be honest, no one has really come to me and told me why. So it's innately awkward when you have no idea why your voice isn't going to appear on the album."
I ask "Musical" director Kenny Ortega about it. First of all, he says, none of the singers in the sequel has been dubbed, "honest to God."
"The first time around, we shared Zac's [vocals] with another singer because the music was written before we started the film, and before we cast. So not everything was written in Zac's range," Ortega says.
"This time, everything is written in the character of Troy for Zac, and every other character as well. They're all singers," says Ortega, who choreographed "Xanadu," "Dirty Dancing" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."
In my interview with Efron, his tone isn't whining but determined. He's thankful to Disney for even giving him the role. "Regardless," Efron says, "it's great to come back and kind of put my foot down. It's paying off."
He's right. All the singers sound quite good vocalizing catchy and well-crafted songs in "High School Musical 2." And I don't even like Disney musicals, usually.
This week, Disney.com is uploading a video of the new song "You Are the Music in Me" from "Musical 2." And a free simulcast of the soundtrack is premiering at Disney.com/DXD.
The sequel follows Troy and Gabriella as soon as school lets out for summer. The plot (which is secondary to the music and dancing) asks: Will Troy be manipulated into abandoning his friends to hang out instead with villainess Sharpay and her rich trappings?
More girls than boys watched the first "Musical." So the sequel includes golf and baseball scenes to try to lure in guy viewers.
That means there are more male singers in "Musical 2," including Lucas Grabeel, 22, and Corbin Bleu, 18. Bleu, who portrays Chad, acted but didn't sing in the first "Musical." In "Musical 2," he and Grabeel sing, dance and play baseball.
Grabeel, who plays Ryan, credits Ortega for hiring backup dancers from Utah, where "Musical 2" was filmed.
"Every one of those kids wanted to be there every day, and wanted to put every single ounce of themselves into it," says Grabeel, 22, a St. Louis native.
"That's something you won't find a lot of times when a dancer grows up in L.A., wears the sideways cap, and only cares about what he looks like and dances. There's no soul in that. That's why there are so many unemployed actors and performers in Los Angeles. There's no soul. There's no life.
"You can do the moves, but can you tell me a story with your dancing?"
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