Cakebug Tranch

I hear all this, but to not credit the MD is very different to not crediting the fight choreographer. You simply can't have a musical without one, and while I'm glad your experience on 'Oklahoma' was good, that process sounds stunningly horrible. There are always constraints which mean people can't give their all to a role, but 'whatevering' an actor's entrance is ... oof. My main contention that Kelsi is the MD is that Ms Darbus never shows any interest or aptitude in music, so if she wants a musical, she needs an MD. This also means that in HSM 4, with Kelsi going off to Julliard, East Side High's musical (co-directed by Sharpay and starring Tiara Gold) is FUCKED. Who will play the music? WHO?

Well of course she's the MD, she spends inordinate amounts of time rehearsing with Troy and Gabriella outside of the ordinary rehearsal time, which is exactly the MD's job. In later films she conducts the orchestra and assigns all of the singing parts, and unless you have a director who is also the MD (quite rare and never advisable), a musical simply can't happen without an MD. What's more, the MD would have more than just some input - when it comes to the music, the director doesn't really get a say.

Oh you don't need to convince me of that. I'm Team Kelsi all. day. long. But I would get it if it was opening night, but it's just a dumb callback randomly scheduled for after school one day. I guess she's dressing for the kind of person she wants to be. Visualise that success, Kelsi!

In the hierarchy, the director (Darbus) has the ultimate say - the MD (Kelsi) would have input but would be overruled. The only point at which Kelsi appears to have any power (and when Darbus acknowledges how necessary she is) is when bowler hat Kelsi has run off after Darbus says Troybriella isn't allowed to audition, and when they say 'oh well, there can be no audition because we have no pianist,' and Kelsi's all, Hey. Why is Kelsi dressed for the opera to play piano at a callback audition?

That reminds me - here's an article that I meant to post above about the new years' party. The writer is very bitter that she never met a Troy at her ski lodge. https://ohmy.disney.com/movies/2016/12/30/that-high-school-musical-new-years-eve-scene-is-so-perfect-it-ruined-new-years-eve-for-me/

That rings a bell - but if she works at the ski lodge, why don't they ever go back there? And if she's being moved from job to job that assumes that she has some kind of executive position (rather than being a cleaning lady), so does she work for the chain? And how does she have the authority to promise her daughter they won't move again? When my dad was in the military, we moved every two years, and the only way he could ensure we didn't move again (so my sister and I could go to the same high school all the way through) was to retire. He had to frickin' retire! Companies don't care about promises you made your kid!

Are we done with HSM and moved entirely onto The Farts of the Furious? Or is there more to be said? I have more points to make but don't want to be seen as beating a dead horse. Speaking of beating a dead horse: Let's talk about the first scene of the movie! I'm curious about what this is. Because it's New Year's eve, and the first time we meet these characters it's in this super chi-chi looking ski resort, so our immediate assumption is that these are preppy rich kids, right? The place has its own basketball court and enough lodges to segregate kids from adults. But in HSM123 Troy's dad plays the poor card and says that if Troy doesn't get a scholarship he can't go to school. What? Not even the shitty state university that's haunted? Surely tuition there costs about as much as, oh, I don't know, A WEEK AT A SKI LODGE FOR A FAMILY OF THREE IN THE HIGH SEASON? Similarly, Gabriella's mother is bumped from job to job, which suggests that she's doing it tough, but they're at this fancy place too. Why are they there? Is this really the best way to acclimatise to a new state? Go skiing? Also. Where are they? The conspiracy theorists out there have noted that they are at Sky Mountain Ski Resort, which is either in Montana or doesn't exist (almost certainly the second one). But where are they? There are plenty of mountains in New Mexico, so it's feasible that they're not far from home, but the impression I got was that they were in Aspen or Vail or something, which makes the coincidence of them being in the same homeroom INSANE. The way it's set up (in a hangover from 'Grease 3') is that the ski holiday is their version of ' ', but that's set in the same town as Rydell, so it's not a crazy thing that Sandy ends up at the same school. If it's at an Albuquerque ski hill (apparently there are a few) then why are they staying there and not going home? Are they so rich that they must vacation close to home? And then in the second movie, Troybriella are both super alienated by the Country Club lifestyle, BUT THEY MET AT A SKI RESORT. #alsoeveryonelivesinmansions

More in the context of

I looked FINE in that blue dress. Cameron does hats better than me.

Oh right! That's where you get your last name from, because of your crippling addiction to Heroin?

It's an international franchise, it seems... Argentine version: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_School_Musical:_El_Desaf%C3%ADo Brazilian: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_School_Musical:_O_Desafio Chinese: (no wiki page) But the Chinese title (歌舞青春) apparently translates to 'Singing and Dancing Youth', which is likely a better title. Also, there was a national arena tour: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_School_Musical:_The_Concert

I live 10 minutes drive from Degrassi Street! Toronto rep! And yes, of course, but only the early ones - Kids of Degrassi Street, Degrassi Junior High, Degrassi High... oh how I loved Caitlyn.

I love the imaginary narrative through this: RDJ: "If that fucking PRICK beats me again I'm going to slow-clap all through his speech. I will! I WILL! Want to dare me? What are they going to do, throw me out? I don't care! I'm Iron Man!"

'Can't'? Can't? You can't can't a Troy...

I got slammed for suggesting I'm Troy, so I know my role...

Do you also like animals?

That makes the instagram post that she shared where she mistakenly thought Martha was played by Meghan Trainor even worse, since she was in the movie with her!

Which is EXACTLY the scene break trope that stupid 'Glee' used. Ryan Murphy's lying if he says he wasn't influenced by HSM.

In the third one, the cheeky kid Rocketman trails Troy to his classroom to tell him that he's too old and he can't wait til he's gone or something, and then the bell rings. ONE SECOND later, Rocketman says 'oh! tardy again!' and a teacher descends from the ceiling to grab him and write him up for being one second late for class. Rocketman says 'those guys are late too!', pointing to Troy and Gabriella, who are standing in the door frame of their classroom, so apparently that's grounds for punishment too. That teacher doesn't care, and throws the book at Rocketman. Looks like they tightened up their hall monitors by the last one.

I feel like this musical is supposed to be Kelsi's magnum opus that she has worked on for years, which is why she's so protective of Sharpay and Ryan taking it over. But the summer after, she has a whole new musical, and in the third one, she comes up with a third, entirely based around a whim that Ms. Darbus has, that the musical will be autobiographical all about the cast. She's seriously prolific. Question is, what musical did they do the year before (when Sharpay would have been a sophomore)? Surely 14 year old Kelsi's not writing the school musical then, but there's talk about what Sharpay and Ryan did the year before... I ask again, WHERE ARE THE SENIORS? I wanted a 'Bring It On'-style influence from alumni at the school (and at the end of the third movie Sharpay is announced as the co-director of next year's school musical, so it happens). So many missed opportunities!

Understudies also rehearse more than anyone, rather than just learn the show by osmosis and go on with 30 seconds notice. So, not really.

Yep, that happens. I was the understudy for the entire male company for a production of 'Twelfth Night' with the Australian Shakespeare Company years ago. It meant learning every role from T to B, and only getting to go on for a week at the end of the run.

Also, speaking of musicals, guys, I finally finished season 2 of 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend' last night. Annnnnd... I'm out. Oof, how toxic is EVERYONE on that show?

Okay. I've brought this up before in one way or another, but we need to discuss it. WAS there an East Side musical? In HSM2 and 3, both drive towards a culminating performance, which we see and are satisfied by. HSM1 is all about the auditions to get to the callback that would precede rehearsal which would lead to a performance, but the movie ends after the callback. There is, of course, a reference in HSM2 to how Sharpay was Gabriella's understudy in the musical etc, but the actual existence of Kelsey's show is swept under the rug. When Gabriella is listed on the Stanford smart people website, she does not list high school musicals as a thing she does. And that's the odd thing. I'm well aware that the title 'High School Musical' was a placeholder title until they came up with something better, and then they never did. But if we look at the title for what it is, it could just as easily be 'A Musical ABOUT high school' and we'd totally buy that. But by doubling down and saying it's about a musical put on at a high school without actually showing us that musical? Super lame. Why not show us snippets of the final musical over the credits? TOO MUCH HIGH SCHOOL TOO MUCH MUSICAL NOT ENOUGH HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL