“High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” returned for a second season on Disney+ on May 14th. The first season, which aired in November 2019, grabbed the attention of many viewers, and this season is expected to be even more promising.

The show follows a group of East High students who work to put on their own high school musicals, taking place 15 years after the original series. For this new upcoming season, the students will be preparing to perform “Beauty and the Beast” as their spring musical and will be in a face-off against their rival school, North High. 

“I’ve heard that this season is going to be a good one so I have high expectations for it. I’m probably most excited for the music since it’s coming from both the original High School Musical movies and Beauty and the Beast,” said Ally Ebel (‘22).

Tim Federle, the show’s creator, was inspired by “Beauty and the Beast” because it was one of the first Broadway shows he ever saw. He believes that it contains all of the perfect metaphors for a high school experience, teaching people to not judge a book by its cover and showing people what true love really looks like. 

According to some of the show’s actors, this season is expected to have more drama, more storylines, more music, and overall, should be bigger than the last season. This season focuses greatly on giving each character their own little world and delving into their personal lives. 

“If anything, I’m hoping they develop more of the characters that might not have been the main characters, but were still a part of it from season one. I want to see if they will create more storylines for those characters and give them bigger roles,” said Elizabeth Hollmeyer (‘22). 

It was announced that, to many people’s relief, all the original stars in the first season are set to continue their roles in the second season. This includes Joshua Bassett, Olivia Rodrigo, Sofia Wylie, Kate Reinders, Matt Cornett, and more.

In addition to the original cast, there will be some new faces. These include Andrew Barth Feldman, Asher Angel, Olivia Rose Keegan, Derek Hough, and Roman Banks. 

“I think that it would be awesome if more of the original cast from the High School Musical movies come in. I don’t think it’s likely, but Lucas Grabeel was in the first season, which may be a sign,” said Ebel.

And to your surprise, it might happen! Tim told DigitalSpy back in December 2020 that some familiar faces from the original HSM could potentially be returning. Originally, Tim claimed that he didn’t want any of the original cast for this series, but he recently has changed his mind, and Zac Efron has even made comments about being open to the idea.

Nothing is for certain, however. What we do know is that a second season is airing and it looks like it’s going to be a hit. Make sure to go on Disney+!

https://youtu.be/TR8k3LTVRhU  — link to season 2 trailer