THEY ROCK! `HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL'S' PHENOMENAL SUCCESS PUSHES CAST INTO SPOTLIGHT.Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Staff WriterSix months ago, Zac Efron and Vanessa Anne Hudgens  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. could freely
roam San Fernando Valley San Fernando ValleyValley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. malls and movie theaters. Barely anyone noticed the guy who played Cameron on ``Summerland'' and the girl sometimes seen on ``The Suite Life of Zack & Cody.'' That's changed since they won the starring roles in the wildly successful ``High School Musical,'' a Disney Channel Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. made-for-cable movie about a basketball jock and a brainy brain·y adj. brain·i·er, brain·i·est Informal Intelligent; smart. brain  i·ly adv. girl who step
outside the bounds of their peers' expectations by taking a shine
to singing.
In fact, Hudgens says she and her co-stars recently went to a movie on a Friday night and were overwhelmed by fans. ``We won't do that again,'' she said. ``High School Musical,'' directed and choreographed by Kenny Ortega, premiered Jan. 20 and, in 12 airings on the network, has been seen by 36 million unduplicated viewers, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Disney research. In 11 of those 12 broadcasts, it was the No. 1 household-rated cable show for the day. Its soundtrack twice has topped the Billboard album chart, has been certified double platinum -- a record for a TV movie soundtrack -- and for three weeks held the top spot on iTunes. Radio play and downloading has made hits of ``Breaking Free,'' ``What I've Been Looking For Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. ,'' ``Bop to the Top,'' ``Get'cha Head in the Game'' and ``Stick to the Status Quo [Latin, The existing state of things at any given date.] Status quo ante bellum means the state of things before the war. The status quo to be preserved by a preliminary injunction is the last actual, peaceable, uncontested status which preceded the pending controversy. .'' Then there's the DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. that went on sale Tuesday. Buena Vista Home Entertainment reported that 400,000 copies sold in the first day, making it the fastest-selling TV movie of all time. At the same time, a revised two-disc soundtrack was released with karaoke tracks and a ringtone The audible sound made by a telephone to announce that a call is coming in. The traditional ringtone was in the 440-480 Hz range, but as cellphone usage grew, it became obvious that ringtone differentiation would become important. added. Disney Records said, based on early sales reports, the new CD was forecast to rank second or third on next week's albums chart. ``I'm not surprised by the success of the movie,'' said Gary Marsh, president of entertainment for Disney Channel Worldwide. ``What is surprising, though, is that what started out as a movie has become a movement.'' The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times charts the ``High School Musical'' junior novel at No. 4 among children's books, and Marsh says thousands of schools already have expressed interest in the score and script for a stage version licensed through Music Theatre International. ``HSM'' also is being packaged for overseas distribution and will be seen in 100 countries by the end of the year. A company in India has even optioned the movie for a Bollywood remake. The movie, which has been described as ``Romeo & Juliet'' meets ``Grease,'' casts Efron and Hudgens as Troy and Gabriella. The two first meet on vacation and find themselves uncomfortably in the spotlight at a karaoke party. They later reconnect when Gabriella enrolls at Troy's school, where he's the star of the basketball team. They find an unexpected thrill in the possibility of performing in the school musical, much to the chagrin of Troy's teammates and Gabriella's scholastic decathalon squad. In addition, they face the outrage of Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale Ashley Michelle Tisdale (born July 2 1985)[1] is an American actress and singer. After appearing in several television roles during the late 1990s and early 2000s, she became known to young audiences for playing Maddie Fitzpatrick on the Disney Channel Original Series ) and Ryan (Lucas Grabeel), a brother-sister act who expect the starring roles in the show. Efron, 18, Hudgens, 17, Tisdale, 20, and Grabeel, 21, got a taste of their skyrocketing fame recently when Buena Vista Home Entertainment hosted a red-carpet Hollywood premiere to launch the DVD -- as if it needs such promotion. Celebs on hand included ``American Idol'' contender Ace Young, Lisa Rinna Lisa Deanna Rinna (born 11 July 1963 in Medford, Oregon, U.S.) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Billie Reed on Days of our Lives, Taylor McBride on Melrose Place, and most recently the host of SoapNet's Soap Talk. of ``Dancing With the Stars'' and Lori Loughlin Lori Anne Loughlin (pronounced LOCK-lin) (July 28, 1964) is an American actress who gained prominence in the 1990s as playing the wife of John Stamos's character, Rebecca Donaldson, on ABC's, Full House. Recently, she played Dr. of ``Full House'' and ``Summerland.'' Hundreds of kids in the invitation-only audience at the El Capitan El Cap·i·tan A peak, 2,308.5 m (7,569 ft) high, in the Sierra Nevada of central California. Its dramatic exposed monolith rises some 1,098 m (3,600 ft) above the floor of the Yosemite Valley. squealed and cheered as the cast was introduced and then sang along to its popular numbers with gusto GUSTO Cardiology A series of clinical trials that have examined a series of strategies to reduce the M&M of acute MI; the GUSTOs include: Global Utilization of Streptokinase & tPA for Occluded coronary arteries trial–GUSTO I; Global Use of Strategies . At the after-party at Hollywood & Highland, the young actors gamely signed hundreds of autographs and posed for pictures. As two sisters at a make-your-own-video station danced Ortega's routine to ``We're All in This Together We're All In This Together can refer to:
A couple of hours into the party, Efron remained upbeat about the crush of attention. ``You know what? It's great. I'm so excited to have it,'' he said. ``I just can't get caught up in it. Otherwise I won't stay focused. It's very awesome, and it's so exciting.'' ``They're great kids,'' Marsh said. ``They understand that this is a little bit of lightning in a bottle, and it's a moment in time for them to really shine.'' And a moment to make the most of their popularity. Tisdale, who already has some star power as a regular on Disney's ``Suite Life of Zack & Cody'' sitcom, and Hudgens say they're close to signing record deals of their own. Disney Channel, seen in 87 million homes, already has set a sequel in motion, signing up the actors to reprise re·prise n. 1. Music a. A repetition of a phrase or verse. b. A return to an original theme. 2. A recurrence or resumption of an action. tr.v. their roles, with Ortega and writer Peter Barsocchini creating a summer story line. It's expected to shoot next spring for air next summer. While Disney Channel can't convert those huge ratings into high-priced commercials -- the channel's breaks promote other Disney entertainment and products -- it has seized every apparent extension of the ``HSM'' brand, including a line of T-shirts and other goods at the preteen pre·teen adj. 1. Relating to or designed for children especially between the ages of 10 and 12. 2. Being a child especially between the ages of 10 and 12; preadolescent. n. A preteen boy or girl. Limited Too stores. Marsh says Disney is just meeting a demand that became apparent even before the movie debuted. ``What's happened is kids are saying, `How do we connect with this property?''' he said. ``They're the ones who after Christmas said, `Oh my gosh, I can't find the CD in stores yet. Let me go to iTunes and buy it.' ``So what's really gratifying grat·i·fy tr.v. grat·i·fied, grat·i·fy·ing, grat·i·fies 1. To please or satisfy: His achievement gratified his father. See Synonyms at please. 2. for us, as a company that's often accused of overmarketing, is this really rose up as a grass-roots enterprise.'' Marsh thinks the success of ``High School Musical,'' which started out as just another of the seven to nine Disney Channel Originals produced each year, is tied to its messages as much as its very singable, danceable songs. ``This is ultimately the soundtrack of kids' lives. The songs deal with all the themes kids are facing every day from age 6, really, through college -- which is peer pressure, fitting in, following your dreams, your obligation to your friends. These are not themes that go away as you grow older,'' Marsh said. ``So, while the characters who speak the lines are of high-school age, the themes they talk about really resonate res·o·nate v. res·o·nat·ed, res·o·nat·ing, res·o·nates v.intr. 1. To exhibit or produce resonance or resonant effects. 2. far beyond high school. That's why I think the success of the movie has extended far beyond simply being thought of as a kids' movie.'' Valerie Kuklenski, (818) 713-3750 valerie.kuklenski(at)dailynews.com SOUNDTRACK: ``High School Musical (Special Edition)'' (Disney) - Three and one half stars The initial single-disc soundtrack to the Disney Channel's enjoyable first foray into Verb 1. foray into - enter someone else's territory and take spoils; "The pirates raided the coastal villages regularly" raid encroach upon, intrude on, obtrude upon, invade - to intrude upon, infringe, encroach on, violate; "This new colleague invades my musicals is one of the year's biggest hits -- so what could be better than a two-disc edition? No complaints here. When material is of the heart-pounding quality of ``Get'cha Head in the Game,'' ``When There Was Me and You'' and ``Stick to the Status Quo,'' and with talent like Zac Efron and Vanessa Anne Hudgens at center stage, we'll happily enroll a second time. In addition to the soundtrack, this just-issued set comes with a bonus disc featuring eight karaoke tracks, plus a fold-out movie poster. Smart marketing for a smart product. -- Fred Shuster Not just for kids While the Disney Channel audience skews toward young teen and preteen girls, ``High School Musical'' has attracted a much wider fan base, in part because of the basketball angle. One fan on an IMDb.com message board disputed the perception that ``HSM'' is only for kids and asked others on the site how old they were. There were the expected 11- to 16-year-olds, but other responses showed the bigger picture: ``I'm 21 and I loved this movie. I could really relate to it as far as playing sports and being in choir and theater.'' ``18 and I have the soundtrack in my car CD player right now ... I love the Disney-ness of it.'' ``I'm 31 (female) and I love this movie! I even bought the soundtrack, although my 10-year-old son and I fight over it!'' ``25. My best friend (who is also 25) and my little sister (who is 21) and I watch it whenever it's on.'' ``I'm 42. No kids ... My wife and I both enjoyed this movie. So hard to find stuff that's not filthy to watch.'' ``I'm 29. Definitely not the target demographic ... (I have no kids.) But I love all the singing and dancing.'' ``I'm 18. My friends make fun of me for liking this. But I'm a theater geek A technically oriented person. It has typically implied a "nerdy" or "weird" personality, someone with limited social skills who likes to tinker with scientific or high-tech projects. The origin of the term dates back to the late 1800s. , anyway, and they make fun of me for liking ANY musical.'' -- V.K. CAPTION(S): 6 photos, 2 boxes Photo: (1 -- cover -- color) Reaching for stardom Disney's `High School Musical' makes the grade with the young - and the young-at-heart (2 -- 3 -- color) Zac Efron and Vanessa Anne Hudgens, above, just gotta sing; at right, a musical moment on the school's basketball court. (4 -- 6 -- color) no caption (cover of ``High School Musical's'' book, movie and soundtrack) Box: (1) SOUNDTRACK (see text) (2) Not just for kids (see text) |
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