We’re all in this together! High School Musical: The Musical: The Series is returning to Disney+ for a third season, and the Wildcats are leaving East High for a new adventure.
The show — HSMTMTS for short — made its debut on Disney+ in November 2019. It was inspired by the three-movie High School Musical franchise, which aired its first two movies via Disney Channel in 2006 and 2007, respectively, with the final installment premiering theatrically in 2008.
Set at the now-iconic East High School in Salt Lake City, HSMTMTS is a mockumentary that features fictional students Ricky (Joshua Bassett), Nini (Olivia Rodrigo), Gina (Sofia Wylie), E.J. (Matt Cornett), Kourtney (Dara Reneé), Ashlyn (Julia Lester), Carlos (Frankie Rodriguez), among others, along with their energetic drama teacher Miss Jenn (Kate Reinders). The first season followed the school’s theater department as they put on a stage production of High School Musical.
“From day one, I always saw us as what I hope is a long-running series, and I knew that if we cast the right talent who had the right chemistry and who were proud theater kids themselves, the audience would become engaged with their journeys,” showrunner Tim Federle told Entertainment Weekly in November 2019. “Casting was key and we looked really, really hard for this group.”
After becoming attached to their favorite characters’ stories, fans rallied for a second season, which premiered via Disney+ in May 2021. This time around, the Wildcats took on Beauty and the Beast in hopes of winning an Alan Menken Award for high school theater productions. Amid rehearsals for the show and their battle against rivals North High, fan-favorite couple Nini and Ricky were dealing with hardships in their relationship — which viewers believed was reflective of the rumored drama between stars Rodrigo and Bassett going on behind the scenes.
“Nini has fully accepted that there’s an exciting other world of possibility when you don’t center yourself on a guy, and I think she’s actually excited about that and obviously has nostalgia for this first relationship and her best friend from her youth. But also sees real possibilities,” Federle told Entertainment Tonight in July 2021 following the characters’ eventual breakup. “Ricky accepts it, he’s read the room. She doesn’t want to hear the song he wrote, it’s time to move on.”
Fans hope the pair will be able to figure out their differences as the show continues, but it’s unclear where their future stands since Nini may have an exciting opportunity in her future. During the season 2 finale, the high schooler received a phone call from Gina’s music producer brother Jamie (Jordan Fisher) — and who knows where that may lead.
Keep scrolling for everything we know about HSMTMTS season 3 so far.
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