Along with other reboots, Disney has decided to release High School Musical: The Musical: The series, on their new streaming service Disney +. 

  The series is based around the majorly successful High School Musical trilogy. The core of the story follows the fictional students of East High (where High School Musical was filmed) that stage a production of High School Musical for their winter theatre production, while on the sidelines a teen love triangle and theatre politics will be explored. Due to its more mature themes, it will be directed towards teens rather than Disney’s usual demographic of elementary school-aged children. 

  There will be ten episodes that will each feature a song from the original movies along with original songs. 

  The cast consists of Olivia Rodrigo, Joshua Bassett, Rate Reinders, Matt Cornett, Darel Revee, Julia Lester, Frankie A. Rodriguez, Larry Saperstein, Mark St. Cyr and Sophia Wylie. 

  “What I wanted to do was capture the real spirit of theatre kids,” said executive producer, Jim Federle to Entertainment Weekly. “So, what if we cast real teenagers with acne? They’re not going to lip-sync; they’re going to sing live. It’s the real deal. The entire series is all about finding your tribe. A new generation deserves new characters.” 

 One of the new characters for this new generation will be Carlos– played by Rodriguez –, an openly gay character on the show which is a newer occurrence on Disney series. “Disney’s making a good move to involve more diverse characters that reflect our society,” said Priya Hanuman. 

  Upon the trailer’s release, the show got some backlash with a twitter user going as far as to say, “Someone needs to have a word with Disney because this is just not okay.” “Honestly, I believe it’s a money grab,” said Hanuman. “A lot of people want a High School Musical reunion, and I think Disney isn’t able to make that happen, so this is the next ‘best’ thing.” 

  Despite the backlash, the series has also gained a lot of support. “I’m excited for the show,” said Shelby Gulenchyn. “It’s nice because it has childhood nostalgia, but it’s still something an older audience can enjoy.” 

   High School Musical: the Musical: the series will be available for streaming on Disney + on Nov. 12.