Ding ding ding ding ding… that’s the school bell!

It’s time for twice the fun with High School Musical this year at Walt Disney Studios Park. High School Musical on Tour is back on the track for another Summer, now joined by a brand new show, High School Musical 2, inspired by the second opus of the Disney Channel franchise.

Jeremie Noyer met the creators of these two musical street shows, Show Director Katy Harris and newly promoted Junior Show Director Françoise Baffioni. Find out what goes into making a second toe-tapping celebration, a second energetic extravaganza, a second wave of Wildcat fever…

What are the origins of the High School Musical shows?

Katy Harris: The first one was created two years ago at Disney’s California Adventure, just a while before the movie arrived in Europe, and it was a huge success. Then, it was produced in Florida at the beginning of the following year. Considering the popularity the movie got in Europe, it seemed to us that it would be an interesting product for the Walt Disney Studios Park. So, we worked with the Californian crew to bring the show to France, with a few changes of our own to adapt it to the European audience.

So, let’s begin with High School Musical on Tour. How did you cooperate with the Disneyland Resort in California?

KH: They sent us their script and their show tapes. I adapted the dialogs in French (since our performances are both in English and in French), and we kept the songs in English. Then, my choreographer and I flew to California to learn their steps. Certain scenes stick to the very same steps as those in the film. The actual director of the film series, Kenny Ortega, taught them to the choreographer of the show in California who, then, taught them to us. Then we came back with all the material we needed to create our own show, adding a little European touch to it.

What do you mean by European touch?

KH: We added some more “hip hop” since it’s a style that particularly “speaks” to teens here.

The choreography in the movie was really one-of-a-kind. What was your attitude in that regard on High School Musical on Tour?

KH: For We’re All In This Together, we used the same choreography as the sequence in the movie. It’s the Finale of the film in which all the students are together: basketball players, cheerleaders, science students, the whole school. That’s exactly what we re-created here. We do our Finale with the same characters and we invite the kids from the audience to come and learn the Wildcats’ steps. Some can even train watching the film before coming here in order to participate more intensely in our show!

How did you integrate the story of High School Musical on Tour within the story of the Walt Disney Studios Park?

KH: In fact, our show is a celebration of the movie. It presents the students of East High spending their holiday in France. So, it’s not the story of the movie but a continuation with the same characters, spending a while in our country. They learned French and share a little of their culture (basket ball, cheerleading) with our guests.

How did you manage to adapt the show to this new context?

KH: Having a show presented both in French and in English makes it a little longer. Yet, since our story is different from the one told in the American parks, we had room to adapt it. There are only two additional loops. Otherwise, it’s the same timing as in America. We use the main scenes of the movie, the same structure. The only main difference is that we discover our heroes met here, at the Walt Disney Studios, during their summer vacations. Because I really wanted our show to have a “raison d’être” here and to really integrate it into the story of the park.

How did you deal with the casting of the different performers?

KH: That wasn’t easy because we were looking for a very definite type of performers. For the singers, it was even more difficult since we wanted to find artists who could sing very rhythmical titles like Getcha’ Head in the Game, who could sing both in English and in French, and who had the right look. But we were fortunate to find a great team of artists among whom two performers who had played in the show in America. They learned the French dialogues and everything went smoothly. That was great for our cast since they brought that American culture that we hardly know in Europe. They really helped our cast catch the right style.

As for the dancers, we needed a team with a jazz basis and a huge energy (since as soon as the show starts, it’s non stop!), yet with a hip hop background, because we wanted to go in that direction. We auditioned almost 300 dancers, then we did call backs and finally selected 7 girls and 7 boys. What was important to us was not only their dancing abilities but also their expressiveness. High School Musical on Tour is a true musical comedy, which means that all our artists have to be actors, too.

And also “basketball players”!

KH: Absolutely. In order to get that, we had the help of a basket ball coach who came for the auditions and tested them with some basket ball routines to see if they had what was needed. Then, once the cast was set, during the first week of rehearsals, they had a specific basketball training everyday, half a day, an intensive training for them to do the right movements, and we integrated all that in our show.

What about the technical aspect of the show?

KH: In fact, there is an audio system integrated into the float, and we also use the parade poles, the loudspeakers used for the parade. Everything is controlled from the float. Both show stop zones are controlled by an engineer within there.

And now, can you tell me more specifically about the concept of High School Musical 2?

KH: In fact, this year, the students of East High come back to France. Some found a summer job and have to work while others want to spend some cool holiday time playing sports. That’s why there’s a scene where you can help the workers in their job and another one with a baseball game.

Françoise, you’ve just been promoted Junior Show Director. Can you tell us about your new title and your role on this production?

Françoise Baffioni: As a Junior Show Director, I can bring new ideas to the production. With Katy, we shared the task. She deals with the directing aspect while I deal with the choreographic aspect. We are really used to working together. We are very complementary. The only change is in the way of bringing new ideas.
When did you first arrive at Disneyland Resort Paris?

FB: I started as a dancer on the show C’est Magique! in July 1992.

How did you adapt High School Musical 2 to Paris?

KH: A little like High School Musical on Tour. But this time, we went to Florida, to Walt Disney World. In fact, both Disney’s American resorts have produced the High School Musical 2 show and since last year we had gone to California to prepare the first show, it seemed interesting to us to instead work with the Floridian crew since it’s always nice to work with different people. So, we went there to see their show and learn their choreography before adapting it. In fact, we have more singers than them whereas they have more dancers. But our dancers are professionals, whereas theirs are in fact parade performers.

FB: The fact that our dancers are professionals allowed us to have more fun, to elaborate a little more from the choreographic point of view and to have more freedom in our creation.

KH: As I said before, in Europe, there is a little more hip-hop than in America, so our show really speaks to European audiences. It balances the fact that High School Musical is very much characteristic of American culture. High School Musical on Tour was about cheerleaders and basketball, High School Musical 2 is about baseball. All American teens know about this sport and play it at school. So, in keeping true to the spirit of the original show and of the film, we tried to do so that our show speaks to our guests coming from all over Europe.

How did you manage to create that connection with the European audience?

KH: Just like for High School Musical on Tour, through interactivity. Yet now, it happens within a kitchen!

How did you adapt the choreographies of the movie?

KH: Certain key-steps come directly from the movie. But we don’t have the camera moves a film director can have. So, we worked a lot on the visual aspect, with 360° effects.

FB: It’s a true team work. I’m collaborating on one side with Katy on the directing aspect, and on the other side, I supervise our choreographer, Christophe Bochard and we see together what works or not according to our story. We all go in the same direction.

How did the rehearsals go?

KH: We began to work in studio, then at night in the park. At the beginning of April, we worked there three whole nights in a row, from 10pm to 5am!

FB: Luckily, the nights were not too cold, so everything went smoothly!

I notice some interesting and unusual gestures for You Are The Music In Me. Can you tell me about them?

FB: Absolutely. Part of the choreography of You Are The Music In Me is done in sign language. We worked with a teacher in order to learn that language in English and in French. It was a very interesting work, and very moving, too.

Once the show is launched, what does the average day look like for the artists?

KH: Our artists start their day in the morning, with a vocal and physical warm up, then they do one show after the other, since it’s the same team for both shows.

FB: It’s really tough to do all these shows in a row, but I can tell you our artists are really happy. Our shows are interesting both vocally and choreographically, and our newest show even more than the other!

KH: I have to admit that I’ve been listening to this music for more than two months and instead of bothering me, I love it more and more each day and I always discover new things in it. It’s very rich!

Can you tell me about this new float?

KH: For High School Musical on Tour, it’s the same float as in California. It was made here, at Disneyland Resort Paris, according to the plans provided by the Disneyland Resort in California. And for High School Musical 2, it’s the same float, but with a new decoration. Since April 12, we have both High School Musical on Tour and High School Musical 2 playing at the Walt Disney Studios the same day.

High School Musical On Tour is played twice in the morning and High School Musical 2 three times in the afternoon. Between the two, we re-decorate the float with new accessories and costumes in order to present a brand-new float in the afternoon!

What kind of sound material do you use?

KH: Just like on High School Musical on Tour, we use the American showtapes, with a little editing since their show is a little longer than ours since they have less performances in a day. For example, they have just one stop whereas we have two ones. With all that’s happening each day at the Walt Disney Studios Park, we couldn’t do something longer than 11 minutes for each stop. That’s the reason why we shortened the last scene, We’re All in this Together.

FB: This tune is even more special here since it makes the link between both shows, which is unique to our park because, in America, they only have High School Musical 2 playing at the moment.

As we could see during the press event of April 5th, this second year of celebrations is not only made out of new attractions, but also new shows, which is great!

FB: Indeed, there’s an interesting dynamic here now, and it’s a great pleasure to work in that ambiance!
How do the artists get along together backstage?

KH: The atmosphere is very positive. They’re going to spend six months together. So, it’s very important they get along well together. And they get along so well that some of the artists of last year like Rodrigo came back for a second year here. They really enjoy themselves and this energy can really be felt by the audience. I guess that’s the reason why the show is such a success!

What is the message of your shows?

KH: The idea is to invite everyone to gather and open their mind. You don’t have to be what people want you to be. You have the right to follow your own dreams!

With very special thanks to Katy Harris, Françoise Baffioni, Aurélie Massin and Nathalie Pankowski.