the boys are back

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series Gets Even More Meta, Somehow

Chad is still on his own journey. Photo: Disney

Of course Ryan Evans from High School Musical would end up with a member of Pentatonix (if it wasn’t going to be with Chad). Some things are just written in the stars. We finally get confirmation of Ryan’s latent homosexuality in a new clip from High School Musical: The Musical: The Series released by Disney+ on July 26. The season-four sneak peek shows the opening number, which is mostly performed not by the cast of the show, but by Monique Coleman, Corbin Bleu, Lucas Grabeel, and Kaycee Stroh, returning as their High School Musical characters (Taylor, Chad, Ryan, and Martha, respectively). The number itself is out of the fictional High School Musical 4: The Reunion, the filming of which is a plot point in the final season of HSM:TM:TS. Got all that? We also get a hint at what the main characters of HSM:TM:TS are at this season, with Mack (Matthew Sato) and Gina (Sofia Wylie) playing lovers despite Ricky’s relationship with Gina. Joshua Bassett’s Ricky is unconvincing in the role of someone who is okay with it. What we don’t get is any indication that Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, or Ashley Tisdale will be showing up when the series debuts on August 9, but we choose to believe. They’re all in this together, right?

HSM: The Musical: The Series Gets Even More Meta, Somehow