Well, I'd been hearing non-stop about this new made-for-TV movie musical -- on the Internet, on Playbill.com, on the Disney channel and since I have two tweens (one 9 one 12 -- can you say "demographic"?) I knew it wouldn't be long before I saw it myself.

According to this article on Playbill:

High School Musical centers on the unlikely friendship that evolves between the jock Troy and brainiac Gabriella at a karaoke contest. Little did the two know that she would be transferring into his school. The duo decide -- against their friends' wishes and to the dismay of school stars (a drama queen and her twin brother) -- to audition for the high school musical.

The cast features Zac Efron (Summerland), Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale (The Suite Life of Zack and Cody), Corbin Bleu, Lucas Grabeel, Monique Coleman as the featured teens with Alyson Reed, Bart Johnson and Joey Miyashima.

I got to view it in the most ideal of circumstances -- in a hotel room with my kids eating room-service pizza -- so I was definitely in the right head space!

Apparently it is teen targeted, but my pre-teen kids just ate it up. As an adult, I found it a bit formulaic and predictable, but this is exactly the kind of TV stuff I would have DEVOURED as a tween. They even put the lyrics on the screen so you can sing-along (which will be a part of the DVD release):

According to Playbill:

Walt Disney Home Entertainment will put forth the debut DVD release which will include two versions of the approximately 98-minute film -- the original telecast version and a sing-along version, displaying lyrics on screen during musical numbers.

The release will also contain the following bonus features: a "Learn the Dance Moves" feature led by director-choreographer Kenny Ortega, an unseen music video for "I Can't Take My Eyes Off of You," the music video of "We're All In This Together" and a Behind-The-Scenes feature about the making of the movie.

Oh. My. Gawd. Does it get any better than that?

Personally, I think anything that gets young kids interested in the idea that musicals are cool and interesting is great. And the movie's message that all kinds of teens (jocks, brainiacs) are interested in musicals is a great one. And hats off to Disney for making the composer/lyricist in the movie a girl. (If memory serves, she is described as a "sawed off Sondheim" since she is sort of short). Of course it has all the typical stereotypes and everyone is pretty or handsome, but what did you expect (this is TV after all...)

According to Disney, the TV special has done so well both in ratings and on the soundtrack, they are planning a sequel.

As a marketer, I love the idea that they are making movies about kids making musicals, so that the kids watching will then grow up and want to go see Disney shows on Broadway. Hey, if you have to grow your own consumers, so be it!

Technorati tags: Broadway Music Movie Musicals Musicals Blog Blogs Theater Theatre Entertainment