‘High School Musical’ Turns 20: Your Burning Questions Answered by Kenny Ortega & Monique Coleman (VIDEO)

The year 2026 is a major milestone for Disney. January 20 marks the 20th anniversary of High School Musical. To celebrate two decades with the East High Wildcats, we’re getting our heads back in the Disney Channel franchise game with director and choreographer Kenny Ortega and Taylor McKessie herself, actress Monique Coleman. Together, the duo took us behind the scenes, revealing answers to some of the biggest High School Musical fan questions.

When Ortega and Coleman sat down with TV Insider, they revealed one massive casting room secret that fans may not know. While Coleman is known for her iconic role of East High’s resident brainiac, Taylor, she actually auditioned for Gabriella, a role that later went to Vanessa Hudgens.

“I initially auditioned for the role of Gabriella, and it was not a great audition,” Coleman explained. However, instead of just walking away from the audition without a word, Coleman revealed to TV Insider that she explicitly told the casting directors before leaving, “I want you to know that I know that that was not the best audition that you’ve seen and that I’m a much better actress than what you saw in here today.” She recalled, “I believe that in that moment they saw Taylor McKessie.”

Monique Coleman and Corbin Bleu in High School Musical / Everett Collection

Once the cast was assembled, with Zac Efron and Hudgens taking on the roles of unlikely duet partners, Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez, Ashley Tisdale and Lucas Grabeel playing their Winter Musicale rivals, Sharpay and Ryan Evans, and Coleman and Corbin Bleu portraying their East High besties, Taylor McKessie and Chad Danforth, Ortega began to bring the small screen story of High School Musical to life, similar to how others would prep for a Broadway show.

“I had hoped that it was going to advance my career as a long-form director,” Ortega candidly told TV Insider, looking back to the start of the project. “Once I met [the young actors], and we started into the project, I realized, ‘Whoa, this is something very, very special.'”

According to the prolific choreographer, who had previously worked with Cher, Madonna, Michael Jackson, and more icons, “There was a day on set where we were doing ‘We’re All in This Together,’ and the music was blaring into the speakers, and the cast was in full mode choreography, and I looked out into the gym, and I said, ‘This is gonna be big.'” Dare we say, the “Start of Something New.”

Of course, High School Musical has sparked countless conversations over the years, so we’d be remiss not to ask the director and one of the stars to answer some of the internet’s biggest questions about the franchise. First on our list of burning questions revolved around the Winter Musicale itself, Twinkle Towne. While we know the lead roles are Minnie and Arnold, viewers receive very little information about the show’s plot, which somehow includes both the emotional duet “Breaking Free” and the Latin-inspired dance number “Bop to the Top.”

While Coleman and Ortega admitted that, honestly, they still have no idea what Kelsi (Olesya Rulin) and Ms. Darbus (Alyson Reed) had intended for the plot of Twinkle Towne to be, they knew one person who would. “If you really wanted to know the answer to that question, ask Alyson Reed,” Ortega explained. “She really took that off the page and brought Ms. Darbus to life.” Sounds like we’re going to have to call up Ms. Darbus herself for the answer!

Ashley Tisdale in High School Musical / Everett Collection

We’ve never met a thespian who didn’t like High School Musical, so naturally, our next question goes out to the theater kids. For years now, fans have been saying that Sharpay Evans is not the true villain of the story. In fact, she put years of heart and soul into the drama club, only to see the lead roles in their musical go to two kids who sang karaoke together once. Ortega has a different perspective on the internet’s “Sharpay Is the Victim” theory.

“Sharpay hasn’t been training for years and years,” Ortega fired back. “She’s been wanting for years and years. She’s been primping in the mirror. She’s been focused on costumes, makeup, and all the wrong things. And, [in the end] she realizes it and lets it go.” That being said, Ortega still loves the character. He told TV Insider, “God bless Ashley Tisdale for bringing all of those great colors to the role.”

“From what I understand, it was actually difficult for her, for Disney to allow her to be seen in that way because her character Maddie on The Suite Life of Zack & Cody was so different,” Coleman revealed. “But she really did fight for it and brought everything she did to that role.

Corbin Bleu and Lucas Grabeel in High School Musical 2 / Disney+

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While High School Musical 2 doesn’t turn twenty for another year, we couldn’t help but ask Ortega and Coleman about the biggest unanswered question from the franchise: Was Chad and Ryan switching outfits after “I Don’t Dance” meant to signify a deeper meaning? As many have pointed out over the years, it’s hard to believe that one of Disney Channel’s most queer-coded characters (Ryan) would switch outfits with another guy without the scene having some kind of underlying message.

When asked how they feel about fans picking up on these details over the years, Ortega explained, “That’s the Easter Egg. That’s the only Easter Egg I think we have in the three movies, that I know about.”

Watch our full interview with Kenny Ortega and Monique Coleman above, and be sure to find out their take on where the East High Wildcats would be 20 years later on our sister site, Swooon!

High School Musical, Streaming Now, Disney+