A popular jock falls for a nerdy girl he met on New Year's Eve, and has to hide his feelings when she transfers to his high school. Zac Efron play start athlete Troy Bolton in this Disney Channel original movie. Troy is the star of the basketball team, and he's got two major secrets: 1) That he loves to sing, and 2) That's he's already met the new girl. Over winter break. And she knows his first secret. Vanessa Hudgens plays Gabriella Montez, a super-smart shy girl who's just transferred to East High. When she sees Troy, her first instinct is to go say hi, but then she sees the fuss everyone in school makes over him, and she realizes that this isn't the same Troy she sang a duet with on New Year's Eve. Eventually, though, she does speak with him and convinces him to try out for the spring musical, which is unheard of for any previous basketball players, or anyone outside the theatre department in general. The favorites of the theatre department, brother and sister team Ryan and Sharpay Evans (played by Lucas Grabeel and Ashley Tisdale, respectively), are enraged to hear that Troy and Gabriella aren't sticking to their cliques. Ryan and Sharpay want the leads in the musical and do not need their spotlight stolen by a shy geek and a pigheaded jock, no matter how popular he is. With a little help from their friends, Troy and Gabriella start practicing, and eventually wow the drama teacher into letting them have a callback. Their crossing of the cliques has and unforseen affect on the rest of East High. People are starting to admit their guilty pleasures, and they don't feel guilty about it. To Sharpay, that's an absolute tragedy, so she does her best to put people in their place. She tries to get Gabriella out of the way, partly because she's got a crush on Troy, and partly because Troy can't make his callback if his partner is off in California doing a STEM program on scholarship. Sharpay breaks it to Troy that Gabriella's education is more important than the musical, and for a while it seems like the show won't go on. However, at the last moment, Gabriella pulls some strings and is able to make callbacks. She and Troy once again impress the theatre teacher, and ultimately beat out Ryan and Sharpay for the leads in the spring musical.
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Best part of story, including ending:
I really liked this story because it was a modern, disney spin on Grease (complete with multiple musical numbers)
Best scene in story:
My favorite part was Ryan and Sharpay's "Bop to the Top" audition song. It was incredibly low-budget, but the characters owned the stage, and it was just fun to watch.
Opinion about the main character:
What I like most about Troy was that he used his power as a leading jock to change the school's stereotype against expression.
