Tim Federle previews the start of something new.
But the musical comedy may not be what fans of the original franchise are expecting.
And thats all by design of showrunnerTim Federle.
Natalie Cass/Disney+
In fact, Federle himself wasnt in theHigh School Musicalfanbase when the movies first came out.
I was not somebody who grew up with it; I was out of the demographic.
I was theGrease,Little Shop of Horrorsgeneration.
Fred Hayes/Disney+
There was this great excitement to get a teen musical back on the air, Federle says.
They didnt quite know what to do with it.
This was the formula we all agreed upon.
Fred Hayes/Disney+
Revisiting this franchise through a self-referential lens was inspired by Federles love of mockumentaries likeThe OfficeandWaiting For Guffman.
And I wanted to differentiate us from the original [movies] right away.
Sometimes the most exciting rendition of a song is just a voice and a piano.
The lip-sync, Auto-Tune era is played out.
Thats why casting all the roles with the right performers was Federles top priority during development.
Casting was key and we looked really, really hard for this group.
Once all the roles were cast, Federle discovered an unintended benefit from his stars.
Theyre the real deal.
Its about eliminating gatekeepers and letting these voices sings as purely as possible.
Theres an episode that takes place at a homecoming dance, he says.
