Offers to Appear in HSMTMTS' Final Season Sent to All OG 'High School Musical' Stars, Kenny Ortega & Olivia Rodrigo

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series has aired it’s final season ever on Disney+!

In the new episodes, it gets a bit more meta than usual as they film High School Musical 4: The Reunion, and we get several appearances from OG cast members of the original movie franchise.

However, there were some notably missing, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t an effort to get them on.

In recent interviews, series creator and showrunner Tim Federle revealed he had reached out to everyone.

Find out more inside…

As previously announced, those that were able to return and reprise their characters were Lucas Grabeel, Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman, Bart Johnson, Alyson Reed and Kaycee Stroh.

“The big three,” as they’ve been coined by fans – Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale – were all invited but were unable to join.

“Ashley called me personally and was so lovely. She’s very busy launching brands and it just wasn’t the right timing,” the showrunner told TribLIVE. “And I got the feeling with Zac and Vanessa, who I don’t know personally but I’m a fan, reading the tea leaves, that by the time you get into negotiating what this would take, we’re gonna wrap and the show will be over.”

Offers also went out to HSM director/choreographer Kenny Ortega, as well as Olivia Rodrigo, who both were unable to as well.

“We went out to anyone who is a part of the legacy, including my beloved friend Kenny Ortega to play himself, and he wasn’t available. So we created this character for brilliant comedian Caitlin Reilly. The invitation was extended. I did not expect as many yeses as we got. People are busy, schedules happen, and it just doesn’t always work out,” Tim told Vanity Fair.

“It was really hard. Her schedule is extremely packed now, as it should be as the poet laureate of angsty ballads. So it didn’t work out,” he added about Olivia. “But I was also at peace with how we said goodbye in season three. One of the testaments to the luck of the casting of the show was Sofia Wylie, who began the show as the villain and really took the final bow as our leading lady. That was a seamless transition.”

In case you missed it, be sure to check out the season four opening musical number, which features OGs Lucas Grabeel, Monique Coleman, Corbin Bleu and Kaycee Stroh singing a new original song!

Sharpay, Troy and Gabriella are even briefly mentioned in the scene…

If you recall, BOTH Zac and Vanessa posted photos outside East High within just a few weeks of each other back in the summer of 2022, before filming on the season began. See his photo HERE and see her photo HERE.

A couple of months later, Tim said that it was just a “divine coincidence” that they were there.