‘High School Musical’ goes to camp (and brings Corbin Bleu along)

Because so much happened while shooting the second season of “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series,” creator Tim Federle didn’t want to overthink the third.

“We had COVID and shutdowns and Olivia (Rodrigo’s) music career exploding. It was a hard season, a long season,” he says, “so we just wanted to refresh and breathe and say to the audience, ‘Hey, it’s “High School Musical.’”

The solution: Send the kids to camp.

In the third season, a group of East High Wildcats head to Camp Shallow Lake for a summer of theater fun. As a surprise, Corbin Bleu – one of the original “HSM” actors – turns up as himself, looking to film a documentary about summer camp.

A host of guest stars also appear. And those regulars who don’t appear to be on the cast list? Don’t dismay. “All of your loved ones probably appear in some meaningful way this season,” Federle says. Rodrigo, for example, is an important part of the storyline and doesn’t just phone it in.

For Bleu, who hadn’t been in Wildcats mode in years, “it was a very easy yes.” Federle gave him several options and when they landed on one, “I just felt there’s no way I couldn’t be a part of this.”

For the young actors, it was “mind-blowing” to have him in the show, says Saylor Belle Curda, who plays Maddox. “He would give us these speeches – ‘I’m so glad that you guys are the ones continuing this.’ It’s absolutely insane and I couldn’t be more grateful for it.”

The original, which also starred Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens, was slated as just another Disney Channel movie of the week. “We weren’t expecting to make the lightning in a bottle that we did,” Bleu says. “High School Musical” blew up, spawned sequels and launched the stars’ film and theater careers.

“What surprises me even more is how it continues to inspire generations,” Bleu says.

When he and Jason Earles (who starred in “Hannah Montana” and appears in this outing of “HSM:TM:TS”) were in the Disney fold, TV movies were a different ballgame. “You just did your show, shot a couple of promos and showed up at Disneyland,” Earles says. “Now, it’s kind of a 24/7 never-ending engagement thing.”

Singing, dancing, acting? “There’s no faking it,” Earles says. “Nobody is pretending like they can dance when they can’t actually dance. I think there’s a level of authenticity now in these young performers. You could fake more stuff back in the day.”

Now, Federle says, “we live in the era of the multi-hyphenate.” The actors he casts – like Rodrigo and Joshua Bassett, who both landed record deals – have to be talented. “Some of it is luck, but I think I hire real theater kids and then get out of the way.”

Bassett and Rodrigo were writing music during the first season of the series and, nonchalantly, Federle remembers saying, “Maybe you guys should try writing for the show.” They did – “and it really took off.” Other cast members are offering their own songs.

“It’s an art, not a science,” Federle says. “But even more than just writing songs for the show, the most important thing to me is that these young people learn how to be good citizens of the world. When they go on beyond this show they’re, hopefully, bringing professionalism and decency to their own worlds, that are rapidly expanding.”

Julia Lester, who plays Ashlyn on the show, just opened on Broadway in “Into the Woods.” The experience – something the “HSM:TM:TS” characters dream about – “is better than anything I could have ever pictured. I’m constantly pinching myself.”

She’s loyal to the series, however, and, like others, wants to see where life leads after summer camp.

“We just got picked up for Season Four,” Federle says. “So we’re in the beginning conversations about the passing of the torch. I don’t think we’re quite at graduation yet. But, after summer camp, it definitely makes sense to go back to East High and see what happens when a two-week summer camp shakes up some of their senior years.”

“High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” begins its third season July 27 on Disney+.