Disney+'s incredibly popular High School Musical: The Musical: The Series returns for a second season, and the stakes are even higher. Coming on the heels of the sci-fi and superhero success of The Mandalorian and Marvel's The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, the latest offering dials down the action but certainly turns up the bombast of musical theater performances.
Season 2 brings the beloved cast and characters back to East High, but this time their teacher Miss Jenn (Kate Reinders) signs them up for a regional competition where they'll be bringing the Disney classic Beauty and the Beast to life. It may be a tall order, but at least she's got respected frienemy and head of the robotics club Mr. Mazzara (Mark St. Cyr) on hand if anything goes terribly wrong.
Reinders and St. Cyr spoke to Screen Rant about how Miss Jenn and Mr. Mazzara prepare for a face-off against North High, and what they've each learned from the kids about life and theater.
Mark, how is Mr. Mazzara feeling about losing students to theater?
Mark St. Cyr: Oh, man. I think he's turning a new leaf on the way he views it. I don't think he views it as losing students to theater is much. I think he's changed his mind. He no longer sees it as losing students the theater, he sees it as potentially enriching the youth of East High.
Kate, Miss Jenn's past is coming back to haunt her present. Can you talk a little bit how that's affecting her decisions this season?
Kate Reinders: Listen, bring an ex-boyfriend into any situation, and it makes it a little messy. Am I right? Miss Jenn has more to deal with than she was planning on. However, she can always make it work.
Speaking of making it work, I love how Miss Jenn always teaches the students valuable lessons about life and theatre. Would you say that High School Musical has taught you anything about the process of theater, or even about being on Disney+ and beloved by millions of teenagers?
Kate Reinders: I would say it has taught me to appreciate every phase of your life. It has reminded me how magical my teenage years in theater were and has given me a new appreciation of now being seasoned, as I like to say. I love watching what's happening with them. So yes, it does. Teaches you about life and life teaches you about theater. It's symbiotic.
Mark St. Cyr: Yes, I would agree with that. It definitely has helped me see my own high school theater years in a different light. It really is a show in and of itself putting on a show in high school. Always, but in high school especially.
Aside from a newfound appreciation for theater, I also feel Mr. Mazzara has a newfound appreciation for Miss Jen. Can you talk about how your dynamic has evolved?
Mark St. Cyr: Yeah, I think at the end of season one, he finds himself enjoying being part of something that is all in it together, and he enjoys assisting with the show. I don't think he's planning on it, but when the applause happens and the robotics club stickers fall, he feels like he gets to be a part of something. It lifts other people up, and the thing that he cares about can also be a part of it.
I think he's viewing [her] no longer as an enemy, but as a comrade in the teacher space. Miss Jenn, that's a fellow teacher. Because at the beginning of season one, she's not a teacher, she's a person without a last name. Now he's viewing her as a potential teacher and potentially even a friend. That's as far as I think he's made it by the beginning of season 2.
Miss Jenn still has Ricky's father, Mike, in the picture. How are things progressing or not with him?
Kate Reinders: Well, that is complicated as well. Miss Jenn met Mike not knowing he was the father of one of her students, but of course that is not something she can ignore. Miss Jenn, like any parent or like any teacher, has to struggle with her own desires and what's best for your kids. You'll just have to see what happens.
You both have this wonderful opportunity to work with so many future faces of the industry. Is there anything that you feel you've passed down to the kids or even that you've learned from them?
Kate Reinders: Mark, say the thing that we say about Sofia.
Mark St. Cyr: Sofia [Wylie] is the youngest member of our cast, yet she conducts herself with such a high level of professionalism and enthusiasm and joy and maturity. Whenever somebody has a moment where they're feeling like they're not at their best, or they're not figuring out how to behave in this moment, the saying on set is "What would Sofia do?" because she's just so exemplary of what we would all want to be. She's a really good example for me of genuine enthusiasm.
The younger cast has definitely taught me this sense of boldness, especially Olivia, Josh and Sofia. They all have this believing in themselves attitude, and it doesn't ever come across as egotistical, but the level of belief in what they can accomplish is very high. And it makes you think, "Wait, maybe I should be believing more in what I can accomplish too."
I have loved every musical number thus far, and how there's always a spin on songs that already exist. Do you each have a favorite musical number from season 1?
Kate Reinders: I mean, it's picking your children, isn't it? "Wondering." Every time we hear it, love it. "All I Want," I'm so proud, and I can't believe Olivia wrote it. And the duet they wrote is fantastic.
Mark St. Cyr: "Just for a Moment" is really enjoyable.
Kate Reinders: But Joe Serafini singing "Stick to the Status Quo" in the original key!
Mark St. Cyr: It's really Broadway right there.
Is there anything that you'd like to see from Mr. Mazzara or from Miss Jenn, if not this season, in future seasons?
Mark St. Cyr: I'm very curious how Mr. Mazzara would express himself musically, and that's something I would like to see at some point.
Kate Reinders: I don't want to see anything that might spoil anything that happens, but I am going in the correct direction.
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series premieres its second season May 14 through Disney+.