

Iger was saying, “Let’s put our music together and get out there and do something to raise the spirits and to make people aware of, and would you be interested in perhaps helming the ‘We’re All in This Together’ segment?” And I was like, “Absolutely!” Which was the exact reaction that I got from every single person who I called. And no sooner did he do that then I got a call from Raj Kapoor, the producer working for the project, and just said it was kind of a call to arms from Bob Iger. Gary Marsh, the president and CEO of Disney Channels Worldwide, kind of gave me a heads up that something was in the works. How and when did Disney approach you with the idea to do “We’re All in This Together”?

To help families that are in a real vulnerable place right now that need food banks to put food on their table…we’re going to have lots of music and lots of familiar faces, but also really driving the importance of people knowing about. You know, it’s been a little challenging, but this whole coming together for the ABC special tonight has just really lifted my spirits, and certainly our reason for doing it is to lift others’ spirits.Īnother huge reason why I think all of the artists jumped in so quickly - not only as an opportunity through music to raise the spirits of those watching - but also this whole. How are you doing? How’s quarantining been going for you? What culminated at the end of the concert special on Thursday night was truly a sight to behold: More than two dozen stars, led by Ortega with a special introduction from Troy Bolton himself, singing and dancing along to the empowering message of “We’re All in This Together,” reminding millions of viewers quarantined at home that the best way through troubled times is, indeed, together.īelow, Billboard chatted with the High School Musical director before the sing-a-long special about what it took to pull off the epic closing number, the HSM trilogy’s enduring legacy, and why the message of “We’re All in This Together” resonates now more than ever in the age of social distancing.
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“Kenny was really the only person who could rally all these people, including Zac Efron, to return,” Mills adds.įrom there, support began pouring in, with the cast of the Disney+ series as well as stars from other Disney Channel Original Movies like The Cheetah Girls ( Raven-Symoné) Descendants ( Dove Cameron, Booboo Stewart, Sofia Carson) and Zombies (Milo Manheim, Meg Donnelly) jumping aboard the HSM bandwagon. Within days of their trusted director reaching out, the idea to close the show with a special performance of “We’re All in This Together” took shape, with the entire original cast - including Tisdale, Hudgens, Corbin Bleu, Lucas Grabeel, Monique Coleman and an eleventh-hour Efron - signing on to participate. It also spawned two massively successful sequels (as well as a meta 2019 series on Disney+) and inspired an entire generation of Disney-loving millennials with its idealistic message that “We’re All in This Together.”įast-forwarding to 2020, Ortega - who helmed the franchise as director and choreographer of all three HSM films - was the one person who could get the gang back together. Virtually overnight, the film turned Zac Efron, Ashley Tisdale, a then-unknown Vanessa Hudgens and the rest of the East High Wildcats into global superstars. Premiering to a jaw-dropping 7.7 million viewers upon its initial broadcast, the little made-for-TV musical about jocks, overachievers and drama kids coming together over their love of musical theater shattered the status quo.


Back in the winter of 2006, the premiere of High School Musical marked the start of something new for the Disney Channel.
