'HSMTMTS' casts original movie stars Monique Coleman, Kaycee Stroh, and more for season 4 (original) (raw)

Original cast members of High School Musical are all in this together once again.

On Friday, Disney announced that East High alum Monique Coleman, as well as fan-favorite faculty members Alyson Reed and Bart Johnson, will be reprising their iconic roles in season 4 of the Disney+ series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. The trio join castmates Corbin Bleu, Kaycee Stroh, and Lucas Grabeel, who have all appeared in previous seasons of the show and will also be returning for the upcoming season.

However, it sounds like their epic reunion might cause a bit of trouble for the current East High students — including Joshua Bassett, Sofia Wylie, and Dara Reneé — who are trying to stage a production of High School Musical 3: Senior Year.

Kaycee Stroh, Monique Coleman, and Lucas Grabeel. Tiffany Rose/Getty Images; Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic; Paul Archuleta/Getty Images

As an official release notes, "plans are disrupted when Principal Gutierrez announces that Disney has decided to make the long-awaited High School Musical 4: The Reunion movie on location at their beloved high school." It added that this season will feature original songs as well as music from the High School Musical films.

Noticeably left out from Disney's casting announcement are three of the original film series' biggest stars: Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, and Ashley Tisdale. Over the summer, both Hudgens and Efron posted photos in front of East High on social media, prompting long-time fans of the series to suspect that they might also be appearing in the series.

While chatting with EW back in July, however, executive producer Tim Federle shut down any speculation surrounding their involvement — at least in terms of season 3.

"I would be lying to you if I said that there's some big Zac and Vanessa plan at this point," he said. "I've been hammering away at this quietly and slowly for years: As long as this show is on the air, I will not sleep until Zac, Vanessa, Ashley [Tisdale], and Monique [Coleman] do the series in some way. It is all in the works, but I would not hold your breath for a big appearance in season 3."

But, perhaps, season 4? We'll just have to wait and see. After all, production is already underway in Salt Lake City after the show was renewed back in May. Alongside its roster of current and former students, Disney announced that Kylie Cantrall, Matthew Sato, Caitlin Reilly, and Vasthy Mompoint have also been cast as series regulars.

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