SALT LAKE CITY — Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens rose to fame starring in Disney Channel’s “High School Musical,” where teenagers danced up and down locker-lined hallways, stylishly dribbled basketballs across a gymnasium floor and twirled into a red-and-white cafeteria.
But for architect Roger Jackson, the movie’s biggest star was a character that didn’t have any lines or dance moves. This character, though, was central to the movie and the “High School Musical” franchise at large: Salt Lake City’s historic East High School — the primary setting for the billion-dollar franchise.
“Kids from all over the country and literally all over the world know this building,” said Jackson, who was the project architect for the East High reconstruction in the 1990s. “I joke that this is one of the most famous buildings in the world … among a certain demographic.”
When “High School Musical” aired in January 2006, 7.7 million viewers tuned in, which at the time was a Disney Channel viewership record. Then the sequel came out a year later and brought in 18.6 million viewers, shattering that previous record. In total, more than 255 million people around the world have seen “High School Musical.”
So like the “Home Alone” house in Chicago, East High School has become a destination spot for “High School Musical” fans. During the summer of 2007 — when “High School Musical 2” aired — East High School received 40 to 50 visitors per day, People magazine reported.
More than a decade later, the building continues to draw visitors, who take tours of the school and snap selfies in front of the widely-recognized facade.
“There are families who have to divert their vacation through Salt Lake City so they can go look at this school,” Jackson said. “It’s become kind of a pilgrimage place.”
The school’s popularity will likely increase with “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series,” the new Disney Plus show that launched Nov. 12.
Unlike the “High School Musical” trilogy, which places East High in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the new series acknowledges the Salt Lake City location and even embraces the school’s actual mascot — students are now leopards, not wildcats.
And the story, as the title suggests, is a bit meta.
At East High School in Salt Lake City, Miss Jenn, the new drama teacher, was an extra in “High School Musical” years before and proposes doing a stage production of the movie at the very place the movies were filmed.
The series is a mockumentary and includes a mix of new songs and popular songs from the movie. At the start of the show, Nini (Olivia Rodrigo) has a new boyfriend, E.J. (Matt Cornett), and gets cast in the lead role of Gabriella (Hudgens’ character). Her ex-boyfriend Ricky (Joshua Bassett) tries out for the part of Troy (Efron’s character) in an attempt to win her back. The drama — on and off stage — unfolds over 10 episodes. The series has already been renewed for a second season, and production will resume early next year in Salt Lake City, Deadline reported.
Seeing the hallways and commons area he designed more than 20 years ago continue to come to life with choreographed dances is surreal for Jackson, who never could have imagined the reach his project at East High — a fairly run-of-the mill task for an architect — would have.
When Jackson was hired for the job, East High was the biggest building he’d ever worked on (since then, the Utah-based architect has worked on a number of temples for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and will be the lead designer for the upcoming Salt Lake Temple renovations that begin Dec. 30).
“The site was tricky. It’s a full Salt Lake City block, which is 10 acres,” he said. “Ten acres seems like a lot until you’ve got to put a high school on it.”
The bulk of the reconstruction — which Jackson said cost more than $30 million — happened in 1996 and involved demolishing the 1913 building that was one of the first schools in the Salt Lake Valley and survived a fire in the 1970s. That building meant a lot to Jackson — his mom graduated from East High in 1935 — and his team did careful brick detailing in an effort to maintain the collegiate, gothic style of the original building.
“We tried to save it. One of our architects was a pretty devout preservationist and he made a good pitch … but the district said ‘No, we want a new school,’” Jackson said. “We had a lot of meetings with the community and they wanted the school on 13th East, facing east. I mean it’s East High School — it has to face east.”
“High School Musical” premiered a decade after the reconstruction, and Jackson believes it was his work in the commons area that won the crew over — the stairs and terraces that create kind of a pecking order among the classes and also make for good dance numbers. In fact, when “High School Musical 2” was about to premiere, People magazine did a big story with a two-page spread that showed the beloved cast dancing along those very steps.
Jackson ripped the pages from the magazine, and it’s something he still proudly shows people today.
“Any high school is going to have hallways with lockers on both sides — those scenes could’ve been anywhere,” he said. “But to see them dancing in this big common space was really pretty great, because we wanted this to be a fun and dynamic space.”
East High hasn’t changed much since Jackson worked on the school. His four children went there, and his son was even an extra in “High School Musical 3: Senior Year.” While in college, one of his daughters took friends to see Sharpay’s pink locker. And when Jackson’s family housed a German exchange student a few years ago, visiting the school was one of the first things on her to-do list.
“We always believed that it would turn into something special,” Jackson said. “The building shows so well and it just looks so great. And that’s what makes the show.”