REVIEW: ‘High School Musical: The Musical: The Holiday Special’ is Near Perfect

Even though the premiere date of season two has not been announced yet, fans of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series are in for a treat as the HSMTM: The Holiday Special aired on Disney+. The holiday special is its own thing, meaning that it has nothing to do with events that happened in the first season of the series. Instead, the cast tells stories about their holiday memories and sing their favorite holiday songs. Fans will also be excited to know that Joshua Bassett, who plays Ricky in the series, sings an original song that will be in the second season of the show. In addition, there is a world premiere of a song that the cast will sing in season two after opening up an Instagram account for the drama club.

I was pleasantly surprised with how the HSMTM: The Holiday Special decided to interview the show’s cast about their holiday memories. Each main cast member got a chance to talk and then sang a holiday song. It was great to hear more about each cast member outside of the show, as that sort of information is mostly shared through more traditional interviews. Fans also get to hear more from cast members who normally don’t get their own spotlight, such as Larry Saperstein, who plays Big Red, and Joe Serafini, who plays Seb. These sorts of specials help audience members and fans of the show connect with the cast and possibly have fans think of their own holiday memories.

When I heard that the HSMTM: The Holiday Special was going to include the cast singing holiday songs, I expected the cast to sing them together through Zoom or in-person but at a safe distance. However, I was excited to see that they would either sing in duets or by themselves. The songs served their purpose getting me into the holiday spirit. But it also got me excited for season two of the series. I also couldn’t help but miss the show seeing the cast sing. What made the songs much more special was that we got to hear every cast member sing, which is something that season one missed out on. Seeing Saperstein get his own song and Serafini singing a duet with Frankie Rodriguez was fantastic. I’m hoping that other main cast members who didn’t get to sing much in season one have more to sing in season two.

HSMTM: The Holiday Special isn’t just going to get fans into the holiday spirit. It also hyped season two by premiering two new songs. There won’t be any spoilers as to what the songs are about, but they definitely captured the mood and tone of what the show is about. I had a bit of skepticism about the longevity of a show based on High School Musical, since the in-show cast won’t be performing High School Musical 2 for the second season. But if the songs in the holiday special prove anything, it’s that at the least, there should be no worries about the quality of the original songs.

Overall, I really enjoyed watching the HSMTM: The Holiday Special. Getting to hear more about the cast and how they celebrated the holidays will have fans of the show feeling more connected to the cast. They’ll also get to know more about how music played a role in their lives and how music affected their holidays. The songs included in this holiday special will put fans in the holiday spirit and build up hype for season two. The new songs will also give fans a look at what to expect for season two, which is very exciting. I always wanted the original cast of the first High School Musical film to release a Christmas album, but I’m glad this new cast of the show has released holiday songs for fans to enjoyed.

The HSMTM: The Holiday Special is available for streaming on Disney+.