WARNING: The following contains spoilers for High School Musical: The Musical: The Series Season 2, Episode 1, “New Year’s Eve,” streaming now on Disney+.

After their successful performance in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series Season 1, everyone in the theater department at East High expects that they will stage the sequel for their Spring musical. However, when it comes time to officially announce the plans for the Spring, their director, Miss Jen, throws them a curveball. They are going to put on Beauty and the Beast instead.

Season 1 was a roller coaster for everyone involved with the High School Musical production, especially Miss Jen. She is lively and enthusiastic, and even though it is her first year teaching, her students trust her. However, Miss Jen might have heavily exaggerated her credentials in order to get her job. That notwithstanding, her students love her, so when the principal found out about her forged credentials, her students rallied around her and found a way for her to keep her job.

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HSM:TM:TS Cast

The series is set at East High, the school where High School Musical was filmed, so when Miss Jen was deciding on a production for her first year, the classic musical was an obvious choice. Although Season 1, and its culminative production of the show, was filled with all kinds of drama and difficult choices, the final product turned out rather well. Their audience enjoyed the show, and more importantly, the cast grew closer together as the season ended.

When Season 2 opens, winter break has just started, and everyone is excited for the holiday season. More than that, though, they are excited for what their theater department is going to do when school resumes. Everyone knows the answer – High School Musical 2. People are rehearsing auditions, playing songs and guessing who is going to play who. They are right, too. That is Miss Jen’s plan. At least, it is until Miss Jen runs into an old boyfriend, now nemesis, while costume shopping.

Zack Roy attended North High with Miss Jen, where she practically pulled him off of the lacrosse field to play the lead opposite her in Guys and Dolls. After the show, Zack found himself with a scholarship to a high-profile college, while Miss Jen was wait-listed at a less prestigious school. From there, Zack left her in the dust and went on to become an understudy for the Prince Eric in The Little Mermaid on Broadway. Miss Jen naturally feels jealous and embarrassed and tries to sneak away, but she is caught.

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HSM:TM:TS Jen and Zac

Zack flaunts his success at Miss Jen while insulting her school’s performance of High School Musical. Then, he tells her that he is now teaching drama at their old school, North High. The school has basically given him a blank check to stage The Little Mermaid, and he is confident that the production is going to be stellar. He is so confident that he is entering his school in the Alan Menken Awards for High School Musical Theater, which awards $50,000 to the winning theater program.

Miss Jen plays nice at the costume store, but after that, she cannot help herself. She desperately wants to beat her old boyfriend and show that her theater program is just as good as his. Besides, the $50,000 check could also help the program tremendously. So, she decides to do something dramatic. She enters her school in the competition, but she knows that High School Musical 2 is not going to beat a Disney musical at a Disney-themed competition.

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She interrupts her cast’s New Year’s Eve party to tell them the big news: they are going to stage Beauty and the Beast, and they are going to win that competition. While everyone is thrilled with the idea, trouble is brewing. Unbeknownst to all but one person, Nini, their female lead, is moving to Denver to attend the Youth Actors’ Conservatory, and once he finds out, Ricky, her boyfriend, might quit too. So, it remains to be seen if they can compete with Zack’s big budget production when they are putting on a show without their full cast.

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series starts Olivia Rodrigo, Joshua Bassett, Kate Reinders, Matt Cornett, Sofia Wylie, Larry Saperstein, Julia Lester, Dara Reneé, Frankie A. Rodriguez, Mark St. Cyr, Joe Serafini, Derek Hough, Roman Banks, Olivia Rose Keegan, Andrew Barth Feldman and Asher Angel. New episodes premier Fridays on Disney+.

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