High School Musical: The Musical: The Series season 2 musical is not High School Musical 2

What time is it? Time for Disney+‘s High School Musical series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series to announce its season 2 musical. But if you were betting on High School Musical 2, prepare yourself for some shocking news.

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series is actually doing Beauty and the Beast for its show-within-a-show instead of the High School Musical sequel. So rather than Ricky (Joshua Bassett), Nini (Olivia Rodrigo), and the rest of the East High theater kids singing “What Time Is It?” they’ll be putting on a production with songs including
“Be Our Guest” and “Beauty and the Beast.” Take a moment to let that sink in. Is it too late to petition showrunner Tim Federle to change the spring musical to High School Musical 2?

“The outpouring of love and support for season 1 has been incredibly exciting, and I’m thrilled that the Wildcats are putting on Beauty and the Beast in season 2,” Federle said in a statement. “It was one of the first Broadway shows I ever saw, when I was 14, and it’s got all the perfect metaphors for the high school experience: Do people judge me for how I look? What is true love? Will I achieve the future I dream of? And, perhaps most importantly, it’s got dancing forks.”

And don’t worry — season 2 of the GLAAD Media Award-nominated series will still feature reimagined musical numbers from the High School Musical movies in addition to the stage production of Beauty and the Beast, plus some brand-new songs. In fact, production has already started in Salt Lake City on the new season and EW has your first look at the cast singing the Disney classic’s title song, which you can watch in the video above.

Returning as series regulars in season 2 are Rodrigo, Bassett, Matt Cornett (“E.J.”), Sofia Wylie (“Gina”), Larry Saperstein (“Big Red”), Julia Lester (“Ashlyn”), Dara Reneé (“Kourtney”), Frankie Rodriguez (“Carlos”), Mark St. Cyr (“Mr. Mazzara”), and Kate Reinders (“Miss Jenn”). Joe Serafini (“Seb”) has been promoted to series regular for the new season.

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series is slated for a late 2020 debut on Disney+.

Related content:

• See Joshua Bassett cover Vanessa Hudgens’ epic ballad on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series
• Disney+’s High School Musical series showrunner on honoring the franchise with a fresh take
• Watch Disney+’s High School Musical series stars geek out over the original franchise