The COVID-19 global health crisis has resulted in a show business trend: reunions. Supermodels are reuniting, ex-lovers are reuniting, cast members from medical shows are reuniting, the cast of Hamilton reunited, and boy bands might be reuniting too.
Celebrities want to make people feel good and send messages of support. They also… don’t want to be forgotten. But they also know that they can’t seem too thirsty when people out here are struggling. A reunion is the perfect combination of feel good do goodness that also satisfies the need to be seen.
Vanessa Hudgens, who fumbled early during the lockdown, when she went on Instagram and didn’t seem to take the pandemic seriously and called coronavirus deaths “inevitable”, posted a High School Musical reunion photo the other day:
Nice pivot.
Zac Efron, obviously, didn’t participate. I mentioned to Kathleen, who is (was?) obsessed with High School Musical, and she told me that they reunite often and that Zac never shows up. There’s always a Justin Timberlake in the bunch, isn’t there? This is what I love about Harry Styles. He’s never too big to talk about the beginning, and he’s never embarrassed by his boy band beginning, and he’s definitely never embarrassed about the fact that his popularity comes from boy band fans. But this is not how it usually looks.
Usually they try to “man up” and away from that past. Leonardo DiCaprio has put as much distance as he can between his Titanic teen heartthrob and whoever he thinks he became. Zac Efron has followed in that tradition.
Yesterday it was announced that there will be a proper High School Musical reunion this Friday on The Disney Family Singalong with director Kenny Ortega back along with the cast, the full cast. Per Deadline:
“I wanted to find something I can do to participate and it was so great to be given the call and invited by ABC to join,” Ortega told Deadline. “It gave me a purpose to get up every morning. I feel really good that we have an opportunity to do something like this — it’s good medicine.”
That said, he asked actors and artists from his movies and TV series to participate in an epic performance of the High School Musical anthem “We’re All In This Together” for the special. Of the participants, he wrangled the East High Wildcats from High School Musical and Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman and Lucas Grabeel — and all agreed to participate in one way or another. In a last-minute addition, Zac Efron agreed to come on board to send a message during the special.’
We couldn’t reach Zac until late but when we did, he immediately jumped in, of course,” Ortega said. “Everyone we reached out to was quick — and you’ll see it in their spirit and the way they come together from their homes. They recognize this is an opportunity to strengthen spirits for those joining us for the broadcast.”
“We couldn’t reach Zac until late.” Everyone’s so busy right now, you know? So he’s not singing, he’s sending a message. Which of course makes it obvious that of all the cast members, he’s at a different hierarchy, you know? Since when did Zac Efron become Ryan Gosling?!
Maybe that’s a bad attitude from me right now. All that matters is that he’ll be there, right? That he’s agreed to show his face and do his part to bring joy to people who need it. Zac Efron, benevolent superstar.
Attached - Vanessa Hudgens picking up food in LA last week.
