Larry Saperstein Clues Us into the 'High School Musical: The Musical: The Series' Season 2 Drama (EXCLUSIVE)

It wasn’t hard to fall in love with High School Musical: The Musical: The Series with its insanely talented cast of characters and dramatic (but also funny) plotlines. Now that we're familiar with Olivia Rodrigo’s viral hits and know Joshua Bassett as a guitar-playing Troy Bolton, we’re on the edge of our seats for a long-awaited Season 2.

Like everything else during the COVID-19 pandemic, filming was complicated, but High School Musical: The Musical: The Series’ Larry Saperstein (who plays Big Red) spoke exclusively with Distractify to fill us in on some Season 2 spoilers. Season 2 premieres on May 14, and we have an inside look into what to expect for the upcoming season.

Season 1 ended on a crazy cliffhanger. While it seemed that Ricky and Nini may have figured out their romance at least a little bit, some of the ensemble characters had plotlines left totally up in the air. 

Thank goodness we’re getting a Season 2 to tie up some of those loose strings, at least according to Larry. 

“One of the things that’s really great about this season is that we really get to dive deeper into all of those things that were set up right at the end of Season 1… So we look at how they explore these new friendships and new relationships," he told Distractify. 

"Every single character starts to discover the things that make them happy and the things that make them excited and the things that they’re passionate about.”

Isn’t that what high school is all about? Last season, we saw Big Red on the precipice of a relationship with Ashlyn. Now, with more time given to the entire ensemble, we’re really going to get to see how their relationship plays out — along with Ricky and Nini’s of course.

There’s nothing better than a good old-fashioned school rivalry. It hearkens back to the days of Grease, which many think the original High School Musical is loosely based on, with the T-Birds versus the Scorpions. 

Now, we get to see East High and North High go head-to-head in the “Alan Menken Awards for Musical Theater” with Beauty and the Beast versus The Little Mermaid. Not only that, but we might also get a new love triangle.

Larry shared that the new cast members just upped the ante for everyone. “Having Olivia Rose Keegan and Andrew Feldman and Derek Hough... along with a bunch of other amazing talented people is really exciting. And I think it speaks to what this show has done for people and what the fan base is. If these incredible artists want to be on our show, that’s just really really cool to look at.”

Let’s be honest, we love the characters and the storylines, but some of us just watch High School Musical: The Musical: The Series for the insane talent and catchy tunes. 

And while many of us are old-school HSM aficionados, it was way too easy to get hooked on the new show’s original music. 

“The original songs this season… are INSANE," Larry gushed. "They are twice as good as what was in Season 1... I think the original music is where this season shines because we really get to see every single person have something special. And just the way that those numbers are filmed and put together is going to be absolutely incredible.”

Plus, the cast’s renditions of the “classic and iconic” Beauty and the Beast songs we know so well are sure to rock our preconceptions of musical theater. So now we know to all be ready for some more earworms and more drama with Season 2 of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.

Stream Season 2 of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series starting May 14 on Disney+.