'HSMTMTS' First Look: Cast Tease 'Full-Circle' Season 4 with OG Wildcats (Exclusive)
The cast gave PEOPLE the scoop on season 4 of 'High School Musical: The Musical: The Series' during an exclusive set visit
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series season 4 is shaping up to be the show’s most nostalgic season yet, and PEOPLE has the exclusive First Look at the stars in character, including Joshua Bassett (Ricky), Sofia Wylie (Gina), Julia Lester (Ashlyn), Dara Reneé (Kourtney), Frankie Rodriguez (Carlos), Joe Serafini (Seb), Liamani Segura (Emmy) and more.
Following a transformative summer away at camp, the new season follows the East High students as they enter their senior year — and it doesn’t take long before the drama picks up, both on and off stage. As the students prepare to put on a stage production of High School Musical 3: Senior Year, their plans are quickly derailed when it’s announced that Disney is making the long-awaited High School Musical 4: The Reunion movie at their high school, and they'll all be playing featured extras.
When PEOPLE visited the HSMTMTS set last year, many of the stars teased that this season feels like a “full-circle” moment as many OG High School Musical stars make cameos, including Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman, Lucas Grabeel, Bart Johnson, Alyson Reed and Kaycee Stroh.
“We've been manifesting it since day one and here we are four seasons later and we finally get to be with the OG Wildcat Group,” explains Lester, 23. “They embody the OG Wildcat spirit, we embody this new Wildcat spirit, and two groups blended together has been so wonderful.”
Bassett, 22, adds that it was especially moving to witness the OG HSM cast’s emotional response to returning to East High nearly 15 years after the final film wrapped. “It was really special to share that,” he says. “It was truly a beautiful thing and beyond what we were hoping for to have so many original people back.”
This season will also feature two new recurring cast members who stir things up for the East High students.
Descendants: The Rise of Red’s Kylie Cantrall plays social media star Dani, who sounds like an HSMTMTS take on Ashley Tisdale's Sharpay. “She likes the spotlight and when she wants something, she goes and gets it, even if it means stepping on people's toes a little bit,” teases Cantrall, 17.
Meanwhile, Doogie Kameāloha, M.D. star Matthew Sato joins the cast as a sitcom actor named Mack, who he says “develops a really interesting relationship” with Gina as the season progresses.
Naturally, this season will feature countless nods to the original HSM franchise with the music, storylines and even costumes. “It is so meta,” showrunner Tim Federle says of season 4. “It's like Inception with jazz hands at this point. I think there are Easter eggs in every episode.”
The major storylines in this season also draw inspiration from the third High School Musical movie, as many of the characters go on journeys of self-discovery in their final year at East High.
“We chose High School Musical 3 because they're literally graduating,” Federle says of the significance behind the students’ musical for this year. “Troy and Gabriela have these stories about being potentially pulled apart by circumstance and by growing up and that's exactly what Ricky and Gina are going through,” he adds of Bassett and Sofia Wylie’s characters, who share a passionate kiss at the end of season 3.
Fred Hayes/Disney
As for that season 3 cliffhanger, Bassett teases that fans will continue to see the “aftermath” of that relationship in the upcoming season. “They're both really nervous about getting it right,” he says of Ricky and Gina. “It’s fun to see [them] in this light and actually see them in a healthy relationship because I think both of them have had pretty not great relationships.”
Relationship drama and big decisions are key themes in season 4 as the characters prepare to graduate high school. “Kourtney is going through these massive decisions about wanting it all as a college student,” teases Federle, 43. “Ashlyn goes on a journey where she discovers her own queerdom in the series.”
“Those are all things we're able to address in a way that I think celebrates the original franchise but puts a stamp on it in our own way,” Federle adds.
As for what Federle hopes the show’s lasting impression will be? The importance of community. “In the streaming era, there's something real about the phrase ‘It's now or never,’” he explains. “[To] still be on the air after four seasons is a blessing alone.”
“I hope what people take away [from the series] is that in a mean, mean world, it's really important to find your people who have your back,” he adds. “The world is mean enough, and there are certain pockets of the world that you can find your people and soar and not apologize for who you are.”
He continues, “That goes for our audience, and that goes for these characters and ultimately, it goes for the real-life cast, hoping from me that they carry this with them for the rest of their lives. That they had a place to go that was safe and where they were celebrated for all of their colors.”
“This was my first TV show,” he adds. “And what I promised Disney was that if they let me hire real theater kids, they wouldn't let me down. I'm so proud of them because when the world beats them up, they still show up for me and for each other.”
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The first three seasons of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series are currently streaming on Disney+, and season 4 is coming soon.
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