By Zach Johnson
On Thursday, we were lucky enough to attend a Virtual Quinceañero for High School Musical: The Musical: The Series in celebration of the episode “The Quinceañero,” now streaming on Disney+. Although more than a few tears were shed, we had the best night!
The festivities kicked off with cast members Dara Renée and Mark St. Cyr hosting a rousing round of trivia live on set in L.A., with co-stars Joshua Bassett, Matt Cornett, and Kate Reinders joining them via Zoom. Then, following a special intro from executive producer and showrunner Tim Federle, fans got a special first look at the episode—and the cast joined fans in seeing it for the very first time! Afterward, actors Julia Lester and Larry Saperstein introduced Monica Trasandes, Director of Spanish Language and Latinx Media and Representation at GLAAD, who moderated a Q&A with writer Emilia Serrano and actors (and real-life boyfriends) Frankie Rodriguez and Joe Serafini. The co-stars then performed an emotional duet of Miley Cyrus’ hit song “The Climb,” which Seb (Serafini) sings to Carlos (Rodriguez) in the episode. Lester, Saperstein, and Serafini also surprised Rodriguez with a few gifts and appearances from his mother and sister, who shared some touching words. The Virtual Quinceañero ended with a performance by Mariachi Arcoiris.
Want to know more about the episode? We’ve got the top five highlights below:
1.“The Quinceañero” is many cast members’ favorite episode of season two.
Like most fans, Cornett admitted he ships Carlos and Seb—aka Seblos. “This episode is so incredibly beautiful on so many levels. I think I cried more in this episode than I’ve cried in the last 10 years of my life,” he said with a laugh. “It’s gorgeous. Joe Serafini has an angelic voice.” Like Cornett, Bassett felt similarly emotional while filming “The Quinceañero” with his castmates. “For whatever reason, I can’t cry when there’s cameras and lights and people looking, but this episode was the first time I’ve ever cried on camera, which I thought was really, really cool,” he said. “I’ll never forget shooting it. I’ve been excited for this episode to come out since we shot it. Really, I’ve been dying for it to come out, so I’m very excited.”
2. The cast got to experience seeing the episode for the first time with fans.
As we already mentioned, the cast hadn’t seen the final edit until Thursday’s Virtual Quinceañero. “You have this amazing feeling shooting it, but then you’re also wondering, ‘What is this going to feel like for a viewer?’” St. Cyr explained. “You imagine it’s going to feel even better because there are things that, as an actor, you don’t see. The way we had to shoot it, we couldn’t all be in the same space at the same exact time. There are aspects of certain performances I’ve gotten to see pieces of, and I’m really excited to see them [in full]. And for some, I’ve seen the whole thing. I can’t wait to see how they cut it together.”
3. The idea for Carlos’ Quinceañero was inspired by real life.
Writing a nontraditional Quinceañero for Carlos is a “testament” to Federle’s leadership, Serrano said. “We just want to tell the stories as we know them and experience them ourselves without over-explaining anything,” Serrano said. “I wanted to write about it organically and let people watch the story unfold.” The storyline is partly inspired by Serrano’s own nontraditional Quinceañera, as well as the one her queer daughter will one day experience. “I thought, ‘This Quinceañero or Quinceañera is really about embracing culture how we see fit. It’s also about just being filled with love and being filled with people who accept and embrace us as we enter different phases and journeys in our lives.”
4. Frankie Rodriguez had been crossing his fingers for an episode like this.
Rodriguez confessed he “didn’t think it was real” when he heard Carlos would get a Quinceañero in season two. “I was very shocked,” he said. “I think I found out at a casting meeting, and I walked out of that meeting like, ‘Oh, my gosh! It’s going to happen.’ To see the way everything came together, and the way the episode came together, and what we talked about in the episode—it’s just a very special moment, and I am so, so happy with it.”
5. Joe Serafini was already familiar with the Hannah Montana: The Movie soundtrack.
As a longtime fan of “The Climb,” Serafini was thrilled to perform Cyrus’ song in the episode. “As soon as that song came out [in 2009], I feel like I was already buying the sheet music online and going to sing it at the piano,” he recalled. The power ballad resonates just as much today as it did then, he added. “I think we all have these climbs in life… I think, especially as LGBTQ youth, you definitely face some challenges as you’re figuring yourself out and who you are and who you want to love,” Serafini said. “I think it’s a really beautiful message that works in so many different ways, especially in this context.”
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series is now streaming on Disney+.
