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John Hollenhorst ReportingThe eyes of the nation will be on Salt Lake City's East High tonight, at least, a sizeable portion of teenage eyes will be. East High is at the center of a national entertainment phenomenon that went to video today.
Unless you're a teenager, or the parent of one, chances are you never heard of a movie that came out on DVD today. It's called "High School Musical", and the high school is East High.
Singing, dancing and something romantic. What more could you want in a high school?
Branden Jackson, East High Sophomore: "It's all glammy and dolled up. And I don't think teenage life is like that at all."
Well, maybe it is a fictional high school. But East High is where it was filmed last summer. To the surprise of many, it became the biggest ratings grabber ever on the Disney Channel. It's one of the hottest things on teenage radar screens.
Locally, it's on Sarah Shepherd's iPod and she's watched it, possibly, way too many times.
Sarah Shepherd, 9th Grade: "Um, a lot more than 10."
Around the country, people have figured out the fictional high school is right here in Salt Lake.
Dr. Robyn Roberts, East High Principal: "I get over a dozen emails a day. People say, ‘Wow! Your school's so beautiful, it's so clean.' Or, ‘Where was this filmed? Can I have a floor plan?' And, ‘That was your school? It looks like so much fun.'"
Out-of-staters have even shown up at the school.
Robin Anderson, Chief Custodian: "They asked the custodian, ‘Can we just take a look at your gym to see where it was filmed?'"
At Top Hat Video they brought in extra copies for the DVD release, anticipating blockbuster numbers, highly unusual for a TV movie.
Bryce Jolley, Top Hat Video: "We were getting calls for the last several weeks from people saying, ‘Is it coming? Is it coming?'"
Why such a big hit? The music, maybe, which has hit high on the pop charts.
Claire McConkie, Senior: "Well, it definitely gets stuck in your head, so yeah, I like it a lot."
Maybe the story clicks because it's about cliques and how teenagers divide up into competing groups.
Robb Lapp, Senior: "All of us go through times of not fitting in in high school."
Or maybe it's the message.
Stacy Pease, Senior: "Don't stereotype and don't hold to those stereotypes."
The filmmakers left a lot of people happy. They paid $32-thousand in rent to the school district and donated $16-thousand to the school.
And by the way, credit where it's due, a few scenes were filmed at Murray High School.
