Singing Utah's praises — Locals important to success of 'High School Musical 2'

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — When the cast and crew of "High School Musical" were shooting that TV movie in Salt Lake City a couple of years ago, not much was expected, and not much of anybody paid attention.

But then "HSM" exploded into the biggest thing ever to hit the Disney Channel and became a bona-fide pop-culture phenomenon.

With the eyes of millions of young viewers aimed in their direction, the cast and crew of "High School Musical 2" returned to little ol' Utah to re-create the magic.

"I'm thrilled we went back there," said Vanessa Anne Hudgens (who stars as Gabriella Montez). "We loved going to Utah."

"Both times," interjected Zac Efron (Troy Bolton).

There was some question about whether they'd return here, given that — in order to premiere this summer — "High School Musical 2" had to shoot early this year. And, given that the story takes place in summer, that made returning to Salt Lake City a bit tough.

So after shooting the opening scenes back in and around East High, the production moved to southern Utah. Most of "HSM2" was filmed at the Entrada Country Club at Snow Canyon.

"St. George served us with great climate," said director Kenny Ortega.

And it became a home away from home.

"I think it's fun," said Corbin Bleu (Chad Danforth). "It's almost like we're in this little place creating something that we know is going to go out there and be big. Obviously, we didn't know that with the first movie. But with the second one, everybody's going to want to see it."

"It was like getting back together with all our old friends," said Efron. "Like we had our own little world away from everyone else."

Lucas Grabeel (Ryan Evans) agreed that it was "great" to get away from all the hoopla that grew up around the first movie.

"I like to be tucked away in the middle of nowhere," he said. "That's really what it was. We were just hanging out. Every morning we'd wake up and see the red rocks against the blue sky. You can see it in the movie — it's gorgeous."

It was more than just the scenery that brought the production back to Utah. Ortega wanted to return because of the "wonderful charm and innocence. And, also, an incredible talent pool."