Robert (Speaker 1)

Everyone please give me a big Wildcat welcome to the kind, Kenny Ortega!

Thank you. for having me. I'm more excited about today than all the other things that are ahead of me for the 20th anniversary. So thank you.

Thank you so much for being here.

Kenny Ortega (Speaker 2) (00:59.658)

my goodness, of course it's such an honor and I'm just, truly grateful because I've not only admired your career and your work, but just this marvelous creative brain you have. of course we're gonna get into High School Musical today, but I gotta make some pit stops at some of the other iconic things you've done in your career, my friend, which I just can't believe. But I just feel so lucky for being here, for you being here, so thank you again.

Thank you. No, thank you. I love the premise of this show and I'm grateful that you invited me.

I love that. Well, I usually start by asking acclaimed folks such as yourself how they are at accepting compliments after I kind of land blast them with some compliments. But since High School Musical is turning 20 years old, which is wild, I'll ask, how has it been for you to receive love for this franchise specifically over the years and see the legacy grow?

It's the single most, it's the biggest reason why I continue to do what I do. It's the, I love what I do, you know, but there's always a time where you can kind of pull back from it. You know, I'm 75 years old now, you know, and there are other things in life that, that, that I enjoy my garden, my animals, travel, my family, friends, maybe write a book one day, but, the kids and families that still come up to me and, and, and

and thank me for these franchises. Those are the greatest gifts. They're the treasures of my career and they mean more to me than anything else that comes back at me. I appreciate the awards. I appreciate the recognition, but to know that the work has inspired and empowered and given hope to so many and so many different places, that's the treasure of my career. Those are the treasures of my career.

Speaker 2 (02:44.046)

That's so beautiful and such a kindness to everybody else that you continue to give back in this way. I do need to know though, what is in Kenny Ortega's garden? What's your favorite thing?

I have the most beautiful olive trees. My family is from Hien, Spain. Hien, España. And my grandparents left early in the 1900s for Hawaii where they worked as laborers and came to America as immigrants. But they worked in the olive groves in Spain and then in many different places in order to make a living and to become citizens of the United States.

So, I had all of these walnut trees and, they only live the, the breed that I have only live about 90 to 110 years old. And one after the other, after the other kept perishing. And, and I had a landscape artist that said to me, why don't we put mature olive trees? And I said, can you do that? And he said, there's a, there's a plantation in Northern California that has a hundred plus year old olive trees from Spain. said, get them.

my god, that's amazing.

So we've got a semi and we brought five mature olive trees to Southern California. And they now reside in my backyard. And I named them after all of the viejas, all the old ladies in my family that helped raise me and nurture me and guide and steer and love me. And one's named after my grandmother, my dad's mother, Guadalupe. The other one after my mother's mother, Juana.

Speaker 1 (04:17.9)

Wow. Then after my mother Magdalena and my aunt Rosa and my other aunt, Tainita. So they're the prize of my garden.

That is so beautiful. I love that. Well, I do need to address the prize of your lap right now because I realized we can see our little friend on camera and I don't want to ignore Archie. Can we just say little hi to Archie, everybody? You're listening only. You can't see Archie.

Archie is 16 weeks old and is napping at the moment. This is his first time in New York City and he's loving it. Just taking it all in and having the best day.

I love it so much and wearing a little bit of red for high school music.

She is. you know, 20 years ago I was gifted Manly, who is in all the movies. He played boy, Ashley Tisdale's, Sharpay's dog, boy. And so 20 years ago I was gifted Manly, who became my traveling companion until seven years ago when I lost him. And just randomly, 20 years later at this anniversary, I end up with another beautiful Yorkie. Isn't that

Speaker 2 (05:13.334)

Meant to be. Why else? musical keeps giving back. There's something...

And now I have a companion again, hopefully for the next 20!

Hey, fingers crossed. And maybe we'll be talking about another high school musical, who knows, in 20 years. But Kenny, just to set the tone for our conversation today, which it's already done. You came in here with your beautiful team and you're so kind already. I love it. Shout out, beautiful people. And I can tell it's because you attract that, because you give it. And I just wonder, what would you say is your definition of kindness, you know, from your childhood in California? And how do you think it's evolved over the years? What kindness means to you?

of mall.

Speaker 1 (05:47.726)

Well, I believe that coming to understand the value of gratitude can bring you the greatest happiness that you could ever hope to own. with regard to kindness, mean, it's been there for me. It's been there for me through the food that has been prepared that was put in front of me when I came from poor beginnings and my grandmother and my family found ways through their.

simple gardens to be able to put nourishment in front of me, the kindness of the work, the labor of growing fresh vegetables and herbs and then cooking and putting a good meal in front of me and the support that I felt, unconditional support from my father to go for my dreams and to not let anything get in the way. was...

My dad was one of 14 children and my mom left when I was 12. And some of my aunts got together thinking that they were informing him with some information that was the best for me. And they said to him, gotta take Kenny out of dancing. It's gonna turn him into someone that you're not gonna be happy with and it's gonna hurt him. And so put him back in baseball, because he's good at it. Put him back in baseball. So my dad had a conversation with me and I didn't understand why, but I didn't wanna, I mean, I...

I really loved my father and I trusted him. So I put on my baseball uniform and I played a couple of games and then I decided this wasn't working. And rather than tell the truth after school, I would walk across the tracks, go take dance classes, put on my baseball uniform, go back to the school, roll around in the dirt, come home. And dad would say, how was the game? And I'd say, great. And what did you play second base? Did you get a hit? Yeah, I got a double. And one day, which was unbelievable because my dad never got any time off.

He came to see me play baseball. He got off early and he came to see me play baseball and I wasn't there. And when he asked me how the game was, I said, great. Yeah. Cause I had my uniform on and he said, well, what did you play? played second base. got a good hit. And he said, that's so funny Ken, because I was there. I was sitting right there and I was watching the whole game and I couldn't find you. And I broke down into tears. think I was 12. And I said, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. And he said, listen to me, son.

Speaker 1 (08:09.686)

If dancing is what you want to do, you can burn your uniform. I want you to do what you want to do. And I don't care what anybody tells me. If that's what's in your heart, let's go for it. And that moment, my dad gave me permission to be me, my authentic self. And that's kindness. That's generosity. That's love.

Well, okay, first of all, blown away, You, I didn't realize you are the real life Troy Bolton. I know! I say that. I mean, there's so many parallels.

There's a lot of us out there. know, who else is a real life Troy Bolton? Jacob Elordi, who played the creature in Frankenstein, just said the other day that he was put through the same tests that we all, a lot of us were, you know, choose athletics or theater. You can't have them both. You know, one is going to get in the way of the other. Jacob Elordi actually said, you know, when growing up, I was kind of like a Troy Bolton. yeah, I was, I saw myself in that first script and I thought, my goodness.

I was looking for a full length movie. I wanted to get back into long form storytelling. My agents came up with this high school musical, a working title. It wasn't even a musical yet. And as I read it that first night, I thought, my God, I mean, I'm in here. You know, a part of me lives inside of these pages. I could bring this to life easily. You know, I get this. here we are.

And you did. And look at what has become. Yeah, you've sort of knit that onto the quilt of your life for lack of a better metaphor. And I can say that I'm very similar in that I was put through all those different sports, rigmarose, and my dad quickly realized during a baseball game, all the kids are running out there saying, I'm gonna be Derek Jeter. I'm gonna be Tino Martinez. And I ran out and I'm like, I'm gonna be Julie Andrews. And I had an umbrella. And my dad was like, oh.

Speaker 1 (09:32.864)

It is a part of my story.

Speaker 1 (09:56.962)

Yeah, I said I'm going to be Gene Kelly. What position did he play? think is what my dad said.

there you go, so we did the same thing.

That's so funny. You're like, well, he only played in the rain

You know, he did play, you know, when, when, the studio called Gene Kelly and said, we've got this new kid, his name's Frankie Sinatra and, and, we're going to, we want to put them in a movie with you, but he says he has two left feet. And Gene said, does he play any sports? And the studio said back to Gene, yeah, he loves baseball. And he said, have him meet me out at this park. And Gene met Frank Sinatra in a baseball park in a baseball diamond and through, through baseball movement helped him.

find dance. And if you look at Ice Cold Musical 2, I did it with I Don't Dance, the piece that Lucas Grebiel and Corbin Blue star in that merging sport and dance.

Speaker 2 (10:51.05)

So cool. I can only imagine if TikTok was around at the time of these movies releasing how those really would have caught fire digitally, because they still do today for good reason. And, you know, as you're mentioning Gene Kelly and these, certainly you're an icon yourself, you've worked with so many icons I didn't even realize while researching you from Michael Jackson to Olivia Newton-John in the physical music video to Madonna.

Barbara Streisand, Cher, Diana Ross, the Pointer Sisters, Gladys Knight, Smokey Robinson, Kiss!

You have this sparkle in your eye that you know you still have which is beautiful.

Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers. No, it's crazy, right? I've been very blessed, very blessed.

wonder, is there one in particular that imparted a lesson upon you that really stuck with you?

Speaker 1 (11:36.888)

Well, I love Cher's honesty. know, I loved working with Cher. She was just down, down and real. And, and she, just was one, one of the team. You know, she never made anyone feel that she was above anybody else. She came in and, treated everyone as, as you would be treated by your own family. She had an openness, you know, and ideas.

and was honest, just honest, and I don't like that. And you never had to worry that you walked away from any kind of a moment with Cher and that she didn't spill what she was feeling. And I enjoyed many, many years working with her, but there were many others, many, many others. I loved working in collaboration with Streisand, Hugh Jackman is an angel. I mean, he used to come to rehearsals for the Boy From Oz when we were doing that in Australia.

And he'd go in with all the dancers and do a dance warmup and just fold right in with the whole group and just become a part of the whole. I was very fortunate that so many people over the years that I worked with, you they were authentic human beings and then didn't place themselves, no matter their celebrity, above anybody else.

Thanks.

Speaker 2 (12:54.7)

Because no one is, and I think that's the key, right, to this longevity in a lot of ways is that kindness. Jackman, I remember, I was a little intern, came up, introduced himself, remembered my name on the way out. You know, I mean, it's just putting people first, I think is so special. And have you found that in your career, that kindness has sort of been the thing that's connected you to different jobs? I mean, I know you love working with a lot of the same people, which is so beautiful, and you create this family environment, which you talk a lot about your own family, so it makes sense.

What a great guy.

Speaker 2 (13:23.18)

I just wonder how you feel like kindness has played a role.

Well, it makes you want to come back to it. True. And it also advances you. know, when there is kindness in the space, you move forward with greater ease and your end result is something that is attractive.

Okay, put that on the t-shirt because I will wear that. I'm gonna wear that.

Why do you want, why does so many people want to jump through the screen and be a part of the world? Because there's kindness there. You know, there's many, there are many things there in High School Musical that make us want to be a part of that world, but kindness is definitely.

Yeah, well to paraphrase you to you very badly, I heard you say something along the lines of, you don't have to be the best singer or the best dancer, you just have to have something fun about you and bring that to the film, but then also to the making of the film.

Speaker 1 (14:09.902)

Yeah, know, it's not, it doesn't hurt to own your craft, to bring, to bring your authentic self into the room and, to reveal that you, you know, to just reveal that. And, I look for the promise and I look for a partner in, in, casting, you know, I also look for craft. I look for folks that I believe are going to be able to handle the responsibility of a role and be able to, and that are going to be generous in the way that they work with others, but also what's locked up inside of there that I might have.

of the ability to excite and awaken and where I'm going to get even more than they even imagine they have within them. And I found that with all of the actors in High School Musical. You know, we took a long time in deciding who those kids were going to be. We didn't rush into it. are lots and lots of actors and actresses were put in front of me by La Padura and Hart and Julie Taylor back in the day.

And I even got in trouble sometimes from the agents for holding onto them for so many hours because I was improv-ing with them, playing basketball with them, doing scene work and singing and dancing and workshopping. And I even, I even got a Judy Taylor, the head of casting at Disney said to me, you know, Zach's agent called and it was a little upset that he was in here for six hours yesterday. He has other things that they want him to be available for. then the next day, Julie came back to me and said, Judy came back and said,

Zach's agent called and said, Zach said it was the best audition he's ever been to. And even if he doesn't get the job, it was worth spending time with you. So, you know.

Look at that. That's amazing. That's it's all about. It is. It's that giving of time and sharing time together. And speaking of, as we kind of like make our way and bop to the top to High School Musical officially, you know. I don't know. Maybe because we're all in this together. So I know. We have Alan, our friend at the Broadway Podcast Network, giggling. look, are you serious? Yeah. Well, I don't dance, but I know you can.

Speaker 1 (15:47.662)

Why didn't I know you were gonna go there?

Speaker 1 (15:57.998)

This could be the start of something new.

Speaker 2 (16:04.174)

None. We have one of the amazing kids from our friends at Kindness is Free, which is an initiative powered by the Boys and Girls Club of America, here to ask you a question. I asked the organization if there were any kids to bring to this conversation, and we have one question from one of them right now who's gonna give us their question, our friend over here. So, Alan, if you will, my friend.

motivated me to, you know, when I was in the first grade, I got a report card, that got sent home to my family and the report card said, we enjoy having Kenneth in the classroom. He loves to give direction, but he has a little problem following it. I think it was always there. I think I just loved, I don't think it was bossing people around. It's just, I think I had this design idea of how things should be. Well, if you move over there and if you come.

be a director.

Speaker 2 (16:55.321)

Yeah.

And I remember I used to do plays. I made up plays and I would do them in my backyard and I would have all the neighborhood kids come over and I would direct them in plays. I think it was television. think, honey, it was television. I was watching old movies on television and I loved the staging. I loved the staging and the film work of these old musicals. And so I would try it.

and I enjoyed it. And I think more, even though I was an actor for the whole first part of my life, I think that that director was always kind of living inside of me waiting to have an opportunity to come out.

Beautiful. Thank you so much for the question. Thank you for the great answer. It reminded me my dad hanging up an old drawstring curtain in our basement so I could play Broadway Overtures and open and close it for my stuffed animals. thought that was very hard.

Ours was a sheet on a clothesline. My mom put clothespins on a sheet that hung on a clothesline and then I could throw it open and the neighborhood actors were gone.

Speaker 2 (17:59.214)

Oh, that's so special. Well, you did end up starting your own theater company, I think, with your aunt very...

Yeah, aunt Shirley Martin, yeah, we started, my mom's sister, started the Redwood City Civic Light Opera when I was still in high school.

so impressive and makes sense. Of course, speaking of old musicals, Newsies is one of my favorites of all time. I've been Crutchie, I've been blessed to be Crutchie in a few productions and it has such an imprint on my heart. This was your first time directing a motion picture, a major one. Looking back, is there a kindness that you wish you gave yourself on that set? Because I feel like you talk so much about kindness to others and I just wonder if...

First of all, I mean, I think it was this just incredible blessing to be there and to be doing it. Jeffrey Katzenberg invited me to come in and do two movies. And he said, if you'll do this first movie, Newsies, which is just a dramatic script at the time, but Noni and Bob, the creators are totally open to us developing it into a musical. If you'll do that with me, you can pick the next movie. was like, what? get to do two? And so I was just so grateful.

that he chose me, selected to bring me in and to entrust me with this role. And to be on that set with people like Christian Bale and Robert Duvall and Anne Margaret and all the other brilliant young actors and dancers and cast members was just so extraordinary. And we had a real good time. We worked very, very hard, but we had a really good time.

Speaker 2 (19:27.054)

shows. Yeah. And the next one I think that you semi picked was Hocus Pocus, right? Which is it's my all time favorite movie. You could see we have the sisters right here.

Yeah.

Speaker 1 (19:35.744)

Look at that, you surely do. I don't have those. Where did you get those?

Well maybe you can go home with one of your- Where'd you get those? Funko pouts? I'm a child.

I just had them at my I didn't pick it. He told me I could pick it. And he said, Bette Midler is with us. Now I had just assisted Tony Basil, my mentor, choreographer beyond, I mean, inventress, you know. Good word, yes. She brought me in as her assistant on the movie, The Rose, Bette's first movie. And she was nominated for an Oscar and almost won it, I think. And so I'd already got a chance to work with Bette. So Jeffrey said to me, I'm not,

pushing this on you, but there's a script that we have here that Bette Midler is really interested in. She wants to do a movie that her daughter can watch. And he said, it's called Hocus Pocus. And I said, okay, I'll do it. And he said, well, don't you want to read it first? And I was like, if it's with Bette Midler and she likes it, I'm sure I will. I read it, but I mean, there was no way I was going to walk away from an opportunity to work with Bette Midler. No way. And to this day, I still think that she's legendary for being one of the greatest live.

performing artists of all time.

Speaker 2 (20:44.874)

for sure and her character work in Hocus Pocus. god. More recognition, so good. And my friend, you can see the book over there, Shannon wrote Witches Run amok, which you were a part of. throughout the book, countless people told her that you used to leave these little kind notes around the set in a Hocus Pocus stationery. I just wonder what was your reason for doing that? And do you do that on every set? Do you leave kind notes? Because science shows that's actually one of the kindest acts you can do for people.

Is she good, huh?

Speaker 1 (21:12.588)

I do leave notes, but you know what? You're the first person that's ever asked me the question or brought it up. But now that I think of it, yeah, I'm a note giver, a flower giver, a thank you giver and a voice giver. That's the big one. Give voice, get out of the way. know, you know, I've learned that directing is sometimes not directing, listening, you know, offering voice to others, letting there be a collaborative spirit.

Beautiful.

Speaker 1 (21:41.902)

know, always, that everyone join in on the goal. That's amazing.

so amazing. I mean, we had David Kirshner on here a little while ago and he said they're working on the Broadway show. And I'm like, why is that not a Broadway show?

Well, I'm hoping that it's going to be and that I'm going to be involved. I tell you Shirley MacLaine, know, Bette Midler, know, Madonna, I'm going to give it to Madonna, you know, and some that don't want, I'm going to give it to Madonna. are women in this world that have been, that have graced the stage and screen and albums and that have it all and know how to do it all. you know, Bette for me is at the top of the list.

Well, we're gonna bop

Kathy to Jimmy and Sarah, Jessica Parker, excuse me. Yes. Come on. Kathy.

Speaker 2 (22:31.918)

Can we summon them? Turn down the lights. I need to bop the high school musical. 20 years as we explain at the top of this. And looking back on this DCOM, I realized this movie taught high schoolers how to be kind. Is that like a message you thought of while you were making the film? A message of kindness?

You know, was from the very start, the way we entered into it. You know, I learned through my own experiences that you could benefit from having it as a part of the whole experience. From day one, I learned because it wasn't always there when I was a young actor. Sometimes I would go into audition and I had a feeling like no one even recognized that I was standing in the room. No one even made me feel like they were looking at me.

or that the way I was spoken to or the group of people that I was a part of was spoken to. And then I would be in a situation where somebody would be, you know, the director or choreographer that treated us with kindness and gave us a voice. And instead of throwing movement on our bodies, you know, came to understand what our bodies were capable of and then asked from us. So anyway, whenever I starred in movie and it started with High School Musical, I believe it was the very first time where I really, really thought about it.

was to create an environment where all the participants felt safe, felt that they had a voice, that they would be unjudged, there wouldn't be fear in the room, that you could fail, I'd be the first person to pick you up if you did, and to dust you off and push you back into the game again. And I think that that was there from the very, beginning. And I think that that just sort of transitioned into the movie.

Yeah, well you transitioned yourself into my next question, which was kind leadership and expanding on that, I wonder, are there any tangible things you can share about what you did on High School Musical to create that safe, joyful feeling? I mean, I know there wasn't a lot of time, which also comes with stress. I think you filmed it over the course of four weeks, was it?

Speaker 1 (24:33.304)

Yeah, I was told that I was a little tougher on High School Musical 2. I think my ambitions, you know, to eclipse what we'd accomplished, that I might have been a little bit, not by the cast, but maybe by the crew. If I hurt anybody's feelings on High School Musical 2, I love you and believe me, you know, we wouldn't be celebrating any of this had it not been for you.

You're human, by the way.

No, but I do my best to not lose my patience and I do my best to work, know, with all the stress of budget and time, but it's hard sometimes, you know? And the older you get, it's even harder. my God.

Well, know, speaking of getting older, I can't believe it's 20 years since this film came out. we have Zac, Vanessa, Corbin, I mean, I could go on and on. Ashley, all these folks that kind of went on to become stars. Over the course of filming, do you have any member memories of sort of quiet kindnesses you can share from the cast? Like a quiet act of kindness, maybe something that wasn't big or flashy? Because I know you had some.

I remember them helping each other, without my asking. I had two great collaborators with Chucky Claypow and Bonnie Story, are kind hearts, still professionals to this day, working very, very hard. Chucky with Mick Jagger, Bonnie in all kinds of movies and ballet companies, and both of them teaching, and they teach through kindness. They choreograph with kindness. But the cast itself was there for each other, reading, helping.

Speaker 1 (26:07.01)

folks get their lines down, if they were missing a dance step, that I just remember that there was this generosity that existed from the beginning that was ever present, that it was just a loving and generous group of people.

That's beautiful. I feel like generous leadership is what you are and also what you admire because I know Cameron Boyce in particular when you saw him, that's something you talk about a lot that he was a leader on set and would teach, you know, people things. Can we just talk about him for a second? I support and love his foundation and his legacy. What do think he taught you about kindness?

Winter Central. Winter Central.

Speaker 1 (26:44.746)

And his foundation, the way, is not doing really well right now in terms of just funding. And we need to end, you know, we need to find a cure for epilepsy. We must, we must. Too many young people, you know, are dying from SUDEP, you know, and, and we need to, we need to remember them during your birthdays and during Christmas and during the holidays. And when you've got an extra dollar or five bucks or 10 bucks in your bank,

You know, remember the Cameron Boyce Foundation folks, because it is serving the cure and the science that will find the cure and the medicine that will cure epilepsy. Working with Cameron Boyce, you know, when he, I used to say this all the time and everybody will agree with me. Anyone that knew him and worked with him would say it's no, it's true. Boo Boo will tell you, no, it's true. No matter how bright the room was, when Cameron arrived and walked into the room, the lights seemed to get brighter in the room. The lights seemed to get brighter.

he lifted the spirit of the room with his presence and anyone that was suffering in any capacity, you know, with dance or any aspect of what they were doing. If he felt that he could help him, he was one-on-one with, you know, Mitchell hope in them in the mirror with, with dub Cameron in the mirror with, with, you know, as, as was, were all of them were helpful, but Cameron was like, I think he wanted to direct one day. He wanted to direct one day. In fact,

When he turned 18, he called me on Descendants 3 and he said, Kenny, I'm no longer having to like leave early. I can work full hours now. I don't have to go to school now. I can work the full hours. And I was wondering when I'm not on set, can I shadow you? Can I follow you? Can I learn from you? And so on Descendants 3, he was my little buddy right there with me all the way through it, assisting me, learning, observing.

what it was to be a director and choreographer now from behind the camera rather than from in front of the camera. A beautiful, the golden boy, a forever boy. I love him with all of my heart. And his family are great people.

Speaker 2 (28:44.748)

He sounds like you.

Thank you for sharing that. I love that. Yes, we'll link to the foundation in the show notes. Everybody please go and support that. And from Cameron and Descendants to of course back to High School Musical, you've built these incredible ensembles, but you also had this premonition with High School Musical, right? It's famous. You've talked about it so much where you said that you knew it was gonna be something special when you saw them filming, I think the finale. wonder, as their stars began to rise, what did that then teach you going forward as you built new ensembles?

Like were there certain things you didn't anticipate in sort of becoming a star maker, I guess, for lack of

Partnerships, know, watching for that person like Dove Cameron that was going to walk in the room completely themselves, walking in the room, hello, I'm Dove, hello, you know, all Dove, all Dove, right? And then being able to turn around and a second later come back and do the scene. And so I'm like, well, I already like her as a human being and now look at the work she's done as an actress, you know, and seeing the promise and the potential of what she could bring to the, to the

to the party, that High School Musical taught me that, that I made wise choices along with Disney and my casting directors, that we made wise choices in deciding on these young people, that they were not just actors that could sing and dance, they were creative participants and they brought something to the day. And so that's something that I'm always looking for. Always looking for that. And then generosity.

Speaker 1 (30:21.058)

You you want that to be ever present. and bring something to the day and generous hearts in the room there for each other, not just themselves.

Yeah, nothing to the day.

Speaker 2 (30:31.192)

Love that. Well, thank you for your generous heart and being here. I wanna play a really fun flash round game if you don't mind. cause I know we got to maximize time and I could talk. This is called the start of something kind. And since kindness is something we practice, not just something we talk about, I'm gonna throw out a prompt, like maybe a basketball inspired by High School Musical. And you please just answer whatever pops into your head. There's no wrong answer. Some of them might be longer answers. Some can just be a person or a word.

Okay, let's try it.

Speaker 2 (31:00.302)

It's just like a fun fast-

Speaker 2 (31:07.794)

We'll pretend there's a timer, but again, honestly, I will guide you. You're gonna be like, this is so silly and easy. Okay, so the first one is, unsung production member on High School Musical who you think deserves more credit.

Allison Reed, Ms. Darbus.

Miss Darbus, okay, I'm gonna reign it and not talk about Miss Darbus for second. I did rewatch the first one last night though. And in Miss Darbus' scene, I noticed something I never noticed before. And like the camera zoomed in on me and I realized when the ringtones go off, it's the start of something new. And I Googled it and I couldn't find if it was the end. I just found ringtones.

No one asked Alison Reed to say musicale. It wasn't written in the script with the A, you know, with the little mark above it that said say musicale as opposed to musical. That she brought so much to Ms. Darbus. And then when she wasn't on camera, she brought so much to every day for everyone that was in her presence. She's a wonderful actress and a wonderful woman.

Okay.

Speaker 2 (32:07.342)

I love that, the great answer, and sorry, I made it longer, which I did. Shout out to the costume designer too, with the scarves, I mean, she defined theater teacher. which cast member went out of their way to show everyone kindness on set? I'm sure there were a lot, but does one come to mind? That doesn't surprise me. I've heard Monique as well. Let's just name them all. I mean, there

Okay, flash.

Speaker 1 (32:21.934)

Corbin Blue. Monique Coleman too.

Speaker 1 (32:28.992)

all kind of people. I would just say go out of their way. Yeah. I mean, they were, they were really beautifully brought up and, and yeah. I don't like to have to make those kinds of but those are good.

brought up.

Not when I'm out, but beautifully brought up can be the title of your biography. Okay, a kindness you showed toward people on set in moments when maybe they weren't being so kind to themselves. What do you feel like is a kindness you give to people?

Hmm... a reminder.

I love that. Vocal or could be a note. I love that you're keeping this fast and I'm actually making it longer. Okay, your favorite way to show self-kindness, Kenny, are you kind to yourself?

Speaker 1 (33:07.97)

walk into the room with a big smile and light in my eyes.

And that gives to other people too. If Kindness were a high school musical dance move, what would it be? the Kindest song from High School Musical in your opinion. I think that, yeah, we walked into that one. I mentioned the start of something new, Ringtone. Do you have any other favorite Easter eggs from the first movie? I don't think we got a Dirty Dancing Cameo situation, but you know. Like little hidden things, there?

A kiss.

Speaker 1 (33:24.75)

We're all in this together.

Speaker 1 (33:37.931)

Easter eggs?

hidden things.

They're hidden Mickey's? don't know, I know that's a thing. We have one today in your honor.

I think Easter eggs started after High School Musical for us.

Okay. Well, thank you for playing. won a beloved franchise. Woo! And being an icon. So from High School Musical to The Descendants to Newsies, I got too excited and whacked my mic. You are exceptional at building ensembles, my friend. And I just feel like in this world, we need more of that. We need to connect with each other more. So do you have any advice for listeners, I guess, on what the key to that connection is to building ensembles in real life?

Speaker 1 (34:15.938)

Yeah, sure. Pay attention to what's in front of you. I mean, if you're the, if you're the, you get to make the choice, you're stepping in a room and you get to make the choice, make the choice based on more than just one thing, you know, have an idea of what, what is that sort of ultimate individual that you want to be in a space with every day and that you want others to share in that space with, you know, and that's why I'm saying, you know, yeah, you know, someone who understands who's, who's, who's good at the craft.

someone who has great manners, someone who is generous, kind, hardworking, who is fun, authentic, who is creative and is gonna bring something to the party. Look for all of that. Don't rush, don't rush through those decisions so that you're gonna be happy for the long run with everybody that's in front of you and that they're gonna be happy with each other.

Yeah, well, that's important too. I love what you just said because I think all of us slowing down as we enter this new year. That's what I'm trying to do for my...

I got in trouble for it, like I said, know, why are you in there for six hours with everybody? Cause I want to know who I'm going to be working. I want to know who they are. They compared it to a Broadway audition. They were like, he thinks he's doing Broadway. It like, well, it works for Broadway. Talk about Broadway, by the way. That's my favorite theater theater.

Yeah, we do that on Broadway, you know.

Speaker 2 (35:30.656)

It did. It worked. then you had the right...

Interesting. Besides showing the Hocus Pocus musical coming to Broadway. But let's talk about it for a second. I know we discussed some of the shows you're seeing. Is there a show that a movie of yours or a movie in general you would love to see come to Broadway?

You know, I think, I don't know for Broadway, necessarily for Broadway, but to the theater, I think it could be fun to do Hocus Pocus. Yeah. You know, maybe as an immersive piece. mean, like, you know, what they're doing with Masquerade right now. How about walking through Hocus Pocus? know, but I don't, you know, I've always thought that that could be just a lot of fun, you know, and with the effects that we have today, sound and light, you know, and, and, and, and, and, and,

I think laughter and comedy, we need more of that in the world. And Oh Mary, my goodness. Look at Oh Mary. Something like Oh Mary with Hocus Pocus. We can even poke fun at ourselves like they did with the Xanadu. Xanadu poked fun at the movie and made it into a real have to see. Titanic, right? I love that. Maybe in that kind of direction.

Danny.

Speaker 2 (36:44.94)

Hmm, that's super smart. think let's make that happen. Xanadu, I'm working with some young kids on, well, kind of coming in and out on that production right now, and it reminded me, what is it that you like to instill upon younger artists in the theater as you do? I know you speak a lot, I know you give back a ton. Is there a certain lesson or just something you hope they remember?

Yeah, I think it did. We talk about raison d'etre. Gene Kelly asking me what's the raison d'etre, the reason for being, you know, that Gene Kelly had asked me the first night that I had ever visited at his home, what I was doing. And I was telling him about this like wild workshop that I was doing with all of these actors and singers and dancers and musicians. And then we were having this big jam session at the Debbie Reynolds dance studio and the big studio D and he said, what's the raison d'etre? And I thought he said raisin bread. I didn't know what the heck he was talking about.

Yeah

Speaker 1 (37:34.56)

I really didn't. I was like, and he'd already given me a gin and tonic. I said, Jean, I'm sideways. Can I answer that the next time I'm back? If I'm lucky enough to be invited back, I called my friend, Greg Smith, first casting director for dancers, you know, in Los Angeles, best friend in the world. And I said, Jean asked me what the raison bread is. I said, yeah, that's it. That's it. He said, well, what was it in context to? I said, he asked me what I was doing. I told him and he asked me what the raison d'etre was.

And he said, he was asking you what the reason for being was that lived at the center of the idea, perhaps that made it important and valuable. And, and, and when I brought, when I went back to speak with Gene, I said, by the way, I thought about brazondage and I'm not so sure that, the workshop had a lot of it. said, it sounded like it had a lot of it to me. And he said, you know, Ken, just make sure that, you know, in the future you're going to be offered and asked and invited to do many, many things. And so this, in answer to your question,

When you're invited to do something, when you know, when you went in, mean, obviously we all have to pay the rent. So, you know, there are excuses, but when you can make sure that there's great reason that lives at the center of the idea that's going to give you, that's going to excite you, know, and when your body is so tired and you wake up without enough sleep and it's going to take so much to get out of bed, to get up and go do it again. You love what you're going to.

that what you're going to has such purpose and reason, and that's why you selected to do it, that you get up and you do it again.

Fantastic answer. I think that's something I always see in you whenever I've seen your name on something. Well, I visually I see like sparkles, I think your raisin bread is joy. You you bring that joy and that dreaminess to everything you do. I just admire it so much. did also think of what my grandma taught me when I was little, which is you must pay the rent, but I can't pay the rent. Did you ever do that thing with a little kid? Sorry. Anyway, blacking out. It's time for another surprise game, Kenny Ortega. This is called Get Ya Head in the Compliment Game.

Speaker 2 (39:36.054)

I reached out to a high school musical friend for a loving statement or a compliment about you. I'm gonna read it to you and then you have to try and guess who said it.

I have to try to guess who said it, someone I know?

Someone you know, it's from the High School Musical world. You can ask me questions and then you get like three guesses. Is that good? Okay, cool. And I do have a hint if you need it. This is a nice one. It's actually-

Okay, I'm listening.

Speaker 1 (39:58.478)

this be like a game show where I can say can I make a phone call or

I mean, you can if you want to. I have a cheesy theme song that I'm gonna insert here. It's me harmonizing with myself, so I'm sparing everybody right now. Okay, this is your compliment. It's tough to narrow down what I admire about Kenny without writing a full essay. I consider him one of the most influential mentors whose voice and style is always in my head to emulate. He knows how to make the mundane sparkle and can find art and meaning in everything around him. One of my favorite quotes will always be,

I want you all to move around each other like they do in Tokyo." He used a beautiful cultural observation of how millions of people on the streets of Tokyo walk around each other so fluidly and adapted it to the dance and movement of our scene

Is this someone that was in High School Musical? I would think that it would be a cast member. It sounds like something Monique Coleman would say.

Yes it is. Something.

Speaker 2 (40:58.014)

No? No? No? I have a hint if you need it. Okay, the hint is fun. This person, I almost said the... Okay. He gave me the gift of feeling the rush of popping out of the toaster every night on stage. Since then, I've been on many stages and I'm so grateful for how he's continued to support me and see every production that I'm...

Okay, I would like a hint.

Speaker 1 (41:18.776)

Corbin. Corbin. my God. love you so much. Corbin blue. If you ever listened to this, if you get a chance to hear this, you know that, you know that I'm your biggest fan. just saw Corbin in London on the West end in great Gatsby. He's amazing. And I got to see him a little shop of horrors last year. Yeah. I try to make every performance. I try to make sure that I don't miss anything that he does because he's just so super great.

So

Speaker 2 (41:45.93)

showing up for people. And I wonder, we had Corbin on here a while back and we surprised him with Lucas came into the Zoom. did it virtually, which was super fun. And Lucas was supposed to send one, I'm gonna to forward that to you as well. did reach out to a couple. you might be able to... No, but I do wonder what, I guess what do you feel like that cast to wrap up High School Musical taught you about kindness and working together? I know it's probably lot of the same things we touched on.

talent he is.

Speaker 1 (42:11.328)

Okay, there was a background player, what some people call an extra, which I don't, I call them background players. They participate in the background to enhance the scene. And there was a little girl and she was showing up every day wearing the same clothes. And then I'd heard from someone that she didn't, that,

she might not have been bathing. And I went to the background casting person and I said, do you know who that little girl is? And she said, if she's a problem, we can have her removed. She's a foster child. And so I went to the cast and I said, by the way, there's a little girl in the background who's a foster child. And evidently she's been showing up in the same clothes every day and I don't think that things are really there for her. And this is like the greatest gift that anyone could give her to be a part of this.

project and the next day she was sitting at the table with the cast having lunch and they had brought her things from home. It makes me, you know, I didn't have to ask them and that they brought her things and made her feel like she was special and a part of them. There you go. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

And if we all just did that for each other, could you imagine? Wow. Well, I appreciate you sharing that. I appreciate you being here. I know we're wrapping out of time and I could ask you 7,000 more questions. you appreciate? My friend Archie's like, I'm dying. Say hello. I did notice when we talked about Cameron, Archie looked up in the sky, which I noticed that kind of cool thing going down. But Kenny, I know I got to let you go. I would love if I could just end our time together by you sharing a tangible kindness tip.

that he's sleeping. No, no way he's gonna.

Speaker 2 (43:58.594)

So something you wish everybody out there in the world could do to try and make the world a little brighter. And I wish I had a tissue to give you, I don't know if I should.

to vote the midterm elections. It's like the game. That's the first thing that came to my head. Yeah. To get out and vote. Don't sit home and think it doesn't matter. Don't sit home and think it doesn't matter because look what happened. Because you sat home and you thought it didn't matter. We're in trouble and we have to, we have to, we have to get a hold of all these things here that enable us a life of freedom and opportunity and voice. And, and we need to hold onto that.

We need to hold onto our constitution. We need to hold on to all those things that serve others that are less fortunate than ourselves. know, we need to create a better life for all of us. We need to create a safer environment. We need to create a better medicine. All these things that we're now finding we're going to lose. If we don't get up, get out and make your voice heard. Get out at the midterm elections and vote. Please. That's from Kenny Ortega.

Thank you so much for being here with us. Happy anniversary. Happy 20th anniversary to all the fans that have been with us for 20 years.

Yeah.

Speaker 2 (45:14.222)

the kindness of the fans, in the whole other episode.

Thank you. Thank you and to everyone at Disney and to all of our crews and all of our, for everybody that has enabled us to be sitting here having this conversation. God bless you and thank you so much.

that you would end with gratitude. mean, that's a nice little through line there. And now I'm singing Sweet Charity, which is like, better get up, get out, and do it, and go vote.

You gotta get up, you gotta get out, you gotta get up, get out and do it!

I love that. So we're gonna do that. We're gonna get up and get out and let Kenny go. But I just want to say from being a dreamer to now a champion of dreams, I think we have a 60 second call here. I think we need more people like you in this world. So just thank you for being you. And it's a privilege.

Speaker 1 (45:53.294)

And the same to you my friend, ditto. Cheers.

Stop it. Well, cheers. You heard it here first. Thank you, Kenny. And thank you, Archie. Love you. Sorry, I kissed the microphone. That got weird. Thank you. That was wonderful.

Ha