High School Musical 3 Stars Efron and Tisdale Surprise Fans at Special Event

A thousand lucky fans were surprised when stars from "High School Musical 3: Senior Year"- Zac Efron, Ashley Tisdale, Olesya Rulin, Kaycee Stroh, Chris Warren Jr., Ryne Sanborn, Justin Martin, Matt Prokop and Jemma McKenzie-Brown- showed up to cheer them on as they participated in the Ultimate Fan Pep Rally, an event which included an exclusive sneak peek of the upcoming film.

Director Kenny Ortega was also on hand for the event.  "We owe the success of the first two films to the fans," said Ortega. "And now that we're taking the phenomenon to the big screen Oct. 24 with 'High School Musical 3,' we wanted to show them some appreciation with a few surprise visits from their favorite stars." "It was the ultimate surprise," said Tisdale. "A thousand fans showed up to watch the first two movies and to be the first to see some new footage from ' High School Musical 3.' Then we all walk out-surprise!-and The Whole place goes crazy." 

The super fans came donning their Wildcat red and white to show their HSM spirit and view sing-along versions of "High School Musical" and "High School Musical 2." They were also treated to an exclusive sneak peek of HSM3, featuring a never-before-seen musical production number set to new music "A Night to Remember."  

Fans won the opportunity to participate in the Pep Rally by calling into Radio Disney, KIIS-FM and KABC-TV. Additionally, MySpace invited users to add Black Curtain Screenings and HSM3 to their top friends and bring a copy of their profile with them to the Pep Rally-the first 200 were admitted to the event. 

Disney's High School Musical phenomenon leaps onto the big screen with High School Musical 3:Senior Year in which America's favorite high school students (Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, Corbin Bleu and Monique Coleman) hit senior year. Amidst a basketball championship, prom and a big spring musical featuring all of the Wildcats, Troy and Gabriella vow to make every moment last as their lifelong college dreams put the future of their relationship in question. A crew of sophomore Wildcats (Matt Prokop, Justin Martin, Jemma Mckenzie-Brown) joins in the fun as the film's incredible new music and exciting dance numbers take maximum advantage of the big screen.

DGA Award-winning director and choreographer Kenny Ortega once again is at the helm for Walt Disney Pictures' upcoming film High School Musical: 3 for the big-screen, featuring all principal cast members from the two previous tween-phenomenon TV events; including Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, Corbin Bleu and Monique Coleman.

High School Musical premiered on Disney Channel on January 20, 2006, and became the highest rated original movie up until that time. It won the Television Critics Association Award for Outstanding Children's Programming, and received two Emmy Awards (of its total 6 nominations), a DGA Award, an Imagen Award for Best Children's Program, and a Humanitas Prize nomination. The soundtrack received a Billboard Music Award for Soundtrack of the Year, and was nominated for an American Music Award in the Favorite Album (Pop/Rock) category. The film even earned an entry in the Guinness World Record Book as the first TV movie to deliver nine concurrent singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

High School Musical 2, the sequel to Disney's smash TV hit, premiered on the Disney Channel on August 17, 2007 and drew an estimated 17.2 million viewers on Friday night, making it the most-watched basic cable telecast ever and garnered the most tween viewership ever.

High School Musical 3 is slated to open in theaters nation wide on October 24th, 2008. For more information please visit www.disney.com.

Photos Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios

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