The Television Musical: High School Musical and Buffy's "Once More with Feeling"

High School Musical was filmed in Salt Lake City and first premiered on Disney Channel 2006, and has gone on to influence teens and annoy adults all over the world, all while giving Utah residents something to brag about.  The film was directed by Kenny Ortega, whose filmography includes choreographer credits on Dirty Dancing, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Newsies. Ortega also directed Newsies, Hocus Pocus, and the HSM sequels, pretty much cementing his place as a Mormon Culture Icon for all eternity.

Joss Whedon has been a legend of Geek Culture since the premier of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in 1997, and has written or co-written many well-known films, such as Toy Story and Atlantis: The Lost Empire.  Despite holding cult status for many years due to fan-loved and critically acclaimed TV series such as Buffy, Angel, and Firefly, as well as a critically loved film Serenity, Josh Whedon has only recently become a household name with the success of Marvel's The Avengers, which he wrote and directed. 

"Once More with Feeling" was a project that Whedon had wanted to attempt since the very beginning of Buffy; however the sheer scope of the project, as well as Whedon's limited free time, kept him from pursuing it. When musician James Marsters joined the cast, Marsters began to encourage Joss to develop his musical abilities.  Around the same time, Whedon invited the cast members of Buffy to a Shakespeare reading at his home, which evolved into a sing-along party.  Impressed by the talent of his cast, Joss finally relented and began work on the episode, which included writing every song in the episode, and even learning how to play the guitar.

Of Joss Whedon, Buffy cast member James Marsters (Spike) said, "Some of Joss's music is surprisingly complicated. Maybe it's a Beatles thing. He doesn't know enough to know what he can't do and he's smashing rules." 

"Once More With Feeling" is included in every "top ten" list for Buffy ever written, was critically acclaimed, and has gained a cult following.  The episode is often mentioned in discussions of the best television episodes ever made.  Whedon has since followed up "Once More" with Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, and a single episode of Glee, which he directed.

MIKE SAYS High School Musical was released around my first year in college at BYU-I and by the time it finally hit DVD, I was sick and tired of hearing about it.  When I finally did see it, I was surprised.  I found the music fairly tolerable, and the moral hit a very personal note . . . mostly because cliques were something I was dealing with everyday . . . well, sort of.  BYU is one big clique, and I seemed to be the only guy who didn't want to be a part of it.

The odd thing to me is that despite the fact that the movie had become the toast of campus, not a single person seemed to take the moral to heart. It helped that the movie was better than I expected.  It is somewhat clever, and despite its cable channel roots, fairly well made.

I will admit, with a small amount of shame, that HSM still gets played from time to time in my house, though to be honest it's usually to sooth a crying baby. Despite my shame, I actually enjoy the film quite a bit.  If there's anything that really ruins the films for me, it's the sequels.  While the first film is fairly fun and original, the following films are superfluous and needless. They highlight the worst parts about the film, such as the video-esque music numbers, with even weaker plots and teeny-bopper drama off the scale.

"Once More with Feeling," however, is not only great, but it stays great, with Joss's follow-up work only highlighting what was so brilliant about the episode in the first place.  "Once More" is perhaps the best, if not the only good thing to come from the very dark Season 6 of Buffy. With death, betrayal, disturbing sexual relationships, and generally depressing themes, Season 6 is probably best avoided for any but the most loyal of fans.

Despite the depressing nature of the season, "Once More" is a triumph.  Not only does it summarize the season and the character relationships in a way even a casual viewer can understand, despite the massive shift in genre and style, the episode stays true to the tone and voice of the series, keeping its wit and style, even through the musical numbers.

The production value of the episode strays some from the usual Buffy episode with different lighting and shots, all in an effort to give the episode the feel of scope and grandeur that is characteristic of a musical but hard to achieve on a TV budget.

The music is startlingly well-written and performed, especially when considering that these numbers are the first songs ever written by Whedon. That the music serves an actual function to the episode and plot is just icing on the cake.  I've often found myself contemplating universal rules of a musical, and it's pure delight that the episode actually tackles this very question on some levels.

As a fan of humor that breaks the fourth wall, the episode is immensely enjoyable for me. Between Anya and Xander's song (sung directly to the audience), Anya's descriptions of the music and its pop culture appeal, and Spike rolling his eyes when he realizes he's singing, this episode had me on the floor laughing.

The emotional power of the third act is far beyond anything a viewer might expect, with solos that are impressive in their execution.  From Giles and Tara's duet to the group number "Walk through the Fire," the music delivers on genuine character moments and development.

The episode also brings back some fairly fond memories for me. The episode premiered not too long before I started working at a Comic Shop, and as lovers of pop culture, we that hung out there would often quote our favorites shows with the faintest excuse. I should probably be more embarrassed to admit that a shop full of guys would often start enthusiastically singing "I've Got a Theory" whenever a question (of any type or level of importance) was posed in the shop. Good times.

And that, sadly, ends our musical list . . . though I think the musical trend may continue in my shower for some time.

KATE SAYS High School Musical is nothing like what I imagined.

For one thing, I didn't realize it was a Disney Channel production. I thought it was a spoof movie, kind of like Scary Movie or the talent show on Buffy, Season 2.

After all, the big cult movie of my youth was Heathers. Are kids nicer now than then? Or more naive?

Because High School Musical is completely and non-satirically cute. Cute from Vanessa Hudgen's brilliant smile to Oleysa Rubin in her bowler hat to the guy who likes to bake. And I can totally see why Zac Efron made such a splash. He is one of the better actors in the musical, for one thing, and he has that je ne sais quoi of potential stardom.(In fact, his wryness keeps the movie from being too unbearably cute, which state-of-being it constantly heads towards for all 98 minutes.)

The music is entirely forgettable.

Disney Channel movies all seem to have the same music--and it is all entirely forgettable. Basically, the music is American Idol meets Teen Pop Star. I wasn't a big fan of Teen Pop when I was a teen. I'm even less of one now.

But the story is, well, cute. And it hangs together. I was genuinely surprised by the "solution" (I thought it would be sillier). And I liked the message even if I found it entirely implausible (I know zero teens who behave like this; Veronica in Heathers--who saves her classmates even though she doesn't especially like them--still makes more sense to me.)

However, although the all-for-one-and-one-for-all payoff of High School Musical would never happen in real life, I think teenagers want it to be possible. It seems like high school will never end when you are in it, so a hopeful future in which everyone gets along is the teen/pack-animal answer to Whedon's question, "Where do we go from here?"

Before I discuss "Once More With Feeling" (without criticism!), I have to remark that watching it reminded me why I despise Season 6 of Buffy and have rarely watched any of the episodes since. Talk about convoluted soap opera story lines--oh, blech. (Not to mention the complete misuse of Spike's potential.)

Still.

"Once More With Feeling" is simply astounding. I hadn't watched it for over 10 years, and it all came rushing back (when it came out, I saw it numerous times).

It is a real tour de force and an excellent place to wind up our list. Whedon creates original, memorable music while at the same time paying tribute to and spoofing the entire genre. The pieces tend more towards light rock than anything else ("Bunnies" being a notable exception). But all the pieces together become a showcase of where musicals have been and, perhaps, will go from Tara and Willow's Mary Poppins' number (in Renaissance dress) to Spike's Rent moment (only his song is better written than the songs from Rent).

The standouts, talent-wise, are Head, Marsters, and Benson, and I noted that they got the most difficult numbers; in fact, James Marsters numbers are downright complicated. I don't know the proper musical terms, but I think he changes keys several times (deliberately; the music calls for it) and has to sing non-harmonious notes. Benson knocks it out of the park (ha ha) with "I'm Under Your Spell." The number I like best--"Standing" which morphs into a refrain of "I'm Under Your Spell" with Benson and Head in duet-- is beautiful and powerful.

Even more impressive is that the music matches the characters. Sarah Michelle Gellar isn't a powerhouse singer by any means, but she fills the role of musical's heroine, mostly due to Whedon's music. The haunting cords of "Going Through the Motions" and "Something to Sing About" are exactly right for Buffy.

From the point of view of this list, what makes this episode ultimately so impressive is that Whedon captures the essence of THE MUSICAL: how it can communicate emotions that can't be communicated otherwise (Across the Universe); how it can showcase talent in a unique way (Funny Girl); how it can push people out of their comfort zones (Rocky Horror); how it can summarize vast amounts of information (Evita); how it can create magic (Chitty, Chitty); how it can just make you feel GREAT (Sound of Music; Singing in the Rain) how it can bring people together (Muppets); how it can pay tribute to other artists and stories (Moulin Rouge; Into the Woods); how it can also go on far too long (all of them).

Sing! Sing! Sing!

But don't forget to stop.