School's out as teen musical premieres

Updated 15.04 Fri Sep 21 2007

Youngsters across the UK are at fever-pitch as the sequel to hit Disney movie High School Musical is premiered later on TV.

The film has been described as a modern day re-telling of Romeo and Juliet and tells the story of two juniors from rival cliques.

Vannessa Hudgens (bottom middle), Zac Efron (top right), stars of High School Musical 2

Dubbed by some as Grease for the new generation, basketball team captain Troy Bolton is played by Zac Efron, who has been likened to a young John Travolta.

Vannessa Hudgens meanwhile stars as Gabriella, a shy transfer student who excels at maths and science.

More than 170 million viewers worldwide watched the original movie, which has also sold 7.8 million DVDs globally.

And High School Musical 2 has already gone down a storm, with the Disney Channel averaging a massive 17.2 million viewers.

The soundtrack to the first film was recorded in just five days but went triple-platinum and became one of the best selling records of 2006.

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