High School Musical’s Dara Renee Shares How She Created “Bop To The Top”

Dara Renee loved that she was given the opportunity to create her own arrangement for “Bop To The Top” on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.

Renee guested on AfterBuzz TV’s High School Musical: The Musical: The Series after show Tuesday with Jeff Williams and me and episode 9 “Opening Night” was a big one for her character, Kourtney, as she was thrust into the role of Taylor at the last minute.

With her breakout scene in episode 8: “Tech Rehearsal,” which aired on Disney Plus on December 27, 2019, Kourtney was asked to give a sound check at the El Rey Theatre and she blew everyone away with her voice including Miss Jenn.

“I was so scared but I came up with the arrangements myself, like all the riffs and everything which was super fun and Tim and everyone was just so accepting and I was like, thank you,” said Renee.

Now, not only was that a big episode for Renee but it also had a special cameo from one of the original members of the High School Musical cast, Lucas Grabeel. This made her even more nervous about performing the song since Grabeel sung the original version in High School Musical.

Renee laughed as she retold her reaction to being in the table read with Lucas and having to perform the song in front of him.

“Ryan is watching me sing Bop To The Top, what the heck is happening? And, uh, when I came down I was kind of like going to walk past him and be like, ‘what’d you think?’ And he was just like, ‘you killed it. You were so good.’ And I was like,’ thank you Lucas.’”

Thirteen years after High School Musical aired on the Disney Channel, it is still the film that moved an entire generation. Now, after over a decade of time, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series continues on the legacy in a new and realistic teenage experience for this new generation who get to follow the journey of these new characters.

When asked how she felt about being apart of the legacy that is High School Musical, Renee said, “it’s crazy. I’ve never, I mean, when you dream, dream big, because even your wildest dreams won’t come close to what’s going to happen when you dream. Um, I’m just really grateful to be apart of something like this, especially with so many talented people and crew and dancers and background. Everyone apart of the show literally changed my life for the better and I am so blessed to say that I was able to get to know everybody and get to know their personality and get to know their spirits and they are just, they’re literally magic and I don’t think they know how magical they are, but they’re freaking magic and I love them so much!”

To watch the FULL aftershow and interview with Dara Renee, click here.

You can watch more Kourtney on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series every Friday on Disney Plus.

About the Author

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Chae Jones

Chae' Jones is an actress, host, and writer in Los Angeles. She currently hosts Disney News Weekly on Popcorn Talk Network.