Grabeel off guard || 15 Feb 2006
Lucas Grabeel can hardly believe he's part of music chart history.
The soundtrack for Disney's "High School Musical," which features his vocals, made Billboard's top 200, leaping from No. 143 to No. 58 to No. 10 on the Feb. 11 chart.
Nine tracks from the CD, including two of Grabeel's and two that feature the whole cast, made Billboard's Hot 100. Grabeel's "What I've Been Looking For," which the Springfield native sings with Ashley Tisdale, debuted at No. 35. It was No. 9 on Hot Digital Songs.
"Breaking Free," a duet sung by Zac Efron and Vanessa Anne Hudgens' movie characters, made the biggest leap in chart history when it soared from No. 86 to No. 4.
"It's crazy," says Grabeel, who graduated from Kickapoo High School in 2003. "I had no idea it was going to do this."
In the midst of Disney hoopla, Grabeel keeps busy with auditions for features and TV shows. He appears tonight on UPN's "Veronica Mars" as a character he first played in November.
He's also working on a recording studio project, and has been approached to consider others.
"We've had inquiries from recording companies about making a record deal," says Grabeel's manager Robert Thompson. "He's attracting a lot of attention, and we're delighted about it."
Grabeel can hardly believe so much is happening.
"It's mind-boggling to me," he says. "I don't know why it's happening, but it is. And I'm really excited about it."
Last week he signed a contract with Tisdale, Efron and Hudgens to make a second Disney movie with the same "High School Musical" characters. Thompson, who is working to move Grabeel from TV movies to theatrical features, thinks it will shoot this spring.
It's no surprise Disney wants to do another musical. The first has been an unexpected hit.
The movie's Jan. 20 debut drew more than 7.7 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.
The musical, its cast and CD have been written up in Playbill and the New York Times (which made note of its popularity with "tweens" — older kids who aren't quite teens). Variety's Web magazine gave the movie a good review.
"The music business was stunned by what happened with the soundtrack," says Thompson of the CD, which is selling out in local stores.
Borders has replenished its original stock at least once, and more are on order. "It's still consistently selling," says sales manager Denise Schulz.
Barnes & Noble has a hard time keeping it in stock.
"We've had a lot of people coming in and requesting it, and as soon as we get an order in, it goes out," says community relations manager Renee Hunt.
"Its been on Disney, and Disney is so popular. And Lucas is local and has quite a following," adds Hunt.
The movie has definitely increased his profile, says Grabeel. For one thing, he's being recognized more.
"The sightings have made a huge jump," Grabeel says. "Everywhere I go now, someone says something."
It's often kids and young teens — mostly girls.
"It's at the movie theater, at the bank, pretty much any public place that kids could be," Grabeel says.
He recalls one encounter in Malibu while dining with some friends.
"And a girl came up to me, and stood in front of me with her mouth wide open. She couldn't say anything."
Her family took his picture with their camera phone.
Some kids have called his family in Springfield, including a 12-year-old girl from Oregon who wants to start a fan club.
"These kids are really excited about it. It's a big deal for them," says Grabeel.
Fan letters have picked up, too, as have Internet chat forums. The Internet Movie Database's message board is packed with chat activity — with many participants remarking on Grabeel's musical talent. And that he's "hot." Quite a few want to know where to write fan letters. (Send letters to Disney: 3800 Alameda Ave., Burbank, CA, 91505.)
Someone also created a myspace.com site in his name. Two more are in his character's name: Ryan Evans. Grabeel says he doesn't visit that Web site, but a friend helped him create his own (lucasgrabeel.org) for professional purposes. Once it's complete, it will likely include a place for messages, he says.
Life in Los Angeles is certainly not all glamour, says Grabeel. Without a regular job, sometimes there's nothing to do and he gets bored.
Fan attention can have a down side, too. His family is used to hearing from friends and acquaintances, which is fine. Now they're getting calls from fans who are strangers. While most seem innocent enough, a few have phoned repeatedly with overzealous interest.
"My mom has gotten call after call," says Grabeel. "We were all unprepared."
