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Are we all in this together? That’s the question many fans are asking after Zac Efron (AKA music and basketball prodigy Troy Bolton) didn’t singalong in the Disney Family Singalong. The special aired April 16 on ABC to raise awareness for Feeding America during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The singalong featured a bunch of stars, including Ariana Grande, Darren Criss and Beyonce. The highly anticipated High School Musical portion of the show featured OG castmembers Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, Vanessa Hudgens, Monique Coleman, Corbin Bleu and director Kenny Ortega for a remote rendition of “We’re All in This Together.” One person who apparently wasn’t in this with the rest of us? Efron, himself. While he did pop on to introduce his former castmates, he didn’t stick around to sing with them.
.@ZacEfron appeared on #DisneyFamilySingalong to introduce the star-studded rendition of “We’re All in This Together,” not performing himself due to being “Hunkered down in the middle of nowhere with patchy WiFi.” pic.twitter.com/u8z55dEB1y
— Pop Crave (@PopCraveMusic) April 17, 2020
As you may have guessed, fans weren’t too happy about this. Luckily, when fans aren’t happy about something, it usually results in some funny tweets. Here are some of my favorites:
Zac Efron pulled this on everyone. #DisneyFamilySingalong pic.twitter.com/XqAPaNelDG
— Young Dice (@donny_dice) April 17, 2020
me after zac efron introduced the hsm cast and left without singing pic.twitter.com/dv5p7QjfS8
— bubs (@timmysmedicine) April 17, 2020
BREAKING: Live footage of Disney after we all sat through the sing along for Zac Efron to only introduce the cast. #DisneyFamilySingalong pic.twitter.com/2PV0dnUEaO
— J. Bregy (@Julia_Bregyyy) April 17, 2020
me realizing that zac efron was just introducing the cast of high school musical and not actually singing with them #DisneyFamilySingalong pic.twitter.com/IlSy9jrtUE
— kathleen (@kathleen_hanley) April 17, 2020
Joshua Bassett from the Disney+ show, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series took over Troy’s part in the song. It’s times like these that remind us it was actually Drew Seeley, star of the iconic Another Cinderella Story co-starring Selena Gomez, who actually sang Troy’s parts in the first movie. Seeley even played Troy in High School Musical: The Concert.
Lol I guess Zac Efron didn't want to give us a reason to remember why Drew Seeley sang his HSM vocals. #DisneyFamilySingalong pic.twitter.com/OZF9jQdpoi
— Leziga Barikor 🇳🇬📽 (@LezigaBarikor) April 17, 2020
Kenny Ortega, the director of the HSM movies, spoke to Deadline about why Efron was missing. “We couldn’t reach Zac until late but when we did, he immediately jumped in, of course,” Ortega said. “Everyone we reached out to was quick — and you’ll see it in their spirit and the way they come together from their homes. They recognize this is an opportunity to strengthen spirits for those joining us for the broadcast.”
Guess he was just breaking free.
