Hey, Wildcats, this is Bart Johnson and you're listening to Get your Head in the Game.

Hi.

Everyone, welcome back to get your head in the Game Today.

My guest is one of the incredible talents behind the choreography that brought you all of your favorite dance numbers in the High School Musical franchise.

From the basketball court to the cafeteria.

She brought the moves that had us all dancing along.

Please welcome the brilliant choreographer Bonnie Story to the podcast.

Hello, Bonnie Story.

Oh my gosh, I have not seen for so long.

I know, I know, you look amazing.

You still look like one of the kids.

Thank you.

You have just won a million dollars.

It will be coming to your house.

To Oh how did I do it?

I'm just speaking the truth over your Bonnie.

You look great.

I saw your brother on set.

Did he tell you?

Oh yeah, uh yeah, yeah, Oh that's right on.

Studio Scena Albard I said, Hi, give him a hug.

Oh.

I love that is this what you're doing.

I love this is this great body.

You know.

It's it's the twenty year aniversary, which I can't even believe it, and we have to do something for our people that have been so good to us.

You know, yes, I have to.

It just keeps living like Chucky, and I send things at forth back and forth.

Ken, you like, we're just like, it just keeps living.

It's it's it's kind of crazy.

It's crazy.

It's crazy, right, Like.

It's who would have thought.

I mean, well, no, nobody, but I ten years ago I thought, oh, it's probably gonna start fading out.

Here's been two years, and it's like twenty years is like bigger than ever.

And it's like all over social media and there's TikTok trends and there's yeah it's every song A.

Football players are doing our stuff.

Yeah, yeah, I just I guess I just got asked to do something with the NBA to go do like to be a coach.

That's amazing.

I love it.

I love it so fun.

It's so fun.

It's it's just the funnest.

I just love it so much.

It's so crazy for where we started and not really knowing kind of what was going to happen.

It was a TV movie, you know.

Several times, Kenny, like Chuck, you and I were like, you know, this could be something pretty amazing, and like I remember the first movie we were we were rehearsing the lunch room scene that I can't even remember saying yes that one, and we all looked at each other when, oh, this is kind of great.

That is it's amazing.

That's the first one where I was kind of like, no, I'm not claiming that I had any intuition at all, but I just remember being like, this is this is so big.

This doesn't seem like a little Disney channel.

This seems like a big movie.

Yeah.

And of course he'd done the opening closing ceremonies the Olympics with thousands of performers, so he knows how to fill the screen with all these people doing amazing things.

Hey, we're getting ahead of ourselves by it.

Let me let me introduce you.

No, it's my fault.

I guess I'm so excited this is.

It's been really fun because I'm doing obviously doing this podcast with my friends that haven't seen forever, and we haven't had a conversation beforehand, so it's like your face pops on the screen, like my gosh, I love her a body story.

I just love you so much and it's so good to see you.

I love your girls and very mutual.

Your kids are awesome.

Uh yeah, and it's fun that we work in a small industry where we get to cross paths and you with our family are absolutely and all our families are roped into this thing.

But let me officially welcome you.

Welcome Body Story to the podcast.

So happy to have you here.

You are the first choreographer on the show.

I mean, you know, I wanted to do this as a gift and a big thank you to all the wildcats out there and everyone that contributed to the magic who made it awesome, and you you are such a huge part of the magic of it all.

Part is the part we're all parked right all kick us off, But yes, I think it's.

Part of the part of the brilliance is well, it goes back to the center of our universe, mister Kenny Ortega, pulling in the pieces that are are so important, and having worked with Michael Jackson for twenty five years or all the amazing things he's done, he spotted Bonnie Story and said, I want to creep these things with you.

And what's amazing is like you choreograph these dances, came up with all these original dances and moves, and but what you did was like you created something that has lived on and I see the dances that you've created all over social media.

It's so fun.

It's so fun.

And again I have to keep bringing Chucky and Kenny into this because we made such a good team, you know.

And Kenny was always so clear in what what did we have to accomplish with each song, with each with I didn't even hate to call it a dance, but each scene that had dance in and what did we have to come So he was so so deliberate in what he wanted as you know as an actor, so clear, and so it made it so much fun for us to go in the studio and go back and forth, go back and forth.

He comes in, he puts the Kenny on it, and it's kind of it was really it's a really magical team.

It really was really fun.

It was intense.

It was fun.

Yeah.

Yeah.

The storytelling you guys did through the quota fuse amazing and it's just so memorable that people leave the theater doing those dances or trying to.

They go home and learn them.

They want to look, they have to do let's start.

But if you don't mind.

I want to know everything you're doing, but I first want to just go rewind the hands of time a little bit and just take it back to the very beginning, because I actually have no idea.

I don't know how you were first introduced to this project.

Can you tell us about well.

I had worked with Kenny.

I was one of his uh choreographers associate choreographers for the for the Olympics, and then we knew of each other in LA but our paths didn't really pass because I was you know how there's groups of people like I was always with Vincent Patterson or you know, different groups and they're not groups, but you'd get hired by the same people.

But Kenny, I guess, found out about me and he knew us from Utah, and so he pulled me in the Olympics was which was insanity amazing, and that's where we really first worked together.

And then I think so when he went and got this project, he's just like, oh, you know, Bonnie and Chuck, you would make a great team.

Yeah, they just brought me in.

I mean, he just brought me in and it was amazing.

Do you remember how we brought it up to the first time I.

Think I got a call from my agent and then actually Kenny and Chucky I was working.

I was at the theater with Odyssey one night and they and he says, we were in town.

We want to come and we want I want to come and do somecography with you and Chucky together, And I think he was just kind of filling us out.

So we went backstage and found a little thing in that and that's history.

Oh no, tell me so, So that's that might seem common to you, but this is like such a foreign world to me.

When you do something like that, what do you do?

Uh?

Well, they had Kenny had some ideas, and we just all kind of I think I can't even really remember.

I was trying to think of this because I figured you'd probably asked about it.

But I just remember the coming to the theater and uh we went back, you know, we found a studio and uh, they had worked on some stuff.

They taught it to me, and we just kind of, I think, went back and forth.

And I think he I really think Kenny wanted to see what because I'd never met Chucky before that, and so I think he wanted to see what our vibe was together too, which completely hit it off.

And we're the kind of the ying and the ying, so we we we you know what I have and he doesn't have.

What he has.

I don't have, so we really not we don't have, but our strengths are in different places.

So we were really able to play on that all three movies.

It was amazing.

Yeah, yeah, you were.

You guys really did compliment each other.

Yeah, way, okay, so you guys so you kind of like dance together, Yeah, we did.

We just danced together that night, and I was like, I had no really no idea what it was about.

I mean, I wish I could remember better, but it was so long ago.

But I was just like, oh, this is is pretty cool.

My gosh, Kenny Ortella came here, and Chucky's cool and be so fun to you know, work with him, and and yeah, I think it happened really fast after that.

It's it's interesting about it.

If you come into the theater.

I will, I will for sure.

Maybe they were both testing me, probably.

Oh probably.

I mean, you're going to go on a journey together, you have to you have to know if you're cool.

Absolutely, and who knows, you know, who knew we were going to go on seven years.

Well, yeah, because it's just supposed to be just the one movie at that point.

And and uh, it's interesting to me to think of like there's like three adults doing all these you know, you see the movie, you think, oh, this is the kid came from.

The kid was the adults that are working out, sweating in the in the dance studio making it all happen.

And then you gotta that you gotta teach them.

Do you remember how can he pitch to the movie what he was, what he was doing?

No, I really don't.

I think it was just a musical and it was gonna be on the Disney Channel and they'd be really excited to have me on as a choreographer.

And no name, there's no name of that point.

Of course, it wasn't.

I don't think.

I think it was high school musical or it had to do the high school musical.

I don't know.

I didn't have working name.

I can't even remember that.

Well, that was right, they said it was.

It's it's a high school music, So we're just going to call it that until we come up with the name.

Yeah, yeah, So I mean, I don't I don't I don't know how you felt, But I don't know if any of us really knew what we were getting ourselves into in an amazing way obviously.

Yeah, yeah, so what was the process?

So after that you got to call it?

What from the agent or did you know?

No?

No, no, I think I think Julie called me and said, hey, they want you to do this, and then it just started rolling.

So we had pre production meetings with Kenny and Chucky and I go through the script.

I remember going through the script and him playing his songs and we kind of took it.

Was it?

Uh that little high school off of State Street, not little, but the high school off State Street that we started rehearsing in, So Chucky and.

I met not Murray, not Murray Hot where we shot.

That's where we shot a lot of the theater.

Yeah, and uh so we I think we were a Ballet West studio before we got to that.

But Chucky and I put some stuff together.

Kenny always comes in we show.

He puts his thing in it.

I mean, Kenny's brilliant, Like he is so brilliant and again knows so perfectly.

He paints pictures as you know on screen, right, So he knows and he's very visual.

And I have to tell you, I have a Kenny or take a backpack that I take with me every job I do.

Oh I got so I learned so much in those years from him.

He was so giving and so awesome.

But anyway, so we go in the studio.

We'd bring him in when we felt like we had enough to go, hey, are we going in the right direction?

And then he comes in and he moves.

Man, he is good.

He was so he's.

So much a partner.

Are you kidding?

When we were doing to the Top, I was like, this is fun.

We'll always worked on it.

But yeah, I mean I got to partner Kenny of course.

Yeah, yeah, he's just bom So again, I have never seen this part of the process, but it makes it.

You'll say, you read the script, you're kind of getting an idea of the characters, and you're kind of feeling that out.

Do you listen to the music, so you're really feeling out, You're like, and then you start thinking what do we want to do in this dance?

Like what do we and you can't even really think steps.

You have to think story and go what are we saying?

Like what is does this does this step?

I hate saying steps, but does this movement move the story forward?

Oh?

Well, that's that was a big thing because you know, it's not about steps, it's not about really quarfy.

It's about moving the story forward through movement to make it sense for Joe down the street that knows nothing about you know, kickball change, right, So you have to you have to make it so available to a can I say, virgin dancer mind like has no idea what dancing, but it just makes sense to them.

You understand what we're saying through those movements, and then you have in you want to make it interesting of course, and visual and for the camera and also you know, Kenny was very very specific in what kind of shots he wanted, and you know it was it was such a cool process.

It was word He's done so many musical movies.

Yeah, had you done a muse?

I know if you have a dance studio, I don't anymore.

I mean I used to long time ago.

You did it at this time, right, So I did.

Well, we had I had access to the treehouse in Draper and that's where uh and before all this I kind of a round a little program as I worked, I left and come back and left me and come back.

But then I just you know, I got so busy that I yeah.

Yeah, yeah, So Bonnie, when you when you had the uh, you have the script, you had the music was the cat?

Did you have the actors yet?

Were they cast?

We did?

They were cast or I got involved they cast because I was still living in Utah, Okay at that time.

I lived in l A.

And then I moved to.

Utah, back to Utah where we shot all three movies.

Of course, yes, so they were all cast in in l A.

And Chucky was in on those castings, so he kind of had an idea who was doing it, and but neither one of us, Like we know, we knew Vanessa had She's a she's a great look, she's a great dancer, like she just came in great, right.

We knew that Lucas had musicality, music, you know, musical ability, movement ability, Ashley.

I thought, you know, she has some Monique, some Corbin quite a bit.

But the rest we knew that we had to make it for them, for the ones that had had as much you know, experience, but also pull them along.

So you know that also you know, it's not like walking into a room full of professional dancers and just like you know, hitting it right, like what we usually get to do in a in a gig and so and I've worked with so many actors, which I love, so that helped me a lot to know how to you know, what makes sense to you?

Does a writer left what make sense to you?

Does it really matter to us?

No?

What feels best to you right?

Like we wanted to cater it too.

But you look at the first movie, the choreography very simple, We're oh in there, you know what I mean?

You look at the last movie where those guys went.

It's amazing.

It's amazing the dancers, the movers, dancers that they became and they were doing everything that the professional dancers were doing everything.

Wow, it was such a cool it was such a cool journey with them, you know, and they and you know, they work so hard.

They come and get us and go, hey do you have a second or hey I'm free right now?

Do you need anything?

Yes?

Can we go over this?

Like working so hard?

No, we go just wanting to be the best they can be.

And not a lot of time.

They didn't have a lot of time that moved that first movie, right.

It was like it was like a week, like a week rehearsal.

Gosh, I don't remember.

I think the first like there just wasn't the budget to have everybody in for a long time, all the basketball, all the cheerleading and all the dancing everything.

Yeah.

Yeah, And that's interesting what you're saying, because like, uh, I've never been a professional dancer before.

Yeah, I seen you move.

You're a movie.

Hey, thanks, I appreciate it.

I do go ahead, but I do go to my uh you know, local gym sometimes and I jump in the dance class and okay, here's the move an actor.

It's so good for you.

But the pros learned so fast they're like, oh yeah, yeah, no problem, like the whole thing.

Yeah, you learn lines really fast.

So okay, So.

You know what I'm saying, it's.

Yeah, and you brought in you brought in some pros in the cast.

You dance the principal dancers.

The principal dancers.

Yeah yeah, and and so you had like the but the but your main actors have they can't be out danced by them, like it has to has to blend right exactly.

They do some of the hard stuff and some of the dance specific stuff you did.

How many how many dancers did you.

Bring in from l A, Well, I can't remember how many are from Utah and how many from La.

Utah has such amazing dancers, like I work in Utah a lot, and I can cast a movie in a second, like just because they're so good.

But I can't remember, actually the number.

Here's a story you could tell me if this is true story.

Now, this is a story I heard about the dancing and I forgot I forgot to ask Kenny about it.

But that Disney that Kenny said, I want this many whatever, I want this many professional dancers, and they said the budgets like, no, you can't, like, you can't have that many dancers because there we can't fly that many people in from La.

He's like, no, no, I'll get them in Utah.

And they said you can't, you can't get those dancers.

And Kenny's like I did the Olympic.

I know what kind of talent.

I know kind of dancers, and what kind of talent is in the state of Utah.

I will get them.

This true story right, oh, yes, very true.

I mean I remember talking to him.

He goes, we're going to cast them, like, yeah, we can do it.

We could cast it three times over and we could have.

It's amazing dances.

It's amazing, it's amazing.

There are some specifics that we didn't get in Utah, Like I don't know if you remember, I don't.

I can't remember.

If you're around for the auditions for the dancers.

It seemed to me ask Chucky, but I think we were there like three days of just group after a group, huge groups, like there were so many the auditioned for this movie.

And so what was great about it, though, is we we put them in.

Okay, they'd be a great extra because you know how much those extras danced, Oh my gosh, and Chucky and I would teach them on the morning because you have to.

They can't have a prior rehearsal as an extra.

But they ought to dance oh so much, like so much, And so a lot of those extras we used again and again and again and again.

I didn't I didn't know that.

Is that like a union rule or something like if you rehearsed before and then perform the Uh yeah makes sense.

Yeah, yeah, that's there's I mean, you couldn't afford that that.

Many think it a lunch room scene and all those dancers around those tables were doing the exact same thing as the principal dance.

Wow.

Wow, Okay, So how far out before the movie did you have those rehearsals, those auditions with the dance auditions, it.

Was it seemed really quick.

It seemed to go really quick.

And I am so bad about time frames, but it seemed pretty quick, like they we had auditions and then we had callbacks, and from those, I want to think that we nailed down the you know, the the principal dancers, and then the next tier of dancers that we'd want to use in the lunch room, you know what I mean, the the gym scenes.

As the gym scenes got bigger, we called it a bleachography, and then they learned a bunch of stuff in the vatures, right just some think, I mean, yeah, I mean it was huge, it was huge, and I'm so proud of Utah because they did provide a lot.

I mean, I remember with Kenny, we had massive auditions for the Olympics and he was blown away, blown away at the talent.

So I that is a very true story to come back around to your question, and we could have we could have easily easily easily cast a couple times over.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's been fun to watch everybody.

I mean, I'm jumping ahead, but it's been fun to watch everybody after this go on.

Oh yeah, like their world famous dancers.

Now, oh it's amazing.

It's just not I don't think any of us really, I mean, well, those of us kept going like we haven't stopped.

And I look at I remember Kenny was very worried about the diversity of Utah, which at that time wasn't a lot.

So I was in New York with Bailey and Kelly at a dance at New York City Dance Alliance, and I she Kelly made friends with Brittrit Yes Brett Stewart, and I watched her dancing classes, and I called Kenny from New York and I said, we've found our We've found our girl.

We're looking He goes, really, he goes, yeah, he said, let's while you're in Chrit actually lived with us at our house.

She could be in the movie.

Yeah, because she was under age.

She was like fourteen or some fifteen Kelly.

I think she's Kelly's age, so I think they were fifteen.

Yeah, let's let's talk about the two special dancers that you found, Oh, entered the cast.

Tell me about that whole thing.

Casey Strow, Is that who were.

Talking about your girls?

Oh?

Yeah, they Kenny met them in the Olympics.

They both were in the Olympics.

Oh, I know that he loved them.

Bailey was very young in the Olympics.

She was a child of light.

And I think Kelly was in the Western part, but he had fallen.

He really he just loved them and knew how good they were, and they they were just really good.

And Bailey was I think she was twelve the first movie, and so she's just like, wow, this is awesome, Like I'm twelve and I'm in this movie.

But she was so good and tall, so she didn't look twelve.

She looked like she was in high school.

No, she's been in pretty good Yeah.

There of course, full of those that don't know.

Bailey and Kelly were both cheerleaders.

Yes, well, yes in the first movie.

Yes, in the first one.

And they did all the dances throughout all the movies.

Yeah, and they were they were terrific.

They were just staples of the set, like they hung out.

They were just like part of the cast, so everybody was close.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

The first day I met Zach Jeffron, I came home and I said, well, you guys are gonna have fun doing this movie.

There's a really cute guy that's doing it.

And Bailey's so young.

She's like yeah, yeah, yeah, and Kelly's like, what does he look like?

But it was really it was a really cool experience that I got to do it.

And I don't think even Disney knew they were my daughters for a while because they have different left last names, because I never want them or they didn't want.

I don't want them to, you know, because your Bonnie's daughter, you know, not at all.

They had and they had to work twice as hard.

So but Bailey was an l three.

Kelly didn't do the second one because she was doing so you think you can dance, that's right, Yeah, and then she came back for the third one a little bit.

But yeah, it was so fun.

It was we had together, you know how it is the work with family, right Blessing.

Yeah.

Yeah, My brother was my assistant coach in high school musical three.

Brad worked with Kenny on several projects before.

Yes, in the past.

Yeah, it's fun.

It's fun.

You have your family together.

It's so fun.

It's such a blessing.

Yeah, your girls are such amazing dancers.

There's and they were such a great like positive, like beautiful energy on the on the set.

They're just so friendly and always cheery, and they've gone on to do really big things.

So yeah, they've done, they've they've been, they've done, they've had great careers.

Bailey actually has assisted me and been with buy on my side for gazillions of films, TV commercials, live show like, she's been my right hand man and been on front with me and on the other side of the camera for Kelly's done a lot of shows.

Yeah, who did Who was inas doing a big show?

Kelly?

Kelly did that?

Yeah, I choreographed, Yeah, I choreographed a search show and she auditioned for it and got it and that and that's where you know, she really loved doing shows more than film, and so film and TV not more, but just as much.

And so she just started doing shows and she just kept getting show after show after show.

So where she spent her career spent same gigging some moms just two kids.

Amazing, Yeah, so yeah, crazy because she's just a young little cheerleader of the movie.

Ye mom with kids, I feel the same.

How is that happening?

Right?

Like it's like I'm the same.

Yeah.

But anyway, they're they're beautiful women and I've just been very, very blessed to work with them when I have been able to, which is quite a bit.

Yeah, it's such a ride.

Right, Yeah.

What was your favorite part of doing these movies?

And do you have a favorite movie?

Like do you have a favorite song or sequence or like, I mean it must be so.

And what's the difference between doing something if you're doing bet on It with Zach or if you're doing all in this together where it's everybody, Like what's you know?

Oh gosh.

People ask me that all the time, and I can never give them an answer because it's all so different.

And like, like I said, Chucky and I we would like he'd go work on like Boys and you know, Boys are back.

While I was working on you know, I got it all like the fossy part of the god at all or the or the rocket so like, and then we come back and switch around and so we really got to like have our hands in everything, and you kind of you know how it is like when you have a part that you just like you have a part of it, So it just it goes through your heart, like you know what I mean.

And that's how I feel about all these numbers.

I just remember because I see them.

I rewatched one with Kelly's kids not that long ago, and I was like, wow, wow, you know, and just the feeling of when we were filming those.

So I have special thoughts and I'm sorry that's the answer, but I loved all of them.

I think my favorite move the favorite ones are one and three.

I loved high School too because I love being in Saint George and that look.

It looked like we were on a stage sound stage.

It was so faked.

It's so beautiful.

But I think if I had to pick my favorites, it would be those two.

And I loved doing the film film with Kenny and you know, I'd sit at the monitor and he goes, you want to know why I'm doing it this way?

Do you want to know why I'm doing this shot?

I was just like, they're taking it all in, Like I in so much every movie.

I don't know that, but but then I go, what time is it?

Like?

That was such a fun you know, fun number to choreograph or one.

I remember this distinctly.

I don't know I Kenny said anything about it, but we were sitting at the monitor for all four one, ging ging in and being young, and he looked at me and we both had tears rolling down our eyes.

He goes, this is phenomenal.

This is just beautiful.

The colors, the choreography was great.

The I will say this, the actors, the dancers, all the above made that so vibrant in them, in their moving, in the visual, in every part of it.

It was just yeah, it was.

It was emotional.

And then you remember the end of the third Oh, just bawling on that just I just, oh my gosh, when that last, that last take in the in.

The cape and gown and the graduation scene.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm glad we were all there for that.

But oh man, that was that was rough.

That was that was that was rough.

It was rough.

I mean it's just here we are, like all these years together and really in some ways we all grew up together, like we all kind of grew together, right and grew in this story with each movie, and.

It was usual.

No, you don't get that opportunity, No, you don't.

You usually you know, you do it like you and I have done a lot of movies and it's that one movie you love it, you hate say goodbye, but you and then you get to come back with the same people, like it is amazing.

And then the rehearsals and the blood, the sweat and the tears and the whole process, and then you have to come back again like it's just it's such an unusual thing.

And then to see it go from this little undiscovered kind of idea into the sleigh.

Yeah, we all get to take that journey together.

We were like we were all in the van together.

Yeah, it was.

It was it was a ride.

It was absolutely right.

And you know, those that cast was special.

They were special.

They were so awesome and worked so hard.

And I don't know, I'm grateful.

Who do you think, who do you think work the hardest?

I think it depends on the piece, and then who worked the least.

I'm not going to give you can ask.

No, it's pretty great.

I really was impressed.

I was impressed with their work ethic and you know, it was a big ask like you look at the prom choreography.

Holy cow.

I mean the professional dancers were hoped.

They were beat out of their brains and you know, you've got here, you know, all these actors that have worked up to this doing this exact same choreography exactly.

We didn't hold back.

We were just like, Okay, we're gonna have fun with this choreography.

We're gonna partner, we're gonna We did do a lot of partnering, and that was really fun because Chucky and I had so much fun and that was that.

I thought that was really fun.

Yeah, yeah, throughout that's really fun.

I think not so much with the.

First one, but the second and third one we did a lot of partnering.

Wait, wait, what do you mean by a partner in the choreography?

Like I'd be like, hey, let's go, and he grabbed mactorial and like, you know, do things together like straightd on just we're dancing, you know.

Oh.

I Actually the first one had some partnering.

We put partnering in.

Uh well, along didn't.

The next part was all partnering.

We did it in couples.

That yeah, at the very end of the first one, I think, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, there's like this is it like what it was like a little bit of a dance break and they all kind of like.

H and and again the actors, I think I think Monique did it.

I think I know Corman did it.

I mean, I'd have to watch it again.

But I mean, of course Vanessa and they killed it.

They just killed it.

Yeah, they just they just really killed it.

I just I don't know, I just was really impressed with that.

I mean, it's a big ask.

I mean we've worked I know, you've worked with big stars.

I've been worked with big stars, and I always love those people that work so hard alongside you, and then you find some that aren't willing to and it's I mean, I can't imagine with these kind of movies them not pulling their weight like they did.

It would have been a horrible experience because yeah, clean right yeah, and drudgery, like, oh gosh, how are we going to motivate these guys?

You know what I mean?

And it was never that they were they just pulled their own No.

I think everybody.

I mean, it's interesting.

I always thought it was an interesting dynamic that Kenny Ortega came from.

He did newsies, which was huge.

It's a huge musical.

They shot at Universal Christian Bale, Dan Moscow like he's like the whole big, huge cast.

And then he did Hocus Focus, which is like an iconic, iconic MOVI.

His pedal, I mean, his pedigree goes on and on Dirty Dance.

I mean, it's all this, but he he shows up and he's treating this as an important as any job he's ever done.

Oh you saw him at the monitor, he'd be like he'd like be painting way to say lighting.

Duh duh, duh, duh duh.

Not right, I mean, that's that's funny.

You should.

Yeah, you know, I have a story always.

I always tell a story and you're in the story.

But I always tell a story of like when when when people say like, did you ever like was there ever a time like on on the set where you thought like, oh this might be it?

I said, no, not not really, but there is a time where I thought this is this is really special.

And it was doing stick the status quote.

And I remember like it was yesterday of BUDI because Kenny was at Video Villain.

You guys were all Video Village and Kenny was watching and it was not it wasn't a rehearsal.

We were shooting or like shooting all these cameras, right, and we had this amazing big room in the in the cafeteria and shooting stick the stats quote and you were on one side and Chucky was on the other side, and Kenny was looking at the monitor and while we're shooting, he's like, it's like painting this looked like he had with a brush, and he's like, I want this up here.

They do a flip here, and they do a spin here, and they turn there and then do these guys and like spitting out all this direction that you guys at lightning speed, and I'm like how how and he you'll cut you guys just want boom and just ran and then all these changes and then twenty minutes later we're back at the monitor and all the changes are on this.

I'm like watching all the changes on the screen, like.

My gosh, no, brilliant, right, that's a brilliant mind, brilliant brilliant.

I just hope to you know, sut down a one percent of that with my work, Like it's just he's amazing.

But you know, again you said it earlier.

It's it's all it's all the I always say, all of our puzzle piece matters.

Our puzzle piece matters.

Like he pulled all these puzzle pieces together and they just clicked, you know.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I think as part of his brilliance is recognizing who's going to contribute and who's going to bring the most value to it.

I mean, and I appreciate that because they had they saw all of the pre approved Disney actors.

My age right played coach and he said, they said, hey, pick pick any of these fifty guys.

You know, there's been a Disney shows.

And he's like, oh, these guys are right.

So I'm grateful because he finally came to me and said, you're the coach, You're the I love him.

When you are doing the auditions in Utah, yes, and you saw how many people do you think you saw?

Like people came from LA to Utah.

Oh, for the Utah Dancer.

Auditions were in Utah.

They had to fly out and there were a lot of LA dancers.

Wow.

Yeah okay.

And then who did you find in that process?

Oh?

God, well I think you found I think you found Casey.

Ok Oh, Casey's from Utah.

Yeah yeah, And I know she was at that rehearsal.

She do you remember seeing her and being.

Like, no, I knew Casey from.

You knew Casey.

Okay.

So so Kenny was talking to me and he goes, we got to find Martha.

We've got to find the perfect market.

And I said, well, you know, tell me about you know, explain her.

And he explained Casey and I said, well, I know her, I know, I know you got to you got to see this Casey stroke.

She's it.

So I called her and I said, Casey, you need to come in.

And I don't know if you're going to interview.

Her, but it did interview her.

She's a good friend.

I loved you.

Anyway.

So so anyway, I brought her to Kenny and didn't look back.

Isn't that Kenny love her?

Yeah?

And she was supposed to just be in the one song.

She was just going to be in Status Quo.

And then you're a cheerleader, let's go.

You can move.

That's one thing.

Those dancers were so good.

I got to do so many fun things with those cheerleaders.

We did such fun chography with those cheerleaders.

Did you find Molly Gray there?

Mollie, Yes, Mollie k Mollie was there.

Jamie goodwe Jamie Good I remember Jay.

She was great.

Love Alison Holker is another one that was the first one.

Okay, these they were all at the at the Utah Uedition.

Yeah, I'm thinking I think I may have called Allison.

I can't remember.

It's been so long and I don't want to give false stories.

But but that's we loved her obviously.

Do you remember Fame Jasperson and okay, so fame.

He was on the Slton Crew of Hamilton and he's been in Hamilton ever since.

He's killing New York.

Amazing.

But it's just fun to see these guys.

You know, Doug, Doug pet I saw.

Him, Oh Doug, Yeah, yeah, yeah, du him to that.

He's doing something in La I just saw them.

Jared Marilla, Yeah he's another Yeah, he's another one.

Yeah, it's great.

He was great.

There's a lot of really cool I don't know.

Brad Tobler got right, yeah, sure, he's originally from Utah, right.

Sandborn was yeah.

And he you know, he had no dance experience and he would trip over his feet, but darned he really got it, like he got it.

I love that because there's all there's all types in life, and.

It kind of worked with his character too.

He was who else would say, how was your summer?

Miss Darvish.

Alicia was another one who didn't have a ton of movement experience, but she has I think I can't.

I want to say she has had a little, but she killed.

It was she was she in the in in that rehearsal, in the audition, in the dance audition.

I'm not sure if she came in as an actor.

I think she came in as an actor.

Yeah, I don't know.

I don't remember her.

I don't remember her as the audition.

I brought Casey Strow in.

I think after the auditions I'd have to ask Casey about that.

I can't remember, but we talked about it.

I'd still remember that detail exactly, but I don't think we talked about in detailed that point.

But she talked about the rehearsal process and uh and and tryouts and being spotted and then the one turning into I mean, Martha has been around now mar everybody else Martha, yeah yeah yeah, so and then these dancers have gone and then everybody all the dancers, so yeah, they're so young on the first movie and now there is young It's so fun to watch them on Dance with the Stars.

And you did so you think you could dance?

Yeah, I did a bunch of seasons on So you think you.

I saw that.

That was really fun for me to see that.

Thank you.

It was fun.

I love great.

Yeah.

It was probably one of the most intense jobs, really, so little time, and their dancers are pulled.

They have to learn your piece and then this and this and this, so you have like three hours here for us.

The first day is all like with cameras in there.

Would you say that again?

Or would you like?

The first piece I did was bullying, and so I called my friend that was bullied really bad, and so he told his story.

And then as I was teaching the choreography, they're like, will you do you know so you know how it is it?

Will you say that again?

Or you know what I mean?

So the first rehearsal doesn't really count, so you have like two others and then you're on stage like it's nuts.

It's so intense.

It's so intense.

But I loved it, and I loved working with Jeff Thacker.

He's brilliant.

He's the producer.

But yeah, it was great.

I you know, I got to be on I got to do Kevin Costner's new his first Horizon movie set with him for a week, which was amazing.

I've just been doing a lot of movies, commercials, TV film.

I'm just grateful.

I just keep going.

So I'm just kind of riding the bike going, Okay, let's stay, let's do another one.

Yeah, and you're you're living in Vegas.

Now I'm in Vegas.

Okay, are you in Utube?

Where are you at?

Are you?

I'm in Utah right now, I'm I'm fifty to fifty right now back, Well, there you go.

How do you make to be Midway?

You know you can't beat Midway man Midwa That Way is the greatest we have.

Dollerina Farms here now you know?

So hey, and.

Guess what that is Addie who did the series, my high school musical series.

She's my daughter in law.

That's her sister in law, the family that owns that one.

Oh, they just had a big thing there, a big like.

Like, oh they did have a big event up there.

Yeah, yeah, here, it's really cool.

I want to go up there.

The foods, foods credit.

This is I've been living in the I mean, this is just a little dairy farm, you know, but I had this bed and breakfast called the Johnson Mill, uh for all these years, but living in LA and then escaping up here, and I just want to live up here.

It's so nice.

I know, I know.

I have to tell you since we're here, your energy on set and you're what you have brought to the whole franchise is just it's it's priceless, Bart and you are that way on set.

You're positive, You're awesome, You're I mean, and you continue to be so and that's why people, all the people love you so so and we all love you.

That's so nice.

I love you, guys.

That's such an amazing compliment.

I really appreciate.

Well, it's true, you know, it's really true.

It's really awesome.

So thank you.

Love you guys.

You're your whole family.

Your girls are so amazing, amazing job.

Hey, I have a lot of help.

Yeah yeah, I'm sure.

I'm sure.

Well you got an awesome family doing doing it right, doing right.

Let's get together.

Thank you so.

Much for your time for having me.

This is so I think it's so fun.

I think that that our our people, our East High families go, they're gonna love hearing these stories.

So thanks for sharing all the fun.

It's so fun and what a ride, right yeah, right.

You know, I decided I'm gonna do I'm gonna do this podcast every every time there's an anniversary of the zero on the end.

So at the thirtieth we'll talk again, all right, if it's still.

Hopefully i'll run into you on a set here.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, we're gonna get together.

We're gonna get together, buddy.

I want to I want to tell you, I said, he and thanks to all the Wildcat fans.

That's right, thank you, Thank you East High family.

We love you, we love you.

I love you.

Bye body, bye, see you.

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