Get Your Head in the Game: KAYCEE STROH

Stick to the status quo! Bart Johnson sit down with Martha herself, Kaycee Stroh, to talk about her audition process for High School Musical, what the franchise means to her and so much more

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, Wildcats, this is Bart Johnson and you're listening to
Get your Head in the Game.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Hi.

Speaker 1 (00:10):
Everyone, welcome to Get your head in the game. Today
we have an amazing guest. You know her as Martha
Cox in the High School musical franchise. Please welcome my friend,
Casey Strow. Hello, Hello, Casey Strow, my dear friend. Welcome
to the podcast. I'm so excited to see your beautiful face.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
Welcome.

Speaker 3 (00:29):
Ah, thanks for having me, Bart.

Speaker 1 (00:31):
Oh man, I can't think of anybody I'd want to
celebrate the twenty year anniversary more with than Casey Strow
right here.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
How are you?

Speaker 3 (00:40):
I'm good. I'm good. If we're getting through all that
back to school craziness and getting into the regular schedules,
now you know how it goes right?

Speaker 1 (00:49):
Oh yeah, yeah, yep. I've been down that road a
bit before. We do talk a lot about parenting, don't it.
But people probably don't know this, Casey, but I would
probably say, I dare say you're you're like my best
friend from the cast, like I talk to you and
see you the most out of everyone.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
You know.

Speaker 3 (01:09):
I actually would agree, And I think it's so funny
when people like put us together the most unlikely of.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
Parents, like they didn't see it coming.

Speaker 3 (01:19):
No, they didn't. But I loved you from day one
on Speck. You were always such a homey to me,
and even through all of our years to California, like yeah,
all the years of high school.

Speaker 1 (01:29):
Cool two, Yeah, yep, they're lucky enough to be there
at your wedding, which was really fun, which was shortly
after I were jumping ahead, We're like, way jump all.
First of all, could you believe it's been twenty years?
Can we just say that? Can we say like it's
been twenty years?

Speaker 3 (01:42):
Can that hurts a little bit? I try not to
think about that. That's wild but funny with fans say
that or things like that, and like, what are you
talking about? Swear? I'm like nineteen, I did this.

Speaker 1 (01:56):
Thing, like right, right, we're barely twenty. I like to
put my self the same age group as you.

Speaker 2 (02:05):
Thanks.

Speaker 1 (02:06):
Thanks, It's desperate, but I'll take it. And it was shameless.
So shortly after we wrapped the third movie, right, you
got married like a year I think a year later
I did.

Speaker 3 (02:17):
It was like it maybe even see that was May?
I think, yeah, May? And then yes.

Speaker 4 (02:26):
January two thousand, January two thousand nine.

Speaker 2 (02:28):
Yeah, at the beautiful Le Kai, which is or just
French chateau. He plays your weather.

Speaker 3 (02:36):
Yea. We often go up there for anniversaries and things
like that. It's so fun to take the kids and yeah,
yeah it was amazing and you were incredible. You showed up,
You danced like a champion out there or not.

Speaker 4 (02:50):
You know it.

Speaker 3 (02:51):
I can always rely on you.

Speaker 2 (02:55):
Yeah, that's true. I'm good for a couple of things.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
A party favor, I guess maybe you know I I
do enjoy a good dance floor.

Speaker 4 (03:02):
You wouldn't have my favorite movie though, O Casey.

Speaker 1 (03:04):
There's a little longgoing Thieme for here, a little bit
of you know, resentment I feel, and like never get
into dance of the movie.

Speaker 2 (03:09):
So I'm gonna make up.

Speaker 1 (03:10):
For it on TikTok on dance floors like whatever I
can get, you know what I mean?

Speaker 3 (03:15):
Yeah, and just like putting it out there. But like
maybe next season, you and me dancing at the start.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
I mean that's what everyone else is saying, So I
you know, I'm in. I commit.

Speaker 3 (03:28):
I know. It's been like my number one comment on
every video for like the last ten years, and I'm like,
I know, guys like I'm here, I'm ready, and then yeah,
you just started kind of joining that chat too, and
people talking about you, and I'm like, hey, there's nobody
else I would rather have friendly competition with than my homework.

Speaker 1 (03:47):
Yes, could you imagine us hanging out on the in
that situation would be so fun? It would be so fun. Well,
I'm manifesting it too. Let's go, Universe, comme on, let's
let's make it money.

Speaker 2 (03:58):
We are ready.

Speaker 1 (03:58):
By the way, You're an amazing dancer, like you are
a professional. I'm I'm a hack, but I like really
enjoy it. Like I always did, like to always dance.
I was a break dancer, and you know when I
was a kid, I had my cardboard and my like
breakdancing outfit.

Speaker 2 (04:10):
I loved it. I love it. But you're like a professional.

Speaker 1 (04:13):
So when we get together and we you and I
do a dance together, it's like, oh my gosh, man,
you're you just you're so fast, and I'm like, I
I just need more time to learn these dances.

Speaker 4 (04:24):
Okay, Casey, sorry, my.

Speaker 2 (04:27):
Friend comes on a podcast.

Speaker 1 (04:29):
I'm like, we just got a million things to talk about,
and I know the time takes away, so let's start.
Let's start at the beginning, shall we, Casey, I'm let's
let's kind of tell the story.

Speaker 2 (04:38):
So let's start at the beginning.

Speaker 1 (04:40):
Before there was Martha, there was just Casey Strow and
she was a professional dancer and once upon a time
she got an audition for this amazing movie. Can you
tell me about, Like how did that come about? Like
when did you first hear about it?

Speaker 3 (04:52):
Yeah, so my high school musical audition story is quite crazy,
very round about. I ran into an old choreo refer
Bonnie's story who had just come to my dance studio
and taught like a piece, and I always really connected
with her and loved her, but then like she'd move
on and do other pieces for other studios. I hadn't

(05:12):
seen her in a while, and she saw me. I
was like eighteen, late eighteen, and I was teaching dance
at the time and choreographing my own stuff for studios.
And she ran into me and she's like, well, I
have this little audition for this, you know, Disney project.
It's untitled. It's not gonna be much, but something stood

(05:36):
out to me when they said they wanted dancers of
different shapes and sizes and colors, and and you know,
with her knowing me growing up, I was always a
muscular girl, a curby girl. And at this point, I
actually was just recovering from knee surgery and a blood cloth,
so I was like, not on my a game. I

(05:56):
had just put on more weight than I ever had had,
which you know, in any other industry like not, it's
not very hyper focused on. But unfortunately back then for
dancers like I had a tough road growing up. It
wasn't easy. I had a lot of no's and a
lot of discrimination and things like that. And so she
thought of me. So I decided that I would go

(06:17):
to this audition. I looked young enough. I'm like, well,
I'm not. I look kind of young. So I took
my resume and I actually took some of my students
because I thought this is gonna be a great opportunity
for them to get like a real audition. So I
took them, and I will tell you bart it was
the longest dance audition of my life. I swear they
gave us like a two minute routine. We were drowned.

(06:40):
Everyone was drowning, and at one point Kenny walked in.
I didn't even see this, but he walked in and
because people knew I was a teacher, things like that,
I kind of was helping out and trying to catch
people up and little did I know Kenny saw that
and was touched by it. But fastward too my audition,

(07:00):
I was the last group. I was one of five
hundred that day auditioning to be just a backup answer.
I definitely was the thing that looked like I didn't belong.
And he walked over to me after my audition and
he cut the music and he grabbed my hand and
he looked in my eyes and he said, I love you.

(07:24):
You are different. And it was like my whole life,
this whole arc of you know, really pain and suffering
in an industry that I loved but was told I
would never be a part of. It all made sense
of why I was given the body that I was given,

(07:45):
and it was I stood out in that moment and
I was here to represent. And so that was the
first part of the audition that was really magical, really cool.

Speaker 2 (07:54):
A see, I love this. I didn't know these details.

Speaker 1 (07:57):
This is amazing, and you're right that we're talking about
maybe people don't even realize like the young people. Maybe
they don't realize, but back then, like there was a
very narrow idea of what a particular person should look
like or whatever, and that's changed, thank Heaven's all in
all sorts of good ways. But but you were like
a you were a bit of a vanguard that way.
You were kind of breaking you ground, which is awesome.

Speaker 3 (08:19):
I'm honored to be called that, but I hear it
often and like, thanks for like trailblazing and making a
spot for us. And I grew up with nobody else
looking like me on TV, and then I got to
see you and it made me, you know, chase my
dreams or go back to dance, and it was just
like so so worth it for me. It was my

(08:40):
life mission. And I think Kenny saw that as well,
and he let me take that and run with it
throughout all three films. And I will forever be grateful
for him.

Speaker 1 (08:50):
For doing that.

Speaker 2 (08:52):
Yeah, yeah, he had the vision. He got it. Yeah,
he super got it. And I see the comments.

Speaker 1 (08:56):
I see the comments on your social and stuff like cool,
we've done a few things together, so I see their
comments a lot, and like you have touched so many
people on such like a deep level.

Speaker 2 (09:09):
That's got to feel amazing, right.

Speaker 3 (09:12):
Yeah, thank you? It is overwhelming, and it was. I'll
be honest, it was hard in the beginning. I had
an equal amount of struggle too. I don't know heard this,
but I actually had like some letters written in to
Disney and things like that. They were like, how dare
you put someone like who's a bad example for our children?

(09:34):
On TV? Or who's so unhealthy? South Park made fun
of me saying that I was like diabetic, like so
many like crazy things. But for every one of those,
it was like hundreds of thousands pouring in that were
so positive and I will forever be grateful for that.
People ask me about where I got my confidence from,

(09:56):
and yes, it was something I've earned over the years.
But I do you feel like the high school musical
fans just always thanking me building me up. It's where
I really like realized that this is me and this
is how I was meant to be and somebody needs
to hold a torch and I'm here for it.

Speaker 2 (10:16):
You know. It's interesting, Casey.

Speaker 1 (10:17):
I was just thinking about how, you know, we get
all this amazing feedback, like all the movies meant so
much to me and like the messages and like I
wasn't sure about you know what, trying something different or
you know, all the good messages we've given to people,
but I don't think people realize like how much has
come back to us, you know, and how how much
it's like touched, Like these comments are amazing, and yes,
there's always gonna be I've kind of realized, like, especially

(10:40):
like really famous people, like there's gonna be five percent
of let's just say, let's just pick a number. Five percent.
They're just gonna say me, nasty, terrible things, do you
because they want attention or it's a reflection on what's
going on inside of them, and it's like, oh, we can't,
like we can't take that.

Speaker 2 (10:55):
You know you can.

Speaker 3 (10:57):
And I even tell because now like Zeta and like
my cute girls, they love this and they love dancing
and singing and acting just like mom does. And we
post them things on social media and obviously.

Speaker 2 (11:10):
We see it, we love it.

Speaker 3 (11:12):
Yeah, they don't, well, thank you, and they don't have
access to those comments. But once in a while they'll
overhear something of like Ben and I laughing about a
comment or something, and I'm like, you just have to
remember babies, like healed people don't hurt people, and this
is their garage and their generational trauma that's been like
passed on to them. And at the end of the day,

(11:32):
I can choose to be hurt and angry or I
can like pity them, like I feel so bad for them.
I hope they find joy and happiness in their life.

Speaker 4 (11:40):
Right, No, I think it's I think it's to take.

Speaker 1 (11:42):
Right, there's a there's a great teaching opportunity, like everything
life is full of teaching opportunities.

Speaker 2 (11:48):
Right.

Speaker 1 (11:48):
But it's like and then that's one thing I really
like about being a coach, Like I'm really a soccer
coach in real life, like a volunteer soccer coach.

Speaker 2 (11:54):
And it's like there's all.

Speaker 1 (11:54):
These beautiful lessons to learn, but it's really helpful if
someone's standing around to point the lessons out.

Speaker 2 (12:00):
They just kind of pass you by.

Speaker 1 (12:01):
But these are some these are some great lessons, Like
you know, you should, you know, this is great, this
is great.

Speaker 2 (12:06):
Say we've all grown up.

Speaker 1 (12:08):
But it's like love your enemy, love your enemy, and
it's like, well that's weird, right, but it's it's really
easy to love people. We like it's like really easy
for me to love, Casey. Okay, that's not the my
My muscle doesn't get any stronger by doing things that easy.
It's when it's really hard with so much such a jerk,
and I'm gonna I'm gonna love that.

Speaker 2 (12:25):
I don't know, I A but I'm gonna grow. I'm
gonna grow. I'm gonna be a better person if I
could love someone that I want to. You know.

Speaker 3 (12:31):
Yes, that is the That is a true trial of
life right there, and it drives been crazy. Sometimes We're
like driving in the car and he's like, oh, that
guy is such an idiot, and be like, and Jesus
loves him just as much as you.

Speaker 2 (12:45):
That's right, that's right. You don't know what's going on
for that guy.

Speaker 3 (12:47):
Yeah, the girl's just thrown out on dad, and but
it is. And I'm glad we do have you know,
a solid upbringing in that.

Speaker 1 (13:04):
Okay, Casey, So you get the audition, you do the
dancer or hersal, and then and then what happens.

Speaker 3 (13:10):
Okay, so this is crazy. So then I hear nothing
for like two weeks, and I'm devastated. I'm like, why
did he do that? Why did we have this amazing moment.
And then I get a call back from Jeff Johnson
and I am literally taking my students on a cruise
in California. I am boarding the boat on a cruise ship.

(13:31):
I am their chaperone. And he calls and he gets
my mom and my mom is like she's doing this
right now and calls me and she's like, don't get
on the boat, Like, Mom, I can't not get on
the boat, like I've got these kids. And so she
called back Jeff Johnson and she told him the situation.
He's like, hold on a minute, I'm gonna call Kenny Ortega.

(13:53):
So he calls Kenny Ortega and Kenny said, I will
wait for her, wait for her to go do the trip.

Speaker 4 (14:02):
See You're like, that.

Speaker 3 (14:05):
Doesn't happen, And so he said, I'll wait for her
to come back. It'll be a tight squeeze, but then
I'll have her read and sing for Martha. So I did.
I got through the trip. I came back in they
literally played the song for me on a disc that
was already pre recorded. Camera's in room being sent to
the head of Disney and I'm like, okay, sing it back?

Speaker 4 (14:27):
So holy what it is?

Speaker 3 (14:29):
Yeah, Yeah, and and they recorded me doing my like
pop and lock and jam and break and all that,
and thank goodness, they they loved it. I read the
lines cold, they loved it. And Ken even said when
we were on set, I'm like, what do you want
me to do movement wise for that that moment? And
he was like, everything you did, everything you did that

(14:51):
you came up with. I loved it. So I was
actually cast, like I think it was only like four
or five days before we started filming Fish. Yes, that's
how LA. I was like to the game. But it
was really cool. Kenny told me we had another moment
at one point and he said, I want you to
know that I have looked through all of LA. We've

(15:12):
auditioned in LA, We've auditioned in New York, and I
just couldn't find my Martha. And you were waiting here
for us in Utah at a little like at the
dance audition. And and it was such a cool moment
because for me, a lot of people know that I
was raised doing dance, but they don't know that like
this was my Endngoldo was acting and dancing. I grew

(15:35):
up doing theater camps every summer. I was Dorothy and
the Wizard of Oz in third grade. Like I knew
from a very young age like this is it. I
want to be a famous triple threat. So but I
just didn't know how it was going to happen for
me in the little of Utah. And thank goodness, this,
this little audition happened and Kenny all the vision and

(15:56):
I will forever be grateful.

Speaker 1 (15:58):
I love it. That's amazing. Okay, so you got the job.
Five days later, you're on set. Do you remember what
was like walking on?

Speaker 2 (16:04):
Said? Who did you meet first? Or what did you
what do you remember seeing? Do you remember?

Speaker 3 (16:08):
Oh my goodness, yes, And I'm like doing my best
to like fake it to make it. Let's just let's
just be clear about this. I'm faking it to make it.
We have the read through at Little America, and so
I come in. I've never done a read through in
my life.

Speaker 2 (16:27):
Wow, there's your very first movie, very first movie TV show.

Speaker 3 (16:30):
Nothing technically I had danced in like a small like
religious film, but I had I'd never had speaking lines
all of that. So yeah, So I met everyone all
at once, like Mo and Corbyn and Zach and Vanessa,
and I'm nineteen and these kids are younger than me.
They're trained child actors, you know, and I'm just kind

(16:51):
of watching them and taking notes from what they're doing
and trying to take my theater background and MORPHI it
into film. So it was it was a pretty overwhelming
experience that first read through. And then when I got
to set, I remember them just like I get and

(17:12):
I see my trailer. I see my trailer for the
first time with my name on it, and I was
like fighting the tears, Like this was my dream since
I was five years old.

Speaker 2 (17:22):
I don't think a lot of people don't understand.

Speaker 1 (17:24):
Like to show up and there's this like tiny little
trailer but it's got your name.

Speaker 2 (17:27):
I was like, that's my Like, that's such an achievement.

Speaker 1 (17:30):
For like us actors. So like, oh I got a trailers.

Speaker 3 (17:34):
Not like a glorious or glamorous trailer.

Speaker 2 (17:37):
Is the films are so.

Speaker 1 (17:40):
Yeah, Oh it's such a oh it's just so fulfilling.
It really is like, oh I'm so happy. Oh okay,
so yeah, so awesome. So you got to set, and
do you remember your first day?

Speaker 2 (17:51):
Like what was your first day?

Speaker 3 (17:52):
So literally I started with stick to the status quote.

Speaker 2 (17:56):
Oh wow, that's a big day. You're starting on a
on a big, big epic day.

Speaker 3 (18:01):
Yes, exactly.

Speaker 2 (18:02):
At the cafeteria.

Speaker 3 (18:04):
Yes, and all of like all of my dance stuff, everything,
my acting, everything was like, none of that was choreographed.
Kenny just said, I love what you did in the audition.
Sit at the table, let's go. And I've got this
camera in my face and I'm like, okay, let's rock
and roll y'all like time to rise up or or fail.

(18:24):
Here we go. So yeah, I did it. And I
just remember having chills all over my whole body and
being like, this is it, kid, You did it, Like
this is what you dreamed of and you're here and
you did it. But also just trying to drink water
through a fire hose and it's just like everyone's like, oh,

(18:48):
go to the DP, go to the PA, and I'm like, hell,
I don't know. Yeah, I didn't even know how to
like call for a bathroom break. And I'm literally just
watching everyone trying to figure it out.

Speaker 1 (19:04):
That's that's pretty amazing because most maybe some people don't know,
like normally, your first day of work on a movie
or TV show might be like shooting in a little
in a room or a kitchen ord like something small.
There's a couple of people and it's manageable. This is
like you're shitting musical number. It's different than anything in
a movie a TV show. It's so big and playback
and the speakers and a million dancers. And by the way,

(19:26):
for Kenny to just trust you with the dance, that
psych says a lot because you watch Kenny like he
is so involved and Chucky and Bonnie like the choreographers.

Speaker 2 (19:34):
Yeah, so meticulous, so full of notes.

Speaker 1 (19:36):
So for him to say I love what you did,
that's I mean, he choreographed Michael Jackson for fourteen years.

Speaker 2 (19:42):
Look at you and saying I like what you did.
Like what a compliment.

Speaker 3 (19:45):
Wow, thank you, that's very sweet. And I did definitely
feel that looking back in retrospect, and I think that often, like, wow,
that was a lot of love and a lot of
trust and he's just such a creative genius. Yeah, and
you know, as you know, as we went on with time,

(20:06):
those numbers were very meticulous and very plan but that
was that was it for me that day on set.
That was supposed to be it for me.

Speaker 1 (20:15):
Oh, it was supposed to be that number. And then
Martha was not around, and they fell in love with Martha.

Speaker 3 (20:20):
Yeah, I'm very grateful. Here's the thing back then, this
is really going to age us as actors. But they
had something called dailies where they were sending the dailies,
you know, to Disney, and Disney would watch back and say,
we approve, we're liking what's going on. And they sent
the dailies to Disney and they were like, this stinks
so bad that we booked her so late, Like we

(20:42):
really like her and what she's bringing the High School musical?
Is there anything else we could throw her into? They
were just grasping at straws to find moments to put
me in, and they're like, well, we haven't shot we're
all in this together yet. So I remember like learning
we're all in this together from like a video of

(21:04):
Bonnie being sent to me, and I like learned that
choreography the night before, a night before, and Kenny was
so generous to always place me like right next to
Zacher Vanessa or somewhere that I would be.

Speaker 2 (21:21):
Oh yeah yeah.

Speaker 3 (21:22):
And then even at the end, as like the credits role,
he was so kind to throw me this bone and
he was like, go do a solo just go in
prov do this solo.

Speaker 2 (21:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (21:32):
Yeah, And that's where like Martha was truly born throughout
that the first high school musical, and thank goodness, Disney
loved it, and thank goodness, the fans just reacted so
great to Martha, and it just kept kept coming back
for forth and goodness, the gift that just keeps giving.

Speaker 2 (21:50):
Oh my gosh, it sure is.

Speaker 1 (21:52):
And I'll tell you, I think it's Martha's charm. And
do you remember the first time we met, Casey?

Speaker 3 (21:59):
I think I remember the first time, And now I
want to hear the story from you. What you remember.

Speaker 1 (22:04):
I don't remember things very well, but you tell me
what you what you remember, and I'll pipe in.

Speaker 3 (22:11):
Okay, I remember walking into the makeup trailer and having
a moment with you where I walked in and you,
first of all, were so kind and we were chatting
it up, and you just stopped and you paused and
you looked at me, and you're like you are just
like such a classic beauty, like old school movie star,

(22:34):
like you were meant to be in that in that generation,
like dang girl, you know, and just gave me the
most beautiful compliment and as a little curvy girl who
always felt like I didn't belong or you know, was
told for many years I would never make it as
an actor because of this, Like that moment was so
big for me. So thank you. That's the one that

(22:56):
I most remember.

Speaker 4 (22:58):
Now I want to from you.

Speaker 1 (23:00):
Well, I remember said you were working when I showed
up because I was there when they were filming Stick
to the Status Quo.

Speaker 2 (23:08):
And I just remember seeing you and.

Speaker 1 (23:09):
You just kind of you stood out to me because
you have like this to me, like this very classic
like nineteen twenties almost like classic beauty movie star face,
Like it's just like the camera eats it up and
the like you just want to say, like you know,
you want to spend some time with this character.

Speaker 2 (23:25):
It's a gosh, what's her name? I can't think of
that movie.

Speaker 1 (23:29):
Star, the most beautiful, the most beautiful of I'll tame
me of the Shrew. It's uh, a little of Taylor.
It's a little bit Taylor. So that's exactly what I'm
thinking of.

Speaker 2 (23:36):
Lizabeth Taylor.

Speaker 1 (23:37):
Yes, yeah, e Lizabeth Taylor, like you know, like like
picked up classic anyway.

Speaker 3 (23:41):
Oh my god. Well, first of all, thank you, that
means the world to me, and you're gonna die when
you hear this backstory. So my grandma was Elizabeth Taylor
stand in in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, no way, Yeah,
and she was just a Utah girl. They just needed

(24:02):
someone to stand in and yeah, and she stepped in
for Elizabeth. Oh wow, and my grandma. So hey it
Barne Johnson, I love it.

Speaker 2 (24:14):
I love Brothers too. That's a classic. That's a beauty.
That one. That's a good one. Yeah, wow, that's awesome.

Speaker 1 (24:21):
Okay, Yeah, I just think I think you're amazing, Casey,
and it's been so fun to remain friends and do
all our dances and stuff like that. Tell me this,
do you how often do you get recognized as Marta everywhere?

Speaker 3 (24:34):
Every day? It's amazing?

Speaker 2 (24:37):
Tell me?

Speaker 1 (24:37):
And is it more now or ten years ago or
twenty years ago?

Speaker 2 (24:41):
What would you say?

Speaker 3 (24:42):
Okay, So obviously immediately after high school musical it was
crazy and I kind of felt bad. I have an
older sister that looks a lot like me, and she's
like she'd be on the phone with species like Casey,
I'm being hunted in target. There's people following me. I
need to turn around and tell im it's not me
and break their heart. But pad no, every grocery store,

(25:04):
everywhere I went, and I just love it. And I'm
sure there's actors that don't appreciate it. But as someone
who grew up as this little, like five year old girl,
knowing my life mission and wanting to be some sort of,
you know, beacon of light in this world, to me,
I am so honored that this that these films have

(25:26):
affected people so deeply and and helped you know you
hear all the time that helped raise some of these children,
or that we were their safe place, which just always
breaks my heart and warms it at the same time.
But I love interacting with the fans, and I know
you do too, so so yeah and so, but it
pretty much yeah, i'd say pretty much everywhere every day.

(25:50):
So people always laugh at school pick up or things
are like, dang, why are you like I always have
your like glamor on while you put on makeup everywhere.
I'm like, because trust me, the second I leave this house, look,
I'm homeless.

Speaker 2 (26:03):
Cameras are going to come out. Yes, that's funny.

Speaker 1 (26:08):
And so what do you what do you think compared
to like to now, like back then versus now?

Speaker 3 (26:13):
I do feel like it's still pretty common. But I
do think the fun thing now is that, you know,
it was always like, oh, you're Martha my school musical,
You're that dancer or things like that, But now I
get a lot of like varying age groups that are, oh,
you're on that girl on TikTok, I know you from Instagram.

Speaker 2 (26:34):
Oh interesting.

Speaker 3 (26:36):
Yeah. It's crazy to now not just only be like
the Martha thing, which is really cool. But I don't
know if you're noticing this, but I love that even
young kids are still coming up to to us. I
feel like the Wildcat generation, God bless them, they have
like passed this on to their kids too and are

(26:56):
showing it classic. So where I thought it would like
really dwindled down, I feel like it's had like a
nice resurgeon.

Speaker 4 (27:08):
You know.

Speaker 3 (27:08):
I think during Heist Musical it was crazy we had
a little bit of a dip there, don't you think,
And then now it's like boom.

Speaker 1 (27:15):
Well yeah, for for me, it's like uh uh yeah,
it's like it's more now than ever. Like for me,
like I mean, it's kind of I'll go through the airport,
I'm stopping. I don't know, maybe like ten times or something,
but uh, yeah, it's always it's always great.

Speaker 2 (27:29):
Like people.

Speaker 1 (27:30):
The thing is is like I think we're the same
this way, we're extroverts, were weird. I don't know what
it is, but like if people start bothering me and
I'm like, oh, it's a little bit of a crowd here,
all right, let's go. I was at the I was
in this in and out burger and these these guys
just finished this rugby game and they came in out
burger and they started singing, uh, we're so red We'll fly,
And I was like, okay, cool, I got my camerally,

(27:51):
let's go. Kind of got the crowd going, and like
I love it, man, it's awesome. Like, let's turn this
into a little block party's now that.

Speaker 3 (27:59):
You mentioned that, I think I saw your post about it.

Speaker 4 (28:01):
Did you ask it about it?

Speaker 2 (28:02):
Yeah, I put on Instagram. We're on TikTok may.

Speaker 3 (28:04):
So cool and that you know. That's another one of
my favorite things is when it's like the boys that
come out of the woodwork.

Speaker 2 (28:11):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (28:12):
I feel like in the beginning it was like a
little more secretive and like more girls would come up
to us and yeah, like an older generation, they're shame
as they do not care.

Speaker 1 (28:21):
They're like, well, it's it's kind of a it's kind
of a trip because like the fandom is like so
intense it is, and it's so global, like all around
the world. I was doing a movie in Connecticut, and
it used to be only the little kids, and then
like college age kids, they didn't know who I was.

Speaker 2 (28:36):
They had no, no clue.

Speaker 1 (28:37):
But now I was doing a movie in Connecticut and
the men's basketball team came running.

Speaker 2 (28:42):
Over the coach where he's your coach, coach, Like I
was like, all right, my boys, let's go.

Speaker 1 (28:49):
So a lot of them are like I played basketball
because the movie, you know, a few of them said that,
or actually probably about half of them said that.

Speaker 2 (28:59):
Was like it's so cool.

Speaker 3 (29:02):
Have you had some too that have done like I've
had so many that are like and boys especially they're like, dude,
I did the musical because like I actually tried out
where before it was like this like faux pas to
you know, be a boy or be a jock doing that,
and it like opened the door for that, which, Yeah,
theater nerds unite everywhere. We are cheering like so hard

(29:25):
to get those boys in there, and what a Blessing
the High School Musical.

Speaker 2 (29:31):
I love it.

Speaker 1 (29:33):
I love it, and it resonates with me a lot
because I grew up doing like all through high school
I did. I did all the theater shows, I was
in all the choir, I played in the band. But
I did all the sports too, Like I played all
that stuff. So I think I was I don't know
what I would have been labeled. So this is coming
out right kind of representing that kind of.

Speaker 3 (29:50):
Stuft rare for your generation.

Speaker 4 (29:53):
I don't know, right, pretty cool, probably.

Speaker 1 (29:56):
Yeah, yeah, I always called some names in school. I
guess that's true. I got I did.

Speaker 2 (30:01):
There was like the bevy up all the time.

Speaker 1 (30:03):
It's probably why, but I just let you know, you know,
it was back then, like what was in a smaller
school and you could do all that stuff. You know,
you didn't have to like pick one sport. It's like, oh,
what are you gonna play this spring? Play different sport
in the fall, and then all year like oh, all
the girls are inquired to inquire, you know, like you know,
I mean I try to tell my boys.

Speaker 2 (30:24):
I'm like, guys, just.

Speaker 1 (30:25):
You know, do them out, you know, like if you're
looking for opportunities to meet some people.

Speaker 3 (30:30):
You know, that is great advice, but I agree, I
tried to. I spread myself so thin back then. I
even have like I had laundry baskets in the back
of my jeep that were like, this is for dance company,
this is for ensemble, this is for drama, and here's
your cheer stuff.

Speaker 2 (30:50):
Like we were, Oh wait, tell me, tell me about
high school. What what did you do in high school? What
what what you did? Cheer?

Speaker 3 (30:56):
I did? I did so yeah, in true hazy fashion
of just like, you know what, I'm gonna try something.
I had asked my whole life and was doing the
singing and acting thing at that point. But it got
to my senior year and I was like, you know
what would be so fun? It would be really fun
to do cheer. That is like a whole different animal
to me that I've never done. And so I went

(31:20):
in and I auditioned. I feel a little bad because
there were girls that had cheered for years, and then
I'm like, I'm so sorry, Like I ended up coming
in and I was so worried. Bar I was so
worried that I was not going to get the popular vote,
because back then, I think it's changed, thank goodness, but
it was remember that so much of it was like

(31:41):
a certain percentage was how you actually did in like
the tryout, and then they had this terrible thing where
you had to like go on the stage and perform
for everyone, and then they voted, and I remember thinking,
like popular enough for this, no one's gonna vote for me.
And because like I was friends with like everyone, I

(32:06):
just tried to be nice to everyone. I was friends
with everyone. But then I felt like I didn't really
have like a solid group of people that were like
always inviting me to things. And I think it's just
looking back, they assumed I was busy with all of
my lessons and stuff I was doing back you know,
back then I felt like I'll butt her. And then
I ended up talking to the coach after and she

(32:28):
was so sweet. She pulled me aside, just said, I
know you were so worried about not getting the popular vote.
I just wanted to let you know that you had
the highest score, and it was everybody said that you
were nice to them, and right there, I'm like, that's
my greatest in life. If I die and never do
anything else, I hope I leave the world with that

(32:48):
message that like, you know what, I love that were
to be mean and I love all people from all
different cliques and backgrounds and religions and everything.

Speaker 2 (33:00):
Short, yes, yes, I love that.

Speaker 1 (33:12):
Okay, let's talk about the trilogy, the high School musical
franchise that we got to be a part of. It
was supposed to be just one movie, but the fans
said more, we want more.

Speaker 2 (33:21):
We're like, we'll do it.

Speaker 4 (33:23):
So we are lucky.

Speaker 2 (33:25):
You know. I always feel like when you do a movie,
you know, it's always sad. At the end of the movie.
You're like, oh, my best friends, I gotta say goodbye.

Speaker 1 (33:31):
Way worse when you do a TV series because you
spend so much time with everybody and then you say goodbye,
it's really a heartbreak. But a trilogy, like three movies,
you really get to know people, You get really close.
Could you tell me, like, what are your favorite moments,
Like what do you have, like favorite scenes you shot,
or like favorite things that happen on set or anything
kind of interesting that way.

Speaker 3 (33:53):
Yeah, So I feel like for me, everyone always asked, like,
what's your favorite high School Musical movie of the trilogy. Yeah,
for me, I always say, well, it's different watching it
versus what I loved filming, because I loved filming High
School Musical too. And the reason why is at that
point we were coming back, we were all excited, we

(34:13):
were all grateful, and they put a whole bunch of
us in these connecting casitas, like these hotel rooms that
were like little apartments connecting, and it was so fun
because we would like have dinner together. We were really away,
like at summer camp. And that's why it read so

(34:33):
true on like for the film, because I was like
making dinner one night for like Zack and Vanessa, and
then I like helped Ashley with her laundry one night,
or like we were scared one night and she came
and slept over, And it's like that camaraderie on that
film was very special to me and will like always
stand out in my mind because we did we felt
like kids away at summer camp together and we would

(34:56):
just happen to be putting on this big show. So yeah,
that that always stands out for me.

Speaker 1 (35:02):
I think you're right, though, I think that a lot.
I've heard a lot of people say the number two
is their favorite, and I've often wondered.

Speaker 2 (35:08):
Is like is it because it's like summer camp.

Speaker 1 (35:10):
You're like away from school and you get to like
have that, like it's like the special thing you go to.
And the fact I never really thought of it it
maybe some of it resonating because the cast was actually
doing that. Like those little homes were so cool. And
the golf course was it in Tratta?

Speaker 2 (35:25):
Was that the name of.

Speaker 4 (35:27):
George George Utah gorgeous?

Speaker 1 (35:29):
So all that beautiful red rock and the pool and
the the golf course where he did the bed on it,
bet on it, you know, the.

Speaker 3 (35:37):
Classic bed on it for sure. And then we'd even
like I remember if we got out early, and even
when we didn't get out early, to be honest, we
would sneak off to Denny's some nights and here comes
the whole cast of high school musical walking into Denny's
at midnight, Like can you imagine? Or little Saint George
Utah didn't know what was coming. But yeah, we had

(36:00):
so much fun, and I feel like that's what resonated
through the screen. But I mean I could go on
for days. How many special moments, don't you think? I
feel like, oh my gosh, remember the moment after we
were filming we're all in this together. I know. We
talk about that moment a lot, that moment where we

(36:23):
were filming it and Kenny stopped the music and he
just paused and it was like, do you guys feel that?
And we all just had chills and the energy in
the room felt like it was crackling, and he was
just like, I feel like we're onto something. I feel
like there's something special here.

Speaker 2 (36:39):
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. The music.

Speaker 1 (36:41):
I think the when they handed us the music before
we started shooting and you could listen to that and like,
that's it's actually really good, Like well, first of all,
what a great message, Like that's amazing, Like what a
great message, And then it was done so well. The
lyrics were so good, and then he made it like
such magic on that screen. Every single one of us
was there, everyone was participating in the number and it

(37:03):
was like the end of that one and then thinking
that it was all over. So yeah, yeah, it was
that was really special.

Speaker 2 (37:10):
That was special.

Speaker 3 (37:11):
I know that for all of us. That's one of
those standout moments.

Speaker 1 (37:14):
Yeah, if you had to pick one song, is that
it like one musical rude bark I so like every
movie has like so many bangers, I.

Speaker 3 (37:27):
Know, they're so good. And then today I went to
like refresh my brain because I know people think it
has we like lived high school musical that we like
watch it every week and it's like, right, whoever, but
we don't we lived it. And so I went to
refresh on some of the songs. There's thirty one. There's

(37:48):
thirty one good songs.

Speaker 4 (37:50):
To choose from in all three?

Speaker 3 (37:52):
Yes, over the three. Isn't that incredible?

Speaker 2 (37:55):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (37:55):
So yeah, So anyways, it's hard to pick just one,
but I will say, and I was sleeping on this one,
but can I have this dance? Now that I see
people like using it as their wedding song and like
all this. I listened to the lyrics and I think, wow,
this is so beautiful and it talks about like catching lightning,

(38:20):
you know, falling in love is like catching lightning in
a bottle.

Speaker 4 (38:23):
And stuff like that.

Speaker 3 (38:23):
I'm just like, oh my gosh, I have chills. This
is so good looking. So I would say, might have
this dance? Was beautiful? And I wasn't even in that one,
but it's so beautiful. And then but my one of
my favorite ones to film was All for One, which
always shocks people that's not one of like the ones
that people would think is their fa it's out the pool. Yeah,

(38:47):
it was during the second and it was my first
time dancing with Lucas. Oh, my partners had kind of
been Chris Chris Warren and Ryan Sandberg and god bless,
I love them.

Speaker 2 (39:00):
Love those guys.

Speaker 4 (39:01):
Yeah, they're great, my boys right there.

Speaker 3 (39:04):
They're amazing. But they always were a little bit like
fighting for their lives. They're always like I don't want
to mess up, Like is this the right move? Like
so cute, and I loved dancing with them, but this
was the first time I was paired up with Lucas,
And I have to say, you will understand this from
an actor's perspective when someone else that you're working with,

(39:28):
reading with, dancing with, singing with, gives it back to
you like full full force. Yeah, such a magical moment,
Like we were having so much fun together. We were laughing,
we were making eye contact, just crushing this dance together.
So that actually is one of the songs for me

(39:48):
that like was one of my favorites the film.

Speaker 1 (39:50):
Actually, yeah, yeah, I always contend like Ryan's I think
one of the one of the best parts to play
because it's like he made it so fun and he's
so good and he's such he's such a such an
amazing talent. But like it's that's a little bit of
a complicated relationship there, you know, like being second banana
when you know to this possible monster, possible genius. I

(40:10):
don't know, you know, like it's a it's a pretty funny.

Speaker 4 (40:12):
Sure, but he made it.

Speaker 1 (40:15):
He humanized it too, where it's like, you know, his
moments with Corbin and stuff, and like, I don't know,
I kind of I kind of feel like some of
the magic from High School Musical is because even though
it's this big hyperreality and larger than life and magical everything,
it's like rooted, you know, it's like rooted in real things,
like great messages in the song, the characters that really matter.

Speaker 2 (40:34):
I did my scene.

Speaker 1 (40:35):
When I do my scenes with that, you know, I
feel lucky that I get to. I did all my
scenes with Zach for the most part, and it's like
he cared a lot about what.

Speaker 2 (40:43):
The scene was, as did Kenny.

Speaker 1 (40:44):
You know, like they took it very serious, and I
think that that resonates, you know.

Speaker 3 (40:49):
It makes such a huge difference. Yea, and yeah, like
a supportive co star, really feeding into it, just like
that's where that's where the magic happens.

Speaker 1 (40:59):
And so yeah, okay, Casey, I could talk to you
for there three hours, but I got a few more
questions I'm going to ask you before it times up.
So after High School Musical, you were on a show
with Ashley. Yes, I remember seeing you out there.

Speaker 2 (41:14):
I didn't know you were going to be out there.
I was like, there's like Casey right there.

Speaker 4 (41:19):
I know.

Speaker 3 (41:20):
So after the first film came out, I actually received
a call from Ashley's manager and Bill was like, I
loved you on set. You're different. I don't have anyone
like you. It's really your dream. So I did it.
I packed up at nineteen, left everything I've ever known,
and I moved out to LA with my sister, and
I started the grind. Like I had my initial moment

(41:43):
where I feel like God was so kind and gave
me this high school musical blessing, and then I was like, Oh,
here's real life. Here, here we go. Now we're going
to Now we're going to do auditions, Now we're going
to do headshots.

Speaker 2 (41:55):
Yeah, so you move.

Speaker 1 (41:57):
You moved before you had the opportunity to audition and
for your it's a it was a recur role on
which is a big deal.

Speaker 3 (42:05):
Yeah, so yeah, I went in for that for a
really great character named Leslie. I loved it. She was
completely opposite Martha, where Martha is this brainiac and Leslie
is just this dits and I got to play, you know,
something completely different and fun. And then it was great
like I got to be with the Sprouse boys, I

(42:27):
got to be with ash Brenda's song and I loved
it. It was more experience, more time on set and once
again I'm just trying to eat up everything I can
where so many of these kids have been doing this
for years on sets. So it was a really cool experience.
And then of course love being called back in to reoccur.

(42:50):
It always makes you feel good.

Speaker 2 (42:52):
That's great.

Speaker 1 (42:54):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's so much.

Speaker 2 (42:57):
It means so much more than the lip service. Right.

Speaker 1 (42:59):
It was so call and you go you were amazing,
Like okay, thanks, But when they say like we want
you back on the show on this date and they're like, no,
that's the compliment, that's the feedback I want to hear.
So obviously obviously you killed it and they had you back,
so that's amazing.

Speaker 2 (43:15):
Yeah, and they were on a like a iconic kind of.

Speaker 3 (43:17):
Show yeah, which was Yeah. Also like the height of
their career and this great show that's doing so well.
And that's where I really felt like, oh, like I
am a part of this Disney family. I'm a part.
They see the vision, they get me, and that for
me was huge. And then you know, High School Musical

(43:38):
two they call us back for which I was so
grateful that the fans and Disney and everyone just understood Martha.
They wanted more of her, So that was great. And yeah,
I've continued to go on and do shows for Disney,
like Andy Mack and you know, lots of lots of
other things, guest star roles on television shows and is

(44:00):
living living my dream, which is.

Speaker 1 (44:03):
Yeah, well you're and you're absolutely killing it on your
social TikTok dances, everything you're doing. People are just to
eat you up and loving you, which has been really
fun to watch. It's been I've I may have made
an appearance on a couple of year.

Speaker 3 (44:17):
Yes, you have good sir, and we love it.

Speaker 2 (44:20):
We love it.

Speaker 4 (44:21):
It's awesome.

Speaker 1 (44:22):
Although I'm still a little I'm still a little bad
at myself with that last one, because when it was branded,
it was you branded an event like, oh, let's do
this one.

Speaker 2 (44:30):
I'm like, okay, how do I do it? You guys
like we know it already.

Speaker 1 (44:33):
I'm like, oh geez, I'm never gonna learn this one.
And then of course you guys look amazing, and I'm like, oh.

Speaker 3 (44:39):
You're very I know. I can tell in your eyes
you had a moment where you're like, maybe i'll rock instead.

Speaker 2 (44:45):
I should learn this dance ahead of time. If you're
going to dance a pros you no excuse. Ben actually
send it to me before too, and I was like,
I just.

Speaker 3 (44:56):
The And it's my husband.

Speaker 4 (44:59):
Everyone, I can't like him.

Speaker 3 (45:01):
It's my partner in crime. And he is so great
well Ben, and he films for us and edits everything.
So that makes sense that Ben like, give you a
heads up, but that's okay.

Speaker 2 (45:11):
Bart.

Speaker 3 (45:12):
He did tell me to. He was like, please give
him a virtual hug, you know, my Bart. So we
have to get.

Speaker 1 (45:20):
Caught up, Yeah we do. I'm going to head up
there pretty soon too. So I'm down here in La sweating.
It's a heat waved down here. It's not fun.

Speaker 2 (45:27):
And you're up there in the fall colors of Utah.

Speaker 3 (45:29):
Right now, I am do you see my decorations behind me?

Speaker 1 (45:33):
I've been watching your tiktoks and I've been seeing you
redo your whole home. It's been a quite a show.
And you've just done such an amazing job.

Speaker 3 (45:40):
Well, thank you. That means a lot, because it was
it was a grind, man, it was a two year
nightmare and things goes contractors and things like that. But
of course, and so I did a lot of the
designing and Ben did a lot of the finishing.

Speaker 1 (45:54):
So literal, well, I mean, it must be nice to
turn around look at that though.

Speaker 2 (46:00):
That's beautiful.

Speaker 1 (46:01):
Hey, I see your shelves up there, and I'm wondering,
are there any souvenirs, props, anything taken from the set
of a particular East High school by chance?

Speaker 3 (46:11):
Oh, now the secrets come out. There's nothing up there.
I do have around the corner going down to the basement.
It was the only place I'd allow Ben to hang
it up. I'm like, I don't want to be that
person that's like got it across the mantle. But I
have my teen Choice award.

Speaker 4 (46:26):
Like this, that's amazing, which is pretty cool.

Speaker 3 (46:30):
Cool play dates are always like wait what, like, yeah,
see I was cool once I got Street Cred choice.

Speaker 2 (46:37):
That's pretty cool. That's pretty good.

Speaker 4 (46:39):
I have that.

Speaker 3 (46:40):
I have of course our championship rings like our Wildcat
This says Mark and HSM and Wildcats on it. That
I treasure.

Speaker 2 (46:50):
I'll go.

Speaker 1 (46:51):
I got one of those from from my coaches days
back at East Eyge.

Speaker 2 (46:54):
But it's like the year on it. I was looking
at her.

Speaker 1 (46:57):
I'm like, I was like, twelve of this year. Okay, whatever, rude, crude, good?
Why are you saying I'm old?

Speaker 2 (47:04):
Uh? Yeah, okay, So you got that. That's cool.

Speaker 3 (47:07):
And then the last one, this is like one of
my most treasured and people are gonna laugh because on
the last day of set of High School Musical three,
someone in wardrobe, not gonna name any names, just walked
over and said these need to be yours, and she
handed me They're like these long boom box earrings that

(47:28):
Martha used to wear.

Speaker 2 (47:30):
Oh cool.

Speaker 3 (47:31):
Formally, for those out there listening, there really is a
Disney vault, Like things go in the Disney Vault, like
our costumes go in the Disney Vault. Like everything's very
sacred and pulled away so to get away with these
and knowing that I'm such like a rule follower and
a good kid.

Speaker 4 (47:47):
I'm like, I can't do that.

Speaker 3 (47:48):
I'm stealing, and she's like, no trying, Like the powers
that be I worked at, you need to take these home.
So yeah, I've got my boombox earrings that are like
really treasured me.

Speaker 2 (48:00):
I love that.

Speaker 1 (48:01):
I also, just while you're talking, I remember we all,
you know when at the last day of filming everybody
got a yearbook, which was really fun, right everybody out
of here.

Speaker 2 (48:10):
It was really nice.

Speaker 3 (48:12):
I forgot about that that.

Speaker 1 (48:14):
Yeah, guess what, Casey, they didn't give me one.

Speaker 4 (48:19):
That is how rude is that? I'm like, what that
pretty slow?

Speaker 2 (48:25):
I'll tell you what. I'm gonna be honest with you.
There's all series of things.

Speaker 1 (48:29):
I was like, you know, you guys know I was
in all three of those movies, right, you remember, like
you like.

Speaker 3 (48:34):
Remember how we all we were all missed together and
we did this all together.

Speaker 4 (48:36):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (48:36):
Remember Coach bullten, Troy Bolton, you know remember the I've
got like twelve scenes.

Speaker 2 (48:42):
Was sad or no no year book, Casey, no yearbook.

Speaker 3 (48:47):
This is a great injustice in the world. And I
feel like someone needs to step forward and get parked
out this yearbook, and I will be the first to
sign it.

Speaker 2 (48:58):
I promise I got more. I got more.

Speaker 1 (49:01):
I'm gonna keep them under raps, though, because I'm gona
get myself in trouble. But there's been a but a
few moments like that We're Disney forgot about Old Coach,
and I'm still just kind of, you know, wiping my
tears a little bit, a little bit away.

Speaker 3 (49:14):
I'm sorry, I'm saying I'm creating a love bubble around
you on this one that hurts.

Speaker 1 (49:21):
Oh oh gosh, you know, I I uh, it's been
so fun, you know, I'm I'm really I'm really grateful
for TikTok. I gotta say like, because it's been it's
been really fun. It's it's brought all the songs back
to life. You show all these little clips, you know,
it's like you're saying, like that one song, you were saying,

(49:42):
what was it called this dance?

Speaker 3 (49:44):
I have this dance.

Speaker 1 (49:45):
I have this dance like some of the stuff you like,
you might forget about, and then somebody uses that clip
and puts a whole thing to it.

Speaker 2 (49:50):
You're like, what the yeah, have.

Speaker 1 (49:52):
You seen these people doing the weddings. People are doing
the weddings.

Speaker 3 (49:58):
Yes, that's what it is, like, yes, it's nothing.

Speaker 2 (50:00):
Is that the Is that the song that they're doing
for the weddings.

Speaker 3 (50:03):
Yes, it's beautiful and it's amazing, and listen to those lyrics.
You're gonna cry like a baby.

Speaker 2 (50:10):
It's amazing.

Speaker 1 (50:11):
I get I've I've, I get cameos, like I did
sixteen cameos last night, but I'm just want to throw
it up.

Speaker 3 (50:18):
I get a lot of cameos, but Bart Johnson puts
me to freaking shame.

Speaker 2 (50:23):
I don't know why.

Speaker 3 (50:25):
Coach nothing. The coach is so good and he's inspirational,
and you're so good at it, Like, come.

Speaker 4 (50:31):
On out, you get that.

Speaker 2 (50:33):
That's very nice, that's very nice. Thank you that you're
the best casey.

Speaker 1 (50:37):
But uh, it's been funny because the cameos used to
be like hey, I'm graduating from high school, you know,
and it's like oh cool, you know, or juner, you know,
it's hice. It's now were they're graduating from college. And
now they're like everybody's turning thirty. They're like, hey, I
literally did like five bachelorette parties and like now I'm
doing like fantasy flo were you announced the uh the
order of fantasy football, you know the lea uh the draft,

(51:01):
do the draft picks and so it's like I'm seeing
my Wildcats gal a little bit older. It's pretty wild.
It's pretty cool.

Speaker 3 (51:07):
He got his genius. You're right, coach, go across many platforms.
More birthdays and graduations for you.

Speaker 2 (51:15):
Yeah, I'm happy to the birthday.

Speaker 3 (51:16):
And we all know, I know nobody wants to say it,
but we got some Daddy Bolton stuff going too. They're like, oh,
I used to love Zach, but.

Speaker 1 (51:24):
Now, oh gosh, you behave out there for you? Yeah,
thank you, thank you. It's entirely inappropriate.

Speaker 2 (51:33):
Uh uh yeah.

Speaker 1 (51:36):
No, the fans are awesome and I love them so
much and they've been so good to me, and they're
so good to you. And you've got a tremendous following
and you you have such a fun social media What
tell me your handle?

Speaker 2 (51:46):
Could you say your handle? Your social media handle?

Speaker 3 (51:48):
Yeah, so it is k C. Stro as in k
y c. And then my last name is stro sorry,
the real name k y Cee. What's Taken and Hidden hostage?
After musical? No me ran for it. I'm like or not,
I'll just use my nickname. I'll use case So yeah,

(52:09):
it's just Y C S t R O H. And
it's that I think. Yeah, TikTok Instagram. I'm joining the family.

Speaker 2 (52:17):
Everyone we Yeah, Casey're going to be doing some more.
So by the way, you've done some awesome stuff.

Speaker 1 (52:23):
I saw who did I see you with it in
front of East High, which was wicked herself.

Speaker 3 (52:29):
Oh my gosh, inside bart like this is that's amazing worshiping.

Speaker 2 (52:37):
She reached out to you. If I remember that correctly, Oh.

Speaker 3 (52:41):
My gosh, I some of those agreement of Pillow moments.
So yeah, Christin wrote me bless her. She's like, I
don't want to put you out. Is there any way
that you would meet at East High? And I was
like and even kind enough to let me with her.
And I hadn't even say so many years. I had

(53:03):
to like look up the lyrics and it was not
my best work. I was shaking, I couldn't even breathe.
But forever I will be grateful for that, for that
moment where I had the opportunity to sing with Christian Chennaw.

Speaker 2 (53:16):
With amazing, amazing, our queen, Our Queen and mother no cook.

Speaker 1 (53:20):
It's it's a cool like like social media provides some
pretty cool opportunities, really cool like like that like amazing
it does.

Speaker 3 (53:27):
It brings so many of us together that like people
I normally wouldn't be able to chat with or meet,
and some people that even like that that I grew
up loving and idolizing. Uh, the Michael Bublet wrote me
like he was our wedding song. Like just so many
cool moments and meeting so many cool people and getting

(53:49):
the opportunity to like share our talents. We all bond
over the fact that we love like acting in skit
so we're singing and dancing and so Yeah. I know
social media can get a lot of bad round to it,
but if you look for the good in it, there's
so much to be had, and I think it's been
the joy for us.

Speaker 1 (54:08):
I think that I give my kids the speech they're
sick of me and one of my speeches. But like,
if you could take you take a lot, Like if
you're consuming, if all you do, if one hundred percent
of your time is consuming social media, really bad if
it's the more percentage you could create, you know, as
opposed to consume. I mean opportunities, you know, open up
and like people. People, you know, they they talk a

(54:30):
lot of trash, Like all these kids sitting around doing
TikTok dances. I'm like, you mean kids are getting together
and like learning dances and recording it. Like that's cool, man,
Like they're being creative. They're like, you know, forget the
consuming part is the rotten part. The creating parts.

Speaker 3 (54:42):
Great creating part is really magical. It's bonding and it's
better than them sitting and like playing video games all day.
Like they're they're moving their body, they're having fun. They're collaborating, which,
let's be honest, that's what we need more than anything
in life as they go into whatever career they go into, Like,
collaboration is so important. Communication is so important. So yeah,

(55:04):
I think there's a lot of positives to it. And
I always tell my girls, I'm like, you know what,
you get to pick what you consume. If there's things
that are making you feel bad, if you've noticed every
time you follow, you know this clothing brand that's like
one size only or like things like that, and every
time it comes up you feel bad about yourself. On follow,

(55:25):
you get to pick and you can look for body
positive creators you can look for, for Heaven's sakes, if
you're into cookie for recipes or therapy healing trauma. I
feel like during COVID I was in this like binge
of like childhood trauma. Not that my childhood was that bad,
but you're like, oh my gosh, look at all these
amazing therapists like giving their knowledge on things.

Speaker 4 (55:47):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (55:48):
I think it can be a really great positive thing
if you look for it and if you choose to
follow and consume good things.

Speaker 1 (55:56):
Right, it's the twenty year in January. It's twenty years.
Is there anything you're going to do to celebrate? And
if the answer is no, let's talk offline.

Speaker 3 (56:04):
I was gonna say, I'm like winking at you right now,
like I have some ideas and I think that the
wildcats would really like it, and I think we have
a lot of fun.

Speaker 4 (56:16):
Okay, so we nudge nudge more to come.

Speaker 1 (56:19):
Yeah, I've got I've got a little something particular that
I want to talk to you about for a little something,
but mum's the word. Till January twenty twenty six, twenty
year anniversary High School of Musical.

Speaker 2 (56:32):
Casey stro I love you with all my heart. Thank
you so much your time.

Speaker 1 (56:36):
It was such a gift to have you on the
podcast today and I'm gonna I'll come see you real soon.

Speaker 3 (56:42):
Sounds good, Bart, I absolutely love you. Thank you so
much for having me friends.

Speaker 2 (56:45):
Okay, love to the family. Talk bye, Casey.