Corbin Bleu took some time during Fan Expo Chicago this past weekend to discuss High School Musical and transitioning to the Broadway stage.

Bleu starred in the High School Musical trilogy alongside Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, and Monique Coleman.

It’s so nice to meet you today. How are you enjoying your weekend in Chicago?
Corbin Bleu: I’m having a blast here. This is only my second convention that I’ve done and my first Fan Expo. It’s been fantastic to meet everybody and hear all the stories, see the amazing costumes, and of course, also see other guests here that I grew up watching and loving.

Is there anyone that’s made you starstruck?
Corbin Bleu: Starstruck? I will say that does not happen often just because I grew up in the industry and I know that at the end of the day people are people, but there are people here that I have watched for a very long time that have inspired me. I mean, I’ve literally been in a booth right next to Wayne Knight and that has been pretty epic to get to witness him all weekend long.

I can imagine. Jurassic Park changed my life.
Corbin Bleu: Same here. Same here.

How special is it to be a part of High School Musical and then seeing it go from one film to trilogy and then with the rise of streaming, a spin-off series?
Corbin Bleu: None of us knew that it would become what it did. I feel like we all just have been so grateful and we feel like we’re so lucky to have been part of a franchise that was so near and dear to so many people and now to have people at these conventions and hear people say that they grew up with it, you were my childhood, it is very surreal. I keep having all these out-of-body experiences.

How did you first get interested in acting and musical theater?
Corbin Bleu: I started when I was really young. My dad’s an actor as well and I wanted to follow in his footsteps. I’ve got three younger sisters. None of them are in the entertainment industry. My parents always nurtured whatever it was that catered to each kid and from the very beginning, I loved performing.

I noticed the Little Shop of Horrors Playbill over there.
Corbin Bleu: Yeah! I work on Broadway a lot. In 2010, I had my Broadway debut in In the Heights. I’ve always been a theater nerd and that was another very special thing about High School Musical, I was able to parlay that into my Broadway career, which is something that I am extremely proud of. I always say that if it wasn’t for the fact that film and television is the thing that truly pays the bills and that also has the visibility that it does, I would only do theater for the rest of my life. I absolutely love the stage.

Who’d you play in Little Shop?
Corbin Bleu: Seymour!

I’m sure that was fun.
Corbin Bleu: It was great. It was fantastic and I got to go back again, actually. I did it with Constance Wu as my Audrey and then I went back again with Jinkx Monsoon.

How was the experience doing In the Heights?
Corbin Bleu: In the Heights, I mean, that was my debut so that was, as a show itself—I was a fan of the show first. It’s so unique and especially at the time, it was so counterculture to a traditional musical theater show. There was something that—I actually had been offered to do a different Broadway production that I turned down because I just knew that that wasn’t the right launching pad for me on the stage. I remember going to see In the Heights and sitting—I think we were fourth row with my dad. I remember halfway through the show leaning over to him and I said, if I was to ever do a Broadway show, it had to be something like this. Lo and behold, there was a series of events that occurred that led to that being my Broadway debut. The first performance was such a blur. I feel like I blacked out but I do remember the bow. I remember right before going out for the bow, saying just take in this moment right now and really remember this, enjoy this, because you’ve been dreaming of this for a very long time. I couldn’t be more happy with having had that experience.

You got to work on a Lin-Manuel Miranda show!
Corbin Bleu: Yeah, absolutely. I got to work with him. I mean, that was before Hamilton.

I was trying to calculate in my head how many years before Hamilton was that.
Corbin Bleu: 2010 was when I went into—I mean, In the Heights debuted in 2008. That’s when they won the Tony. But 2010 is when I went into the show. Yeah.

It was nice to meet you.
Corbin Bleu: It was nice to meet you, too. Absolutely.

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