By David Zurawik

For the last year, Academy-Award-winning documentary filmmaker
Barbara Kopple has been focusing her lens on a student theater
company in Fort Worth, Texas, as it mounts a production of Disney's
High School Musical. The result, which airs in five-minute segments
Saturday nights at 7:55 on the Disney Channel, is a knockout.

High School Musical: The Music in You, a backstage look at the making
of a high school play, will run Saturdays through Jan. 19. On Jan. 20th,
the top-rated cable channel will air a look at opening night of the
Texas adaptation of High School Musical.

Filmed and edited for the digital age, The Music in You is fast, snappy
and addictive. Kopple, perhaps best known for her soul-stirring chronicle
of a strike by coal miners in Harlan County, USA, catches the anxiety
and the optimism of the young performers -- and the incredible energy
that rattles the gymnasium rafters and sometimes seems to be
elevating the stage

Spanning a range from the earliest auditions and readings to the posting
of the cast lists, dress rehearsals, opening nights and specials performances,
the film introduces viewers to an inspirational group of kids rich in talent
and hope.

If you can't catch the short-form series on Saturday nights on cable TV,
it is also available at DisneyChannel.com -- and on mobile phones at
Sprint TV starting next month.