1996–2005: Early career Bleu moved with his family from New York to
Los Angeles in 1996. He worked steadily in episodic television and feature film roles, including a recurring role on the short-lived
ABC police drama
High Incident and a guest star appearance on
ER. He also appeared in some films, like
Beach Movie (1998) and the sci-fi thriller
Soldier (1998). His feature films from this period include the
Tim Allen comedy
Galaxy Quest (1999), the comedy
Mystery Men (1999), and the drama
Family Tree (1999), Bleu also had roles in
Malcolm & Eddie, as Matthew, and
Cover Me: Based on the True Life of an FBI Family (2000), as Nick Elderby, and smaller roles like in the comedy series
Nickelodeon's show
The Amanda Show. Additionally, Bleu was developing his dance skills and in 2001 began intensive training at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy. There he undertook a full gamut of dance instruction, including
ballet,
jazz,
tap,
modern,
hip-hop, African,
break dance,
salsa,
flamenco and ballroom.
Debbie Allen, the choreographer who starred in the TV series
Fame, told
Dance Spirit magazine: "I think [Bleu] really has a career. Success is one thing, but a career is a much longer, broader journey". During his freshman year, he won his first sizable film role in the teen action caper
Catch That Kid (2004), about a girl named Maddie Phillips and her friends Austin and Gus who decide to rob a bank after learning that money is needed to aid her ailing father Tom Phillips (
Sam Robards), alongside
Kristen Stewart and
Max Thieriot. It was a box-office flop, grossing $10 million, but served as an important step for Bleu, who was still building his acting career. During high school, he performed in student productions of
Footloose and
Grease, winning the honor of Theatre Student of the Year. In the summer of 2004 Bleu landed a starring role in the television series
Flight 29 Down, alongside Allen Alvarado,
Hallee Hirsh,
Lauren Storm,
Jeremy James Kissner,
Johnny Pacar and
Kristy Wu, which aired for three seasons on the
Discovery Kids network. The program, a juvenile version of the
ABC series
Lost, concerned a group of teenagers stranded on a tropical island after their plane crashes. Bleu played
Nathan McHugh, a Boy Scout whose leadership skills do not quite measure up to his self-confidence.
2006–2008: High School Musical and breakthrough Bleu's next television project was the
Disney Channel original film High School Musical (2006), in which he portrayed the basketball player
Chad Danforth, who tries to persuade his teammate
Troy Bolton (
Zac Efron) to give up his interest in theater and focus on winning a basketball championship.
High School Musical premiered on January 20, 2006; with an audience of 7.7 million television viewers, it was the
Disney Channel's most successful TV movie up to that point. The film, which also starred
Ashley Tisdale,
Lucas Grabeel,
Vanessa Hudgens, and
Monique Coleman, was a major success and helped Bleu gain recognition among teenage audiences. The film's soundtrack was certified quadruple platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). in 2007 He joined co-stars on the 51-date
High School Musical: The Concert (2006–2007) tour to promote the film, work on the second film in the series began, and Bleu was confirmed to be returning for the sequel.
High School Musical 2 (2007) was released on August 17, 2007. The premiere was seen by over 17.2 million viewers in the U.S., almost 10 million more than its predecessor, making it the highest-rated
Disney Channel movie of all time. Disney Channel aired a weekly program called
Road to High School Musical 2, beginning on June 8, 2007, and leading up to the premiere of
High School Musical 2 in August. The show offered viewers a behind-the-scenes look into the movie's production. The world premiere of the opening number "
What Time Is It" was on
Radio Disney on May 25, 2007, and "
I Don't Dance" premiered on August 14, 2007. The film was generally well received by critics, gaining a score of 77/100 at
Metacritic and 82% on
Rotten Tomatoes. It broke opening-weekend records and grossed over $250 million worldwide. Its soundtrack, featuring many contributions from Bleu, sold over three million copies in the U.S. alone. "
I Don't Dance", a duet with Lucas Grabeel, became his first top-40 hit on the
Billboard Hot 100, and was certified gold by the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It was named the official theme song of the
2007 Little League World Series. During this time, Bleu began singing on soundtracks for the Disney Channel, and released a cover of "
Two Worlds" (2007) to promote
Tarzan. In 2007, Bleu starred in his next film, the Disney Channel original
Jump In!, which aired on January 12, 2007. Directed by
Paul Hoen, the movie revolves around a young boy, Izzy Daniels, who trains regularly to try to follow in his father's Kenneth Daniels (David Reivers)' footsteps and win the Golden Glove, an amateur boxing tournament. Bleu played Izzy and
Keke Palmer portrayed Mary Thomas, his friend who has a crush on him. Again, Disney scored a crossover hit with the
Jump In! soundtrack album, released in January 2007, on which Bleu sings the track "
Push It to the Limit". Reaching the screens on the Disney Channel that January,
Jump In! was a major hit among young viewers and quickly became the network's highest-rated premiere, breaking the record set by
The Cheetah Girls 2 in 2006. Its soundtrack was also a commercial hit, achieving gold status from the RIAA three months after its release. He guest starred as Johnny Collins in the premiere two episodes of Disney's
Hannah Montana (2006–2008). He also had a small role as Spencer on ''
Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, appearing in the episodes "Dismissal & School Plays" and "Revenge & School Records". He also appeared at the Mother Goose Parade
as Grand Marshal in 2006 and 2007. While with Disney Channel, Bleu also participated in the first ever Disney Channel Games and co-captained the blue team along with Jake T. Austin, Maiara Walsh, Cole Sprouse and Kiely Williams. A year before, he returned to repeat his captaincy of the blue team with Brenda Song, Vanessa Hudgens, Monique Coleman and Jason Earles. In August 2007, Bleu starred in Flight 29 Down: The Hotel Tango, a teen drama film version of the television series of the same name. Also in 2007, he was the voice of the Magic Gourd in The Secret of the Magic Gourd (2007), He appeared on The Tyra Banks Show'' in 2008. Bleu went on to reprise his role of Chad Danforth in
High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008), the first film in the
High School Musical franchise to receive a theatrical release. It opened at number one at the North American box office in October 2008, earning $42 million in its first weekend, which broke the record previously held by
Mamma Mia! for the biggest opening by a musical. The film finished with $252 million worldwide, which exceeded Disney's expectations. The song "The Boys Are Back" (2008), a duet with Zac Efron, became his second top forty hit on the
Billboard Hot 100, and was certified gold by the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and
Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). For his role as Chad Danforth, the team captain of the school's basketball team, he was nominated for an
NAACP Image Award, a
Young Artist Award and
Teen Choice Awards in 2007 and 2009 respectively. Bleu lent his voice for the role of Chad Danforth in various
High School Musical video games.
2009–present: Continued work The following year, Bleu played the lead role in the film called
Free Style (2009). It concerns Cale Bryant, an eighteen-year-old man who tries to find himself by winning the Amateur National Motocross Championships.
Free Style performed poorly in the box office, having only grossed $720,000 from a $10 million budget. Over the next few years, Bleu's television roles included the drama series
The CW Television Network's show
The Beautiful Life: TBL. The series was subsequently cancelled on September 25, 2009, after televising 2 episodes. In December 2009, the technology company
HP became the show's sponsor and began airing the show's five episodes on
YouTube. Also in 2009, he was a voice actor in
Beyond All Boundaries, and appeared on
Entertainment Tonight and
The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet. Also in 2009, he was the voice of Coltrane in the premiere two episodes of Disney's
Phineas and Ferb. and guest starred in one episode of
The Good Wife as DJ Javier Berlin in October 2010. in 2010, Corbin starred in the short comedy film
I Owe My Life to Corbin Bleu, alongside
Andrew Caldwell,
Drake Bell,
Sarah Hyland,
Ryan Pinkston,
Sterling Knight,
Matt Prokop,
Matt Shively and
Josh Sussman. In 2011, he performed the voice of Lou in
The Little Engine That Could (2011). From August 5–7, Bleu performed in the musical
Hairspray as Seaweed J. Stubbs at the
Hollywood Bowl, alongside
Nick Jonas,
Harvey Fierstein,
Marissa Jaret Winokur,
Drew Carey and
Darlene Love. and he performed the voice of Flip in
Tonka Chuck and Friends: Big Air Dare. In 2012, Bleu also had a role in and co-produced the indie horror anthology
Scary or Die (2012), a collection of five short horror films. In 2012, he joined the cast of
Godspell as
Jesus Christ beginning April 17 at the Circle in the Square Theatre. He joined co-stars on the
66th Annual Tony Awards, to performing "
Day by Day" and "Light of the World" at
Beacon Theatre, with
Neil Patrick Harris as the host. During this time, he recorded the duet "
If I Never Knew You" (2012), with
Anna Maria Perez de Tagle to promote
Pocahontas. He guest starred in one episode of
Blue Bloods as Officer Blake in 2012. In 2012, he performed the voice of Drew in
Twinkle Toes, Bleu starred in the drama film
To Write Love on Her Arms (originally titled
Renee) in 2012, with
Kat Dennings,
Chad Michael Murray and
Rupert Friend. The film began production in
Orlando, Florida, in February 2011. In March 2013, Bleu had a role in the horror film ''
The Monkey's Paw (2013). and guest starred in one episode of Franklin & Bash as Jordan Allen French in 2013. In April 2013, Bleu was cast in the role of Jeffrey King on the ABC daytime soap opera One Life to Live. In 2013, Bleu starred in the film Sugar (2013), alongside Shenae Grimes and Marshall Allman. about a runaway girl named Sugar living on the streets of Venice, Los Angeles. The film began production in Venice, Los Angeles, on November 30, 2010. Also in 2013, Bleu appeared in the horror films Nurse 3D (2013), alongside Paz de la Huerta and Katrina Bowden. The film began production in Toronto, on September 6, 2011, and wrapped on October 21, 2011. In 2014 he also appeared as a guest star in Psych'', the
USA Network television series in
Season 8. In September 2013, Bleu took part in the
seventeenth-season of
ABC's dancing competition
Dancing with the Stars. He finished as runner-up. Bleu's only release in 2015 was the moderately successful
Megachurch Murder (2015), in which he played a Marcus King, with
Tamala Jones,
Shanica Knowles and
Romeo Miller. In addition, Bleu appeared in
Family Shots with The Human Race Theatre Company. In 2016, he also made a guest appearance in an episode of the family drama,
The Fosters, playing the role of Mercutio, a character who appears in a school musical production of
Romeo and Juliet. Bleu and fellow guest-star
Ashley Argota also co-starred in a production of
Romeo and Juliet: Love Is a Battlefield at Rockwell Table and Stage, produced by
The Fosters co-creator Bradley Bredeweg. He also had a small role as Hunter on
Castle in 2016. In January 2016, he joined the cast of
The Dodgers as Simon, the rational voice amid the habitually stoned chatter, and beginning January 21 at the Hudson Mainstage Theatre. In October 2016, he took part in Broadway productions notably the leading role in
Holiday Inn, The New Irving Berlin Musical (originally titled
Holiday Inn), a musical based on the 1942
Academy Award-winning
film of the same name. Returning to his tap dancing roots was "like riding a bike". His former Disney co-stars attended a performance in October 2016. Bleu began vlogging during his tenure in
Holiday Inn, resulting in
Bleu Skies: Backstage at
Holiday Inn with Corbin Bleu. Bleu, who played Ted Hanover in the new
Irving Berlin musical, gave a glimpse of backstage life at
Studio 54, where he and his co-stars (including former vlogger
Bryce Pinkham,
Lora Lee Gayer,
Megan Lawrence and
Megan Sikora) celebrated an entire year's worth of special occasions eight times a week.
Bleu Skies launched off on August 23 and ran every Tuesday for eight weeks. with Bleu being nominated for a
Chita Rivera Awards for Dance and Choreography in 2017, for outstanding dancing in a Broadway show and eventually winning a Chita Rivera Award for his performance. While with ABC television, Bleu also participated in the revival of
Battle of the Network Stars, joining the red team along with
Joey Lawrence,
Nolan Gould,
Lisa Whelchel and
Kim Fields, with
Ronda Rousey as the captain. The series premiered on June 29, 2017. From July 28–30, Bleu performed in the musical
Mamma Mia! as Sky at the
Hollywood Bowl, alongside
Dove Cameron,
Lea DeLaria and
Jennifer Nettles. The theatre premiered on July 28, 2017. Corbin Bleu's career also included
voice over work with
Breathe Bible. In December 2017, Corbin Bleu hosted the 2017 Looking Ahead Awards, presented by
The Actors Fund. In November 2017, Bleu returned to
25th season of
Dancing with the Stars and in Week 8, he performed in a trio
salsa with
Jordan Fisher and his professional partner
Lindsay Arnold. After the trio delivered their salsa to audiences, they ended with a score of 30 from the judges, In January 2018, he guest starred in one episode of
The Middle as Luke, a handsome drummer that catches Brad Bottig (Brock Ciarlelli)'s attention. In 2018 he also appeared as a guest star in
Chicago Med, the
NBC television series in
season 3, as Tommy Oliver. From June 27 – July 3, Bleu performed in the musical ''
Singin' in the Rain as Don Lockwood at the St. Louis Municipal Opera Theatre, a musical based on the 1952 BAFTA Film Award-winning film of the same name. The theatre premiered on June 27, 2018. with Bleu being nominated for a St. Louis Theater Circle Awards in 2019, for Outstanding Actor in a Musical. Near the end of 2018, Bleu played Billy Crocker in Anything Goes'', which was performed in-the-round at
Arena Stage in D.C. Washington from November 2, 2018, to December 23, 2018. with Bleu being winnin a
Helen Hayes Award in 2019, for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical. In March 2019, he was cast in the
Netflix drama film
Walk. Ride. Rodeo. (2019), alongside
Missi Pyle,
Spencer Locke and
Bailey Chase, directed by Conor Allyn. He appeared on
Show Offs in 2019. In 2019, Bleu played Bill Calhoun/Lucentio in the Broadway revival of
Kiss Me, Kate at the
Roundabout Theatre's
Studio 54. The musical originally opened on Broadway in 1948 and five years later was the basis for a liberally adapted
1953 film of the same name. The production, directed by
Scott Ellis, began previewing on February 14, 2019. The limited engagement played until June 30 at Studio 54. For his performance, Bleu was nominated for the
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical. Bleu was also nominated for a 2019 Chita Rivera Awards for Dance and Choreography, for Outstanding Male Dancer in a Broadway Show and for an Audience Choice Awards for Favorite Featured Actor in a Musical. He was cast in a co-starring role in the Jordan Barker film
Witches in the Woods (2019), The project also stars
Hannah Kasulka and
Sasha Clements. Bleu filmed an independent movie titled
Ovid and the Art of Love. Filmed partially at the old St. Agnus Church in
Michigan, the project also stars
John Savage,
Tamara Feldman and
Tara Summers. In 2020, he appeared on
The Disney Family Singalong, which aired on
ABC on April 16, 2020, during the
COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. In May 2020, he also appeared as a guest star in
Supergirl, the CW television series in
season 5, as Trevor Crane. On June 30, 2020, Bleu joined in a live reading adaptation of
Jason Reitman's
Up in the Air to help raise funds for Acting for a Cause. The event's purpose was to help industry personnel impacted by
COVID-19. Bleu was later announced as the host of the 2021
Jimmy Awards, in honor of legendary Broadway producer and theater owner
James M. Nederlander. In 2021, he guest starred as Blaine in the premiere two episodes on The CW Television Network soap opera
Dynasty. In July 2021, he was cast in the
Hallmark Channel original entitled
Love, for Real (2021), alongside
Chloe Bridges,
Camille Kostek and
Scott Michael Foster, directed by Maclain Nelson. In December 2021, he appeared as the male lead in the a
Lifetime Christmas movie, titled
A Christmas Dance Reunion (2021), alongside Monique Coleman, directed by
Brian Herzlinger. During this time, Bleu performed songs for the soundtrack of
Winnie the Pooh: The New Musical Adaptation, and released a cover of "
Winnie the Pooh" (2021). In July 2022, he was cast in the Hallmark Channel original entitled
Campfire Christmas (2022), alongside
Tori Anderson and
Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman, directed by David I. Strasser. He returned to the
High School Musical franchise, guest starring as himself in the
third and
fourth seasons of
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, Bleu contributes to two numbers a duet with star
Sofia Wylie on the original song "Different Way to Dance" and with the entire cast on "Everyday". From July 5–13, Bleu performed in the musical
Mary Poppins as
Bert at the
St. Louis Municipal Opera Theatre, directed by
John Tartaglia, choreographed by Patrick O'Neill, with music direction by Brad Haak. In September 2022, he starred as
Cab Calloway, in the drama film
Remember Me: The Mahalia Jackson Story, alongside
Keith David,
Vanessa Williams and
Columbus Short, directed by
Denise Dowse. In 2023, he was cast in the comedy film
Camp Hideout (2023), with
Christopher Lloyd, and directed by
Sean Olson. Starting in the summer of 2023, he starred in the world premiere of the musical
Summer Stock at the
Goodspeed Opera House. On September 26, 2023, Bleu performed in the
horror comedy rock musical
Little Shop of Horrors as Seymour Krelborn, replacing
Jeremy Jordan at the
Westside Theatre, directed by
Tony Award winner
Michael Mayer, choreographed by Ellenore Scott, with music direction by Will Van Dyke. In April 2024, he returned to the show as Seymour replacing
Darren Criss with
Jinkx Monsoon as Audrey Fulquard. In April 2025, he starred in
The Great Gatsby as
Nick Carraway at the
London Coliseum for its London and
West End premiere. ==Music career==