"DRAMA HIGH: THE MAKING OF A HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL" AIRS MONDAY, DECEMBER 15 ON THE ABC TELEVISION NETWORK

With over three hundred hours of footage, "Drama High: The Making of a High School Musical" depicts the minefields that students must navigate both on stage and off when trying out for a high school musical. Who will make the cast? Who has a future in performing and who doesn't? Rivalries heat up between peers while egos hit rock bottom and all time highs. The two-hour special airs MONDAY, DECEMBER 15 (9:00-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

So many star struck teens in America dream of having their moment in the spotlight. When a predominantly white high school in Virginia decides to stage "The Wiz" -- the black musical version of the "Wizard of Oz" -- students get their chance to achieve those dreams. Over 100 kids audition, but only four will win the chance to star in the performance. ABC News travels with them on a remarkable and unexpected journey in which they not only sing and dance, but also explore the true meaning of soul. Viewers get to see up close the high-stakes high school game of who's in and who's out, as the students make their way from the auditions to the final performance.

For three months ABC News followed Westfield High School's production of "The Wiz" � from auditions to the final performance and all the emotion in between. As the production unfolds in the special, viewers experience the teens' struggle with friendships, their parents' expectations and their own deepest ambitions. ABC News captures scenes of searing conflict between a son who fights for his dreams of stardom, and his mother who doubts his talents. During the auditions, the bravado of the school's star vocalist crumbles when her mother tells her she's too overweight to have a shot at the lead. And when a gifted African American teen gets his dream role, his mother pressures him to sign up with the military at the height of the conflict in Iraq.

In every week that passes, the cast is confronted with fresh and unforeseen obstacles and enlightening discoveries. And when the pressure reaches its apex before opening night, the teens learn a profound lesson about friendship. The two-hour program has no narrator, instead allowing intimate video diaries and interviews with the subjects to tell their emotional journey.

"Drama High: The Making of a High School Musical" was produced by Muriel Pearson. Jessica Velmans is the senior producer. David Sloan is the executive producer. A TV parental guideline will be posted closer to airdate.