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A plaque for the Utah Film Trail sits outside of East High School in Salt Lake City on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News <\/p>\nHundreds of Joshua Bassett fans formed a winding line outside Olympus Junior High School in Salt Lake City on Thursday evening. The crowd \u2014 made up overwhelmingly of teenagers and young women \u2014 waited eagerly to see the \u201cHigh School Musical: The Musical: The Series\u201d star. <\/p>\n
Once the audience settled in their seats, Bassett peeked out from behind the curtains, sending piercing screams through the school auditorium. Moments later, when he finally took the stage, the crowd responded with another wave of cheers, hollering and squeals. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat a treat to be back in Salt Lake City,\u201d Bassett told the crowd. \u201cYou guys are way louder than L.A. \u2014 way louder!\u201d <\/p>\n
Bassett, the actor and musician best known for starring in Disney\u2019s \u201cHigh School Musical: The Musical: The Series\u201d \u2014 set and filmed at Salt Lake City\u2019s East High School \u2014 returned to Utah as part of the five-stop tour for his debut book, \u201cRookie.\u201d <\/p>\n
After landing his role in the immensely popular \u201cHigh School Musical\u201d series, Bassett\u2019s career quickly took off. During that time, he also grappled with imposter syndrome, mental health struggles, addiction and the pressures of fame. <\/p>\n
A plaque for the Utah Film Trail sits outside of East High School in Salt Lake City on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News <\/p>\n
Bassett\u2019s New York Times bestselling book, \u201cRookie,\u201d offers an intimate look at his journey toward self-acceptance and the transformative influence of faith and community in his life. <\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t be more excited to be back here. It\u2019s such a special place,\u201d Bassett told the crowd, choking up as he tried to maintain his composure. <\/p>\n
\u201cSalt Lake City means a lot to me. The good, the bad, the ugly. I\u2019ve been through a lot here. But it\u2019s so cool to come back here to be with you guys. A lot of the chapters in the book were written about times that happened here,\u201d Bassett continued. \u201cThis is where we filmed \u2018High School Musical.\u2019 This is where I had heart failure, and I\u2019ve been through the hell of it back here.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cTo be on the stage with you guys and to be able to talk and share the story. It\u2019s just so awesome. … It\u2019s really an emotional moment for me and so I\u2019m grateful for you all for being here.\u201d <\/p>\n
Bassett spoke candidly to the audience, opening up about his mental health struggles and how he learned to confront fear and channel his emotions into strength. <\/p>\n
The actor led the audience through some simple breath work and shared methods on reducing anxiety and breaking free from fear, including connecting with community and practicing gratitude. <\/p>\n
Bassett then talked about his own near-death experience in Salt Lake City and delivered a message about finding hope during desperate times. <\/p>\n
Surrendering to God![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/NQWJJHYFAZG2DFPXJR2QZEDINE.jpg\")
From left, Matt Cornett, Joshua Bassett, Sofia Wylie and Olivia Rodrigo, cast members in “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series,” pose together at the Season 3 premiere of the Disney+ streaming series Wednesday, July 27, 2022, at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, Calif. | Chris Pizzello, Associated Press <\/p>\n
While filming \u201cHigh School Musical: The Musical: The Series,\u201d Bassett nearly died of heart failure. <\/p>\n
After a week of feeling miserable, Bassett experienced shooting pain in his left arm \u2014 a common indicator of a heart attack. He called his doctor, who attributed the symptom to anxiety and advised Bassett to lie down for a nap. <\/p>\n
Moments after following his doctor\u2019s advice, Bassett had a \u201cdeeply unsettling\u201d sense he was going to die. Through tears, he called his mother and told her he thought he was dying. <\/p>\n
Bassett was rushed to a Salt Lake City hospital, where a doctor diagnosed him with septic shock and heart failure and gave him a 30% chance of survival. <\/p>\n
Convinced he would not survive, Bassett began writing notes to all the people he cared about. He repaired fractured relationships and let go of long held grudges. <\/p>\n
\u201cI continually need to be reminded of what\u2019s important in life,\u201d Bassett said. \u201cWhen you come face to face with death, it puts a lot into perspective.\u201d <\/p>\n
Then, in a moment of desperation, Bassett cried out to God for help. <\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t believe in God at the time, but something in me knew there was only one way I would survive this. At the end of my rope, I finally surrendered,\u201d Bassett said. \u201c\u2018I need help,\u2019 I exclaimed to an empty room. Instantly, a chill shot through my body.\u201d <\/p>\n
Soon after, a nurse took samples and reported that Bassett was \u201cdrastically improving.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t believe in God, yet something rescued me. All it took was an admission of my weakness, that I couldn\u2019t do this on my own. After all, I wasn\u2019t the one keeping my heart beating or my lungs breathing. How could I ever save myself?\u201d Bassett said. <\/p>\n
Bassett\u2019s doctors had initially told him he could never be active again, would have to live on a restricted diet and would always have heartburn. After taking the final tests, they found that his heart had been completely healed \u2014 a turnaround they had never witnessed before<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018It\u2019s a miracle,\u2019\u201d the doctor said, according to Bassett. \u201cWhen a medical doctor uses the word miracle \u2014 you know it\u2019s a miracle.\u201d <\/p>\n
After the miraculous moment, Bassett still needed a physical therapist to help him learn to walk again, and the years that followed that experience were an emotionally tumultuous period of learning and growth, he said. <\/p>\n
Bassett encouraged the audience to learn from his experiences \u2014 never take their parents or guardians for granted, let go of grudges and never be afraid to ask for help. <\/p>\n
He then sang two of his hits \u2014 \u201cLifeline\u201d and \u201cLook How Far You\u2019ve Come\u201d \u2014 and closed with a message on the importance of community. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to look out for each other. We need to care for each other. So I just want to encourage you and invite you that we can create a better world than the world that we see today. We have to collaborate. We have to connect. Maybe there\u2019s someone here you meet that you can go on and do awesome things with in the world,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI do think that the cure for the state and condition of the world is connection and community and kindness and compassion. I think if we all had just a little bit more of that, we\u2019d see a much different world.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hundreds of Joshua Bassett fans formed a winding line outside Olympus Junior High School in Salt Lake City…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":430197,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[430,156,111,40215,66564,139,69],"class_list":["post-430196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-news-division","tag-news-feed-local","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/430197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}