Musical theatre company
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StarKid Productions, also known as Team StarKid, is an American musical theatre company founded in 2009 at the University of Michigan by Darren Criss, Brian Holden, Matt Lang, and Nick Lang. Originally known for the viral success of their first musical, A Very Potter Musical, a parody of the Harry Potter series, the troupe primarily produces musical comedies inspired by pop culture, with original scripts, songs, and music. StarKid distributes their musicals for free on YouTube, with recent projects being funded by Kickstarter and physical ticket sales.
Since the success of A Very Potter Musical, the group has produced thirteen stage musicals (including two Potter sequels), two national tours, two reunion concert specials, three sketch comedy shows, and three web series.
As of 2020, the company has charted 12 albums on the Billboard charts. The cast recording of Me and My Dick debuted at number 11 on the US Cast Albums chart in 2010, becoming the first student-produced musical recording to chart on Billboard. The following year they landed at number one on the same chart with the cast recording of Starship, a feat that has since been repeated with their 2019 musical Black Friday.
History
StarKid Productions is composed of actors, writers, directors, composers, choreographers, and designers, most of them originating from the University of Michigan's School of Music, Theater and Dance. The members met while collaborating on plays through Basement Arts, the university's student-run theater organization.
In April 2009, the students staged a musical parody of the Harry Potter series entitled A Very Potter Musical. The video of the play went viral on the Internet, garnering StarKid a worldwide fanbase. Inspired by the viral nature of the video, StarKid Productions was formed, named after a quote from A Very Potter Musical. Later, two sequels were performed and released on YouTube, A Very Potter Sequel in 2010 and A Very Potter Senior Year in 2012.[1][2]
The Team StarKid YouTube channel was established on June 19, 2009.[3] The channel currently has over 730,000 subscribers and over 310,000,000 combined views.[3] Aside from the viral Harry Potter adaptions, Team StarKid have produced a number of other musical theatre parody shows, creating both original stories and pop culture-based parodies of Disney, DC Comics, Star Wars, and The Oregon Trail.
Team Starkid has had two major moves since its founding in 2009. The first was to Chicago after the founders graduated from The University of Michigan. Several shows were performed in Chicago before most of the company's members moved once again, this time to Los Angeles.
Starkid has most recently gained attention for their Hatchetfield series of musicals and short films. The series began in 2018 with the musical, The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals.[4] and continued in 2019 with the premiere of Black Friday.[5] Future installments of the series have been announced, including “Workin’ Boys”, a short film spin-off of The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals, and a new musical titled Nerdy Prudes Must Die.[6]
Members
There have been many actors involved with StarKid projects over the years, and it's usual for actors to feature in a few of their productions as opposed to just one.
Among the cast members who have appeared in more than half of their projects, and can therefore be considered regular collaborators, are Jaime Lyn Beatty, Jeff Blim, Denise Donovan, Brian Holden, Lauren Lopez, Jim Povolo, Joey Richter, Dylan Saunders, Meredith Stepien, Brian Rosenthal, Corey Dorris, and Joseph Walker.
Several members of Team StarKid have gone on to notable careers in television or theatre. This includes Emmy Award winner Darren Criss (Glee and The Assassination of Gianni Versace), A. J. Holmes (The Book of Mormon), Carlos Valdes (The Flash), and Britney Coleman (Tootsie and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical).
Musical theatre productions
| Production
|
Dates
|
Location
|
Music & Lyrics
|
Book
|
Notes
|
| A Very Potter Musical
|
April 9–11, 2009
|
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
|
Darren Criss, A. J. Holmes
|
Brian Holden, Matt Lang, Nick Lang
|
Based on the Harry Potter series
|
| Me and My Dick
|
October 29–31, 2009
|
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
|
Darren Criss, A. J. Holmes, Carlos Valdes
|
Eric Kahn Gale, Brian Holden, Matt Lang, Nick Lang
|
|
| A Very Potter Sequel
|
May 14–16, 2010
|
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
|
Darren Criss
|
Brian Holden, Matt Lang, Nick Lang
|
Based on the Harry Potter series; sequel to A Very Potter Musical
|
| Starship
|
February 11–23, 2011
|
Hoover-Leppen Theatre, Chicago, IL
|
Darren Criss
|
Brian Holden, Matt Lang, Nick Lang, Joe Walker
|
Inspired by Starship Troopers and The Little Mermaid
|
| Holy Musical B@man!
|
March 22–25, 2012
|
Hoover-Leppen Theatre, Chicago, IL
|
Nick Gage, Scott Lamps
|
Matt Lang, Nick Lang
|
Based on the DC Comics universe
|
| A Very Potter Senior Year
|
August 11, 2012
|
LeakyCon, Chicago, IL
|
Clark Baxtresser, Darren Criss, A. J. Holmes, Pierce Siebers
|
Brian Holden, Matt Lang, Nick Lang
|
Based on the Harry Potter series; sequel to A Very Potter Musical; staged reading rather than a full production
|
| Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier
|
July 4–28, 2013
|
Greenhouse Theatre, Chicago, IL
|
A. J. Holmes, Kaley McMahon
|
Eric Kahn Gale, Matt Lang, Nick Lang
|
Based on the 1992 Disney film Aladdin and One Thousand and One Nights, as well as the musical Wicked
|
| The Trail to Oregon!
|
July 3 - August 10, 2014
|
Stage 773, Chicago, IL
|
Jeff Blim, Drew De Four
|
Jeff Blim, Matt Lang, Nick Lang
|
Based on The Oregon Trail video game series
|
| Ani: A Parody
|
July 3 - August 10, 2014
|
Stage 773, Chicago, IL
|
Clark Baxtresser, Pierce Siebers
|
Matt Lang, Nick Lang
|
Based on the Star Wars series
|
| Firebringer
|
July 6 - August 7, 2016
|
Stage 773, Chicago, IL
|
Meredith Stepien, Mark Swiderski
|
Brian Holden, Matt Lang, Nick Lang, Meredith Stepien
|
|
| The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals
|
October 11 - November 4, 2018
|
The Matrix Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
|
Jeff Blim
|
Matt Lang, Nick Lang, Jeff Blim
|
The first installment of the Hatchetfield Saga
|
| Black Friday
|
October 31 - December 8, 2019
|
Hudson Mainstage Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
|
Jeff Blim
|
Matt Lang, Nick Lang
|
The second installment of the Hatchetfield Saga
|
| A VHS Christmas Carol
|
December 11–13, 2020
|
Looped
|
Clark Baxtresser
|
Clark Baxtresser
|
Based on A Christmas Carol
|
| VHS Christmas Carol Live!
|
December 9-11, 2021
|
The Bourbon Room, Los Angeles, CA
|
Clark Baxtresser
|
Clark Baxtresser
|
A staged version of the 2020 live-streamed production
|
| Nerdy Prudes Must Die
|
TBD
|
TBD
|
Jeff Blim
|
Matt Lang, Nick Lang
|
The third installment of the Hatchetfield Saga
|
Team StarKid produced a sequel to their 2011 musical Starship called Starship: Requiem that was performed on August 2, 2014 at LeakyCon in Orlando, FL. However, it was a one-time "theatrical reading" and, as such, Team StarKid does not include it in their musical canon.[7] The story followed the adventures of the android Mega-Girl and her half-witted Starship Ranger husband, Tootsie Noodles, as the newlyweds go to visit Mega-Girl's human-hating family.[8]
An audio recording of Starship: Requiem was created as a perk for those who helped fund the musical Firebringer, featuring music by the band Jim and the Povolos, which included numerous members of Team Starkid. A production of A Very Potter Christmas was also included,[9] which served a sneak peek into the lives of the cast after graduation while also flashing back to the era of Lily and James Potter. Although both recordings were intended to arrive on Christmas of 2016, Starship: Requiem would not see a release until sometime in February 2018.[10]
Web series
Little White Lie
In 2007, members including Matt Lang, Nick Lang, Eric Kahn Gale, Brian Holden, Darren Criss, Lauren Lopez, Elona Finlay, Chris Allen, Meredith Stepien, and Jim Povolo produced an online video series called Little White Lie. It was released in 2009 on StarKid's YouTube channel.[16] Despite the series ending in a cliffhanger, StarKid members have confirmed at various events that there will be no season 2, as it was an expensive production and the actors who took part in it are scattered all over the country. However, Eric Kahn Gale, one of the writers for the show, stated that he would write and publish a synopsis of season 2, which was released on September 3, 2013 on his Tumblr page.[17]
Movies, Musicals, and Me
In October 2017, StarKid debuted its second web series on YouTube, Movies, Musicals, and Me. The series takes place in an alternate world where every popular movie ever has been adapted into a Broadway musical. The best of these musicals all star the same man, Halpert Evans, a vain and pompous, though brilliant, actor. The series is structured as a mocumentary of Evans, chronicling the most significant musical roles of his career, along with commentary from various colleagues in Halpert's line of work. The series introduces StarKid newcomers Esther Fallick as Halpert Evans and Mary Kate Wiles as Judy Davendale. Joey Richter, Nick Lang, Brian Holden, Dylan Saunders, Lauren Lopez, Jaime Lyn Beatty, Corey Dorris, and Clark Baxtresser also star.
Nightmare Time
On October 1, 2020 StarKid announced a new three-episode horror anthology series set in the world of The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals and Black Friday. It featured six stories read by the cast of the shows (Jaime Lyn Beatty, Jeff Blim, Corey Dorris, Mariah Rose Faith, Angela Giarratana, Lauren Lopez, Robert Manion, Jon Matteson, Curt Mega, Joey Richter, Dylan Saunders, James Tolbert, Kim Whalen, & Kendall Nicole Yakshe.) Performances took place virtually on October 10, 17, and 24, 2020. As of August 2021, a season two has been announced. [18] A cast recording was released on February 8, 2021.[19] The second and third performances were uploaded to StarKid's YouTube channel on February 14, 2021, which had previously been only available to watch by buying a digital ticket.[20]
The next year, StarKid later livestreamed Nightmare Time 2, the second season of the series. Four performances took place virtually on October 23 & 30 and November 6 & 13, 2021. The entire cast from the first season returned with the exceptions of Robert Manion & Kendall Nicole Yakshe. The series was also the StarKid debut of Bryce Charles and Jae Hughes.[21]
