Hi everybody! While Broadway is shut down, I know we’re all mourning the loss of our usual theatrical entertainment. So I wanted to share something that I really love: Starkid is an LA-based theater company that produces original musicals, and they post all of their musicals on YouTube. They’re usually somewhat zany and vulgar, but always hilarious.
Some famous StarKid alumni include Brittney Coleman, Joey Richter, and Darren Criss. While it may be just a bunch of college chums who found success in the theater world, that doesn’t mean that the shows are bad in any way.
Here’s the the order I would watch them:
The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals is about the world suddenly becoming a musical and it’s really hilarious. Watch it here.
Twisted is a parody of two things: Wicked and Aladdin. It’s the story of Aladdin, told from Jafar’s perspective, and it’s hilarious. Watch it here.
Firebringer is about the first cavepeople and people discovering fire. It’s actually really funny, even though it may not sound like it based on my summary. Watch it here.
Black Friday is a parallel universe type thing to Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals. It’s about a doll that takes over the world on Black Friday. Fun, right? Linked here.
A Very Potter Musical was their first show, and it blew up in 2009 on YouTube. It’s one of the 3 SK shows that Darren Criss is in, with the other two being A Very Potter Sequel (here) and A Very Potter Senior Year (here). It’s about Harry Potter, if you couldn’t tell from the title. Here it is.
Trail To Oregon is about the Oregon Trail. It’s hilarious. Linked here.
There are a few others I left out, but these are their best shows.
There have been a few threads in the past about Starkid in the past, but I'll ditto this one.
I've always thought Starkid was kinda hit or miss. A Very Potter Musical has it's sophomoric charm, and Twisted was surprisingly moving, but shows like The Trail to Oregon and Ani just seemed kind of thrown together.
Now I really think they've hit their stride with The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals and Black Friday. They're funnier, better written, and have Jeff Blim writing some incredible music. I'm really excited to see what they do in the future.
Again... there has been a few Starkid topics but now is as good a time as any to make conversation about this once again.
Alex Kulak2 said: "I've always thought Starkid was kinda hit or miss.A Very Potter Musicalhas it's sophomoric charm, andTwistedwas surprisingly moving, but shows likeThe Trail to OregonandAnijust seemed kind of thrown together."
The thing with Ani and Trail to Oregon was that they were two shows running in the same theatre on opposite weeks. So one week it was Ani and the next is was Trail back and forth for a summer so they could not use a set for either show that was to difficult to break down or put up in a day. of the two, Trail is a FAR better show however. In fact.... Ani might actually be the WORST show they have made and is the one show I can find nothing actually redeemable about, but Trail has some funny moments and the fact that they took name suggestions from their audience at every show and then used those names for the whole performance including working the names into the songs was kind of great. Somewhere there is a listing of ever name that was used over the run of the show and it had some gems.
I found myself highly disappointed in Black Friday. I am all for something a bit more dark but I mean this musical goes too dark too fast and has very few bright spots to lift it up. Some funny moments through out ("SANTA!" and a few great performances (Dylan and Robert are gifts that should be treasured in everything they do) but other than that it was just a downer of a show. However, I LOVE the ending and how it leaves you guessing and theorizing. I can't wait until they announce the next show in the series. Perhaps when I will appreciate Black Friday more.
Nick Lang said on a livestream that the next show in the Hatchetfield universe is called Nerdy Prudes Must Die. I’m suspecting that it’s about Grace Chastity, since in TGWDLM, Alice calls Grace Chastity a nerdy prude.
jonah3500 said: "Nick Lang said on a livestream that the next show in the Hatchetfield universe is called Nerdy Prudes Must Die. I’m suspecting that it’s about Grace Chastity, since in TGWDLM, Alice calls Grace Chastity a nerdy prude."
In Black Friday, General McNamara says that PEIP stands for Paranormal, Extraterrestrial, and Inter-Dimensional Phenomena. TGWDLM is Extraterrestrial, Black Friday is Inter-Dimensional, so Nerdy Prudes Must Die is probably gonna wrap up the trilogy with paranormal. The title sounds like a send-up to 80s slasher movies, and I'm so ready for that.