StarKid Productions

StarKid Productions
Formation 2009 (2009)
Type Community theatre
Purpose Theatrical productions
Location
Official language
English
Affiliations University of Michigan, Basement Arts
Website www.teamstarkid.com

StarKid Productions, also known as Team StarKid, is a Chicago-based musical theatre company founded in 2009 at the University of Michigan by Darren Criss, Brian Holden, Matt Lang, and Nick Lang. Best known for the musical A Very Potter Musical, a parody of the Harry Potter series, the troupe produces musical-comedies inspired by pop culture, with original scripts, songs, and music. StarKid uses social media for theatrical distribution, to make their productions accessible to a worldwide audience.

StarKid's repertoire additionally consists of albums, concerts, web series, sketch comedies, and books. The company's album Me and My Dick, featuring original songs and music, became the first charting student-produced musical recording on Billboard, debuting at #11 on the "Top Cast Albums" chart in 2010; the following year they landed at #1 on the same chart with Starship, another original album.

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 success of the video, StarKid Productions was formed, named after a quote from A Very Potter Musical. Later, two successful sequels followed, named A Very Potter Sequel and A Very Potter Senior Year.[1][2]

Musical theater productions

  • A Very Potter Musical, April 2009, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. The musical was named one of "The 10 Best Viral Videos of 2009" by Entertainment Weekly.[3]
  • Me and My Dick, October 2009. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. The cast album of the production is the first student-produced college musical's cast recording to debut on a Billboard chart. The album debuted at #11 on Billboard's Top Cast Albums Chart.[4]
  • A Very Potter Sequel, May 2010, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. The sequel made the "What's Hot for the Week" list in August 2010 on EW.com.[5] Many of the songs from the sequel were released on A Very StarKid Album, which peaked at #14 on the iTunes Pop Charts.[6] A Very Potter Sequel was nominated for a Mashable Award for "Best Web Video".[7]
  • Starship, February 2011, Chicago, IL. All shows sold out. Soundtrack album debuted at #1 on Billboard Top Cast Albums. Play won Broadway World (Chicago Awards) Best New Work / New Adaptation Award.[8]
  • Holy Musical B@man!, March 2012, Chicago, IL. Holy Musical B@man! soundtrack was released, along with its companion album, That's What I Call StarKid! Volume 2, through Bandcamp and iTunes.[9][10]
  • A Very Potter Senior Year, LeakyCon, Chicago, IL. StarKid presented a staged reading of the play on August 11, 2012. It featured nearly all of the StarKid actors and actresses. The script and soundtrack became available December 2012 and the play was released on YouTube on March 15, 2013.
  • Twisted, July 2013, Chicago, IL. The musical is a Wicked style parody of the 1992 Disney film Aladdin, telling the story from the point of view of Jafar, the Royal Vizier. It premiered on StarKid's YouTube channel November 28, 2013.
  • Starship: Requiem, August 2, 2014, LeakyCon, Orlando, FL. It was announced on March 31, 2014 through the LeakyCon Twitter feed that StarKid Productions would hold a theatrical reading of their sequel to Starship, Starship: Requiem.[11] The story followed the adventures of Mega-Girl the robot and her half-witted Starship Ranger husband, Tootsie Noodles. The newlyweds are sucked into a black hole of trouble when they go to visit Mega-Girl's human-hating family, including her overbearing mother-unit, her jealous sister-unit and the return of her hunky ex-boyfriend-unit.[12] The reading was a one-time only event.
  • The Trail to Oregon!, July 3–August 10, 2014, Chicago, IL. This musical was announced on April 9, 2014 as a part of StarKid's 2014 Summer Season. The show featured a book by Jeff Blim, Matt Lang & Nick Lang and music & lyrics by Jeff Blim. The basic premise of the show is a parody of the popular video game series The Oregon Trail. It premiered on StarKid's YouTube channel February 13, 2015. An encore production ran in New York City at the Cherry Lane Theatre off-Broadway from May 26–31, 2015.[13][14]
  • Ani: A Parody, July 3–August 10, 2014, Chicago, IL. This musical was announced on April 9, 2014 as a part of StarKid's 2014 Summer Season. The show features a book by Matt Lang & Nick Lang and music & lyrics by the musical duo TalkFine, consisting of Clark Baxtresser and Pierce Siebers. The basic premise of the show is a parody of the popular science-fiction franchise Star Wars. It premiered on StarKid's YouTube channel October 31, 2014. The cast recording reached #4 on Billboard's Comedy Albums the week of November 22, 2014.[15]
  • As The Trail to Oregon and Ani were performed as part of the same season, several actors who appeared in one show worked as crew members on the other.
  • Firebringer, July 6-August 7, 2016, Chicago, IL. Announced on the StarKid YouTube page on January 1, 2016,[16] Firebringer is StarKid's first female-led show, with a book by Nick Lang, Matt Lang, and Brian Holden and music and lyrics by Meredith Stepien and Mark Swiderski. The music was interpreted by musical duo, TalkFine. Like Twisted, it was funded via Kickstarter.[17] It premiered on StarKid's YouTube channel December 31, 2016. It's being touted as the company's tenth full-length musical production, as Starship: Requiem was a one-time staged reading.
  • The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals, is scheduled to premiere at The Matrix Theatre Company in Los Angeles, California from October 11 to November 4, 2018[18]

Sketch comedy productions

  • Airport for Birds, January–March 2013, Chicago, IL. StarKid Productions teamed up with The Second City to produce their first sketch comedy show. The show was produced at the UP Comedy Club and ran from January through March.
  • 1Night 2Last 3Ever, September–November 2013, Chicago, IL. StarKid Productions second sketch comedy show with The Second City. The show was produced at the UP Comedy Club and ran from September through November. The show was a parody of various pieces of 1990s pop culture centering on the exploits of a fictional boy band, 3Ever.
  • Yes, I am Afraid of the Dark!, September–October 2015, Chicago, IL. StarKid Productions first improv comedy show with iO Chicago. The show was produced at the iO Theater and ran from September through October. The show was a parody of the 1990s children show Are You Afraid of the Dark? with the cast creating an entire episode based on audience suggestion.

Concert tours

  • The SPACE Tour: On September 27, 2011, StarKid Productions announced their first national concert tour: "The SPACE (StarKid Precarious Auditory Concert Experience) Tour". The group performed at 21 stops in 15 cities. The tour began on November 4, 2011 in Ann Arbor, Michigan and ended on November 27, 2011 in New York City. The tour featured songs performed in all their productions and the StarKids who participated were Lauren Lopez, Joey Richter, Joe Walker, Brian Holden, Dylan Saunders, Jaime Lyn Beatty and Meredith Stepien. Darren Criss performed in the Boston and New York shows. Elona Finlay appeared at the Canada shows.[19]
  • Apocalyptour: On April 9, 2012, StarKid Productions announced their second national tour: "Apocalyptour"; titled in reference to the 2012 phenomenon.[20] The tour began in Chicago on May 9, 2012, and finished with a sold-out show at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City on June 10, 2012.[21]

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.[22] 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.[23]

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 Al Fallick as Halpert Evans and Mary Kate Wiles as Judy Davendale. Joey Richter, Nick Lang, Brian Holden, Dylan Saunders, Lauren Lopez, Jamie Lynn Beatty, Cory Dorris, and Clark Baxtresser also star.

Soundtrack albums

Title Album details Peak chart positions Notes
Billboard Top Albums Billboard Top Cast Albums
[4][6][24][25][26]		 Billboard Top Compilation Albums
[24]
Little White Lie[27] — — —
A Very Potter Musical[27]
  • Released: September 9, 2009
  • Formats: Digital download
 N/A N/A N/A Made only available for free on Bandcamp, therefore not eligible for Billboard chart listings.
Me and My Dick (A New Musical)[4][6][27]
  • Released: January 6, 2010
  • Formats: Digital download
 — 11 — Album is the first ever student-produced college musical to debut on a Billboard chart.[4]
A Very StarKid Album[6]
  • Released: July 22, 2010
  • Formats: Digital download
 — — 19
A Very Potter Sequel[27]
  • Released: July 31, 2010
  • Formats: Digital download
 N/A N/A N/A Made only available for free on Bandcamp, therefore not eligible for Billboard chart listings.
Starship
  • Released: April 30, 2011
  • Formats: Digital download, Compact disc
 134 1 —
The SPACE Tour[25]
  • Released: March 13, 2012
  • Formats: Digital download, Compact disc
 — 2 —
That's What I Call StarKid! Volume 2
  • Released: April 13, 2012
  • Formats: Digital download
 — — —
Holy Musical B@man!
  • Released: April 13, 2012
  • Formats: Digital download
 N/A N/A N/A Made only available for free on Bandcamp, therefore not eligible for Billboard chart listings.
Apocalyptour[26]
  • Released: October 2, 2012
  • Formats: Digital download, Compact disc
 — 3 —
A Very StarKid Senior Year
  • Released: December 15, 2012
  • Formats: Digital download
 N/A N/A N/A Made only available via the official StarKid store, therefore not eligible for Billboard chart listings.
Twisted
  • Released: November 28, 2013
  • Formats: Digital download
 — — —
Ani
  • Released: October 31, 2014
  • Formats: Digital download
 — — — Reached #4 on Billboard Comedy Albums.
The Trail to Oregon!
  • Released: February 13, 2015
  • Formats: Digital download
 — — —

References

  1. ↑ "Team StarKid". StarKid Productions. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  2. ↑ Borrelli, Christopher (November 1, 2011). "What exactly is Team StarKid?". Chicago Tribune. Bruce Dold. Archived from the original on September 29, 2013. Retrieved December 18, 2011.
  3. ↑ Lyons, Margaret (December 29, 2009). "The 10 Best Viral Videos of 2009". Entertainment Weekly. Meredith Corporation. Retrieved November 4, 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Caulfield, Keith (March 18, 2010). "'My Dick' Rises to Become First Charting Student Musical". Billboard. Lynne Segall. Retrieved July 22, 2011.
  5. ↑ "What's Hot for the Week". Entertainment Weekly. Meredith Corporation. August 8, 2010. Retrieved November 4, 2010.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Milam, Whitney (July 24, 2010). "A Very Potter Musical's Team StarKid Premieres Sequel, Tops Glee and Gaga on iTunes, and Talks Future Projects". HollywoodNews.com. Retrieved November 4, 2010.
  7. ↑ Lavrusik, Vadim (December 1, 2010). "Mashable Awards: Announcing the Full List of Finalists". Mashable. Ziff Davis. Retrieved January 8, 2012.
  8. ↑ Thompson, Paul W. (December 19, 2011). "2011 BroadwayWorld Chicago Award Winners Announced! FOLLIES, PUSSY ON THE HOUSE, CATS and More To Be Honored at 12/28 Celebration at The Call". Broadway World. Retrieved January 7, 2012.
  9. ↑ "Music". StarKid. Bandcamp. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  10. ↑ "MUSIC". StarKid Productions. Archived from the original on March 2, 2013. Retrieved April 19, 2012.
  11. ↑ LeakyCon [@LeakyCon] (March 31, 2014). "ANNOUNCING! @TeamStarKid will perform at theatrical reading of "STARSHIP: REQUIEM" www.leakycon.com/?p=8224" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  12. ↑ Jordan. ""Starship: Requiem" to be Performed at LeakyCon 2014". LeakyCon. Tumblr. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Buy Tickets". OvationTix. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  14. ↑ Team StarKid (March 6, 2015). "The Trail to Oregon! in New York City!!!". YouTube. Retrieved March 9, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Comedy Albums". Billboard. Lynne Segall. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  16. ↑ Team StarKid (January 1, 2016). "FireBringer - A New Stone-Age Musical - Summer 2016". YouTube. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
  17. ↑ Team StarKid (March 16, 2016). "Firebringer 2016 - Let's Start Something!". YouTube. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
  18. ↑ http://www.abouttheartists.com/productions/114284-the-guy-who-didnt-like-musicals-at-matrix-theatre-2018
  19. ↑ "TOUR". StarKid Productions. Archived from the original on January 29, 2012. Retrieved March 14, 2012.
  20. ↑ Team StarKid (April 9, 2012). "Holy Musical B@man! and Apocalyptour Announcement 4.9.12". YouTube. Retrieved April 10, 2012.
  21. ↑ "Apocalyptour". StarKid Productions. Archived from the original on December 4, 2013. Retrieved April 10, 2012.
  22. ↑ Team StarKid (July 11, 2009). "StarKid Introduces: Little White Lie". YouTube. Retrieved January 18, 2012.
  23. ↑ Gale, Eric Kahn (September 3, 2013). "Little White Lie Season 2 Synopsis". Tumblr. Archived from the original on September 30, 2013. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  24. 1 2 Donahue, Ann (November 13, 2010). "'Glee' Newcomer Darren Criss Reflects on His 'Dream' Week". Billboard. Lynne Segall. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
  25. 1 2 Caulfield, Keith (March 22, 2012). "StarKid's 'Space' Sets Sail, Debuts at No. 2 on Cast Albums Chart". Billboard. Lynne Segall. Retrieved March 23, 2012.
  26. 1 2 Caulfield, Keith [@keith_caulfield] (October 13, 2012). "Congrats to @TeamStarkid: #ApocalyptourLive Debuts at No. 3 on @Billboard's Top Cast Albums Chart! cc: @Brian_Holden, @JoeyRichter" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  27. 1 2 3 4 Austrone, Xavier (November 22, 2010). "StarKid Interview: Starship Coverage & A VERY POTTER THREEQUEL!?". Wizarding Life. Archived from the original on August 4, 2011. Retrieved November 23, 2010.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.