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, Nick Lang and Matt Lang. They first gained traction after the success of their first musical, A Very Potter Musical, which led to the groups founding and continuation to the present day. The troupe primarily creates musical comedies, originally creating parody musicals but more recently creating original musicals. They distribute their musicals for free on YouTube, with recent projects being funded by Kickstarter.
StarKid is made up of actors, writers, directors, composers, choreographers and designers, the majority of whom originated from the University of Michigan's School of Music, Theater and Dance. They met while collaborating on plays through Basement Arts, the university's student-run theater organisation. One such example of these plays is The Hobbit 2: The Lord of the Rings, a theater production version of J. R. R. Tolkien's book series. This play was not a parody as at the time Basement Arts did not allow them. It wasn't until Matt Lang began advertising A Very Potter Musical, prior to getting permission from the theater department, that the cast and crew of what would one day become Starkid got the greenlight after the theater gained mass interest in the production.
From April 9-11 2009, the students staged their production of A Very Potter Musical, a musical parody of Harry Potter. The show was filmed and instead of having to put it on DVDs, the production was uploaded to YouTube under the name Harry Potter The Musical. The production then went viral, gaining Starkid a worldwide fanbase. However, at risk of copyright the show's recording had to be taken down but was later re-uploaded in an edited form as A Very Potter Musical on 5 July 2009. In light of the productions popularity Starkid Productions or Team Starkid was formed, named after the YouTube channels original name 'Starkid Potter' a reference to a line said by Lauren Lopez as Draco Malfoy in A Very Potter Musical. The Team Starkid YouTube channel was established on June 19, 2009. It has over 700,000 subscribers and over 300 million combined views
Starkid has had two major moves since its founding in 2009. After performing their first three shows: A Very Potter Musical, Me and My Dick and A Very Potter Sequel at the University of Michigan, the troupe moved to Chicago where they performed seven shows including Twisted, Starship and The Trail to Oregon. They then later moved to Los Angeles where they kickstarted the Hatchetfield series, performing both The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals in 2018 and Black Friday in 2019. During the COVID-19 pandemic, StarKid performed A VHS Christmas Carol, a 80s style visual album telling the story of Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol. The following year in December 2021, they staged the show as an immersive concert experience: VHS Christmas Carol Live!.
Starkid has most recently gained attention for the Hatchetfield Series. The series began in 2018 with The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals followed by Black Friday in 2019. A third musical in the series was announced to be in production in 2019, intended to be premiered in 2020 however due to the COVID-19 pandemic it was postponed to a to be announced later date. The pandemic led to the creation of a series of live readings named Nightmare Time featuring the casts of both of the original shows which spawned a second season: Nightmare Time 2 in 2021. There is also an upcoming short film set in the Hatchetfield Universe, Workin' Boys, created as a reward for the Starkid 10niversary Kickstarter.
Performed at the Hoover-Leppen Theatre, Chicago, between February 11-23 2011, Starship is the second original musical by Team Starkid. Written by Brian Holden, Joe Walker and Nick and Matt Lang with music and lyrics by Darren Criss , Starship is a musical loosely based on the Little Mermaid. It tells the story of Bug, a giant insect who lives on the alien planet Bug-World but dreams of becoming a human Starship Ranger. It once again starred Joey Richter as Bug with Denise Donovan as his love interest February and Joe Walker, Lauren Lopez, Dylan Saunders as Starship Rangers.
Performed at Stage 773, Chicago, between July 3 and August 28 2014, The Trail to Oregon! was one of two musicals performed as part of Starkid's 2014 summer season. Written by Jeff Blim and Nick and Matt Lang with music and lyrics by Jeff Blim and Drew De Four, The Trail to Oregon is an original musical loosely inspired by the game The Oregon Trail. It had major audience participation allowing the audience to choose the shows ending and the character names. It starred Jeff Blim as the Father, Rachael Soglin as the Mother, Lauren Lopez as Son, Jaime Lyn Beatty as Daughter, Corey Dorris as Grandpa and Joey Richter as various other characters.
Performed at the Bourbon Room, Los Angeles, between December 11-23 2021, VHS Christmas Carol Live! is a staged version of the visual album which was live-streamed the previous year. A VHS Christmas Carol Live! was written by and starred most of the original cast. It marked StarKid's return to live theatre following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nerdy Prudes Must Die[]
Nerdy Prudes Must Die is the upcoming third musical in the Hatchetfield series. It was initially supposed to be performed in 2020 but was postponed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. A new date is yet to be announced.
Concerts and Tours[]
Since its conception in 2009, Starkid has produced two national tours and two reunion concerts:
Starkid Homecoming (2019)- A special reunion concert performed in celebration of 10 years of A Very Potter Musical. It featured over forty actors from all eleven previous shows.
Sketch Comedy Productions[]
Starkid has created three original sketch comedy shows:
Airport for Birds- Performed between January–March 2013 in 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.
1Night 2Last 3Ever- Performed between September–November 2013 in Chicago, IL. Starkid Productions second sketch comedy show with The Second City. The show was produced at the UP Comedy Club. 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!- Performed between September–October 2015 in Chicago, IL. Yes, I am Afraid of the Dark! is Starkid's first improv comedy show with iO Chicago and was produced at the iO Theater. The show was a parody of the 1990s childrens show Are You Afraid of the Dark? with the cast creating an entire episode based on audience suggestions.
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. 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.
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 mockumentary 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[]
Spawned as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nightmare Time is a horror anthology series made as part of the Hatchetfield series. It features six stories read by the cast of The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals and Black Friday. Performances took place virtually on October 10, 17 and 24, 2020. The first episode was streamed and posted directly to YouTube with the final two episodes being available via digital ticket. The final two episodes were then uploaded to YouTube on February 14, 2021.
Nightmare Time 2[]
Nightmare Time 2 is the second season of the horror anthology series set in the Hatchetfield Universe: Nightmare Time. It was performed by the majority of the cast of the first season with Nick Lang, Bryce Charles and Jae Hughes joining the cast. Performances took place virtually on October 23 and 30 and November 6 and 13, 2021. It was streamed live via livestream ticket and is due to be released on YouTube in a currently undisclosed date in 2022.
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