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. Widely 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 utilizes social media, mainly YouTube, to distribute their content. 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 the album for Starship.
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 followed on YouTube, A Very Potter Sequel and A Very Potter Senior Year. The Team StarKid YouTube channel was established on June 19, 2009. The channel currently has over 650,000 subscribers and over 274,000,000 combined views. 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, Star Wars, The Oregon Trail, and science-fiction franchises such as Starship Troopers, Alien and Metal Gear Solid.
Musical theatre productions
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. 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. 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, 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.
Concerts and tours
The SPACE Tour — North American concert tour with 21 stops in 15 cities. "SPACE" in the tour title stands for StarKid Precarious Auditory Concert Experience. Featuring: Jaime Lyn Beatty, Brian Holden, Lauren Lopez, Joey Richter, Dylan Saunders, Meredith Stepien, and Joe Walker.
Apocalyptour — 2012 North American concert tour with 24 stops in 21 cities. The tour title is a reference to the 2012 phenomenon. Featuring: Jaime Lyn Beatty, Brian Holden, Lauren Lopez, Jim Povolo, Joey Richter, Brian Rosenthal, Dylan Saunders, Meredith Stepien, and Joe Walker
A Very StarKid Reunion — Reunion concert performed in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater, and Dance. Featuring: Julia Albain, Jaime Lyn Beatty, Jeff Blim, Tyler Brunsman, Richard Campbell, Brant Cox, Darren Criss, Denise Donovan, Brian Holden, Lauren Lopez, Lily Marks, Alle-Faye Monka, Joe Moses, Joey Richter, Brian Rosenthal, Dylan Saunders, Rachael Soglin, Meredith Stepien, and Joe Walker.
StarKid Homecoming — Reunion concert performed in celebration of the 10th anniversary of A Very Potter Musical. Held at the Theater at the Ace on July 25th and 26th, 2019. Featuring: Nico Ager, Julia Albain, Clark Baxtresser, Jaime Lyn Beatty, Jeff Blim, Jamie Burns, Tyler Brunsman, Richard Campbell, Britney Coleman, Brant Cox, Darren Criss, Denise Donovan, Corey Dorris, Mariah Rose Faith, Elona Finlay, Nick Gage, Ali Gordon, Brian Holden, A. J. Holmes, Angela Kiessel, Matt Lang, Nick Lang, Lauren Lopez, Corey Lubowich, Robert Manion, Jon Matteson, Lily Marks, Alle-Faye Monka, Joe Moses, Alex Paul, Sarah Petty, Amy Plouff, Jim Povolo, Joey Richter, Brian Rosenthal, June Saito, Dylan Saunders, Bonnie Socha, Rachael Soglin, Meredith Stepien, Carlos Valdes, Mark Swiderski, Sango Tajima, Joe Walker, Lauren Walker, and Tiffany Williams.
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.
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. 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 and was produced at the iO Theater. 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.
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. 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 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 Al 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.
