StarKid Productions
Formation	2009 (2009)
Type	Community theatre
Purpose/focus	Theatrical productions
Location	Chicago, Illinois
Official languages	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 use social media for theatrical distribution, to make their productions accessible to a worldwide audience.

StarKid's repertoire additionally consists of albums, concerts, web series 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 [edit]

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 original and classic 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 a worldwide following. Inspired by the success of the video, StarKid Productions was formed, named after a quote from A Very Potter Musical.^[1][2]

Musical theater productions [edit]

• 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. It 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 15th, 2013.
• Twisted, July 2013, Chicago, IL. On March 15, 2013 StarKid released a teaser trailer for an upcoming musical which is to be a parody of Aladdin and Wicked.

Concert tours [edit]

• 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 cites. 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.^[11]
• Apocalyptour: On April 9, 2012, StarKid Productions announced their second national tour: "Apocalyptour"; titled in reference to the 2012 phenomenon.^[12] 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.^[13]

Web series [edit]

Little White Lie [edit]

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.^[14] 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.

Books [edit]

The Bully Book [edit]

On June 7, 2011, Starkid Productions released a novel named The Bully Book, written by Eric Kahn Gale with illustrations by Matt and Nick Lang.^[15] It was originally only available as an e-book, but was later re-released in hardcover on December 26, 2012. Gale mentioned in an interview that it takes place in the same universe as Little White Lie and the sequel will tie into the series.^[16]

Quicksand Jack [edit]

On March 15, 2013 StarKid released a teaser trailer for an upcoming graphic novel written by Matt and Nick Lang and illustrated by Jen Lang and Teia Smith.

Cast [edit]

^{[17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24]}

Principal crew [edit]

Soundtrack albums [edit]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Official Website

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