Starkid Productions is a theatrical company founded in 2009, which for the last ten years have entertained audiences with pop-culture musicals including A Very Potter Musical (and its sequels), Holy Musical B@man!, Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier and The Trail to Oregon. The great thing about their musicals is that while they only have limited runs in theatres in one state (Formerly Michigan or Chicago, now Los Angeles), audiences around the world have an opportunity to enjoy many of their productions via Youtube a few months after being performed. This has gained them a sort of cult following, especially with a younger demographic of theatre-goer.
In 2018, Starkid Productions commenced their 11th production, which served as an introduction to the horror-comedy Hatchetfield Universe. Titled The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals, this was an eight cast production following the adventure of protagonist Paul Matthews, a guy who as the title implies does not like musical theatre. But things turn sour when a meteor crashes down on a local theatrical production of Mamma Mia!, leading to a series of events where the inhabitants of Hatchetfield get taken over by a malevolent force which makes them sing and dance.
In late-2019 following a successful crowdfunding campaign, the second instalment titled Black Friday was performed at the Hudson Mainstage Theatre. Taking place in a parallel universe to that of TGWDLM, it sees characters new and old come together when a hot-new-toy named the Tickle-Me Wiggly hits shelves just in time for the Black Friday sale. What may seem like a new cute plush aimed at children turns into a threat from an interdimensional being. As StarKid puts it “When Wiggly comes to town, will the world survive Black Friday?“.
Now in March, you can enjoy the full musical via Youtube at no charge to you. If you wish to support StarKid Productions and nab yourself some physical goodies, you can also purchase a DVD/Blu-ray copy of the production, the original cast recording, your very own Tickle-Me-Wiggly plush doll or a range of other merch via their official online store.
If you haven’t watched The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals already, I would recommend watching it first HERE.
