Hi!
So I recently went down a rabbit hole and watched the starkid hatchetfield trilogy and had some thoughts I wanted to share about them!
However! Before I start I do need to clarify a few things, I DID NOT WATCH THESE IN THE CORRECT ORDER, my bad honestly but I got excited and just went into one musical and found it it was an extended universe.
So I'll be typin my thoughts in the order of which musical I watched first to last.
Second; the only other starkid musical I've seen before these three is Twisted which I loved a lot so if some of my takes are a bit weird it might have to do with that idk.
Third this blog will contain spoilers!
I'm talkin about my complete thoughts here so there are going to be times where I will have to say spoilers.
All of Starkid's musicals are available for free on youtube! Please go watch them they are great
NERDY PRUDES MUST DIE
This was the first of the Hatchetfield trilogy I watched and I completely blame this animatic for it, I loved the song so much I wanted to know the rest of the context, and what awaited me on starkids channel was quite the strange sight.
Nerdy Prudes must Die (Or NPMD as fans call it) is a very mixed bag between comedy, horror, drama, horny, tragedy and the supernatural.
One thing that was quite surprising to me was how much they turned up the sex talk in this show, with a name like Nerdy Prudes must Die it makes sense in hindsight but in the moment I was taken aback (I am aware of their show Me and My dick but I haven't seen it), there is a large amount of examples mostly from the christian character Grace, this ramped up into the main antagonist being defeated by sex which was played off for a lot of humor.
There are a few moments that felt off in this for me, mostly the barbecue monologues which felt a bit out of place but serves to get to know the character Ruth a bit more and how her mind works before her untimely death.
The other moment was the more gen x writing about teens being addicted to their phones, which the jokes just didn't land and felt out of touch for me personally.
The characters in this play are a delight, each one feels completely fleshed out and entertaining, Peter, one of the main protagonists really sells a nerd who doesn't expect the cool girl to take interest, while Stephanie is the cool girl previously mentioned who just fell in love with a self proclaimed nobody. Even secondary characters feel just as fleshed out, like Richie the anime lover who cheers on the football team in the school's mascot outfit, or Ruth who cannot seem to get anyone to call her not even telemarketers.
Max, the antagonist really shines in this play with both ridiculous and menacing moments, one moment he is pronouncing skeletons like a child to cursing the main cast for their actions, every song that he appears in he steals the show.
Costume design is peak too, while more fit to be in the 80's or 90's with a few exceptions, it doesn't really detract from the show, Max's outfit post mortem is incredible, just take a look at it:
fire.
Anyways final scores:
Favorite song: Nerdy Prudes must die
-Richie solos in this ngl
-I AM NOT A LOSER!!!!
Least Favorite song: Just for once
-Ruth is not a bad character it's an ok song but thats just it, its just ok sorry
Favorite Character: Richie
-He's just a guy, I love him
-Dies in the first act after standing up to his bully
-So real for that
Least favorite character: N/A
-All good characters all around
Overall ranking: 8.5/10
THE GUY WHO DIDN'T LIKE MUSICALS
One thing I neglected to mention is that I was dming my friend while watching NPMD and they mentioned the fact that there were two other musicals that NPMD made reference to, so after doin a bit of searching I found The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals and man oh man I wish I had watched this sooner, I had heard the name floating around for a bit but didn't pay it any mind, this has to be my favorite Starkid production so far.
The comedy is funny, the songs are catchy, the premise is clever, and the actors are phenomenal.
The premise of this is pretty simple all things considered, A guy who doesn't like musical ends up trapped in a musical apocalypse of alien origin. However it's done so well that it doesn't feel cheap, with even fourth wall breaking at the end of the show with the bows one of the characters becomes aware of the audience and begs them for help frantically asking them why they are clapping, its clever and well thought out.
Jon Matteson plays Paul and does a great job and looking frightened and on the verge of a panic attack throughout the whole thing, and for his first Starkid act his singing reveal is well worth the wait. Paul steals the show with his next to no social ques and genuine hate towards musicals, to the amazing feat of acting in Let it out.
The songs are all great, from the comedy in Show me Your Hands to the horror in Cup of Poisoned Coffee and Not your Seed all the songs are fun and enjoyable with great choreography.
Next to no skips are in the studio recording and each song is incredibly catchy.
I've said it before in the review but Let it Out is probably the most intense part of the musical with a jekyll and hyde type break of character that works so well and serves as a great reveal for Paul's singing, what follows is an even more horrific realization which I won't say too much about because I think you should watch the musical
Final Scores:
Favorite songs (I couldn't pick one): Join Us (And Die), Let it Out, Inevitable
-Join Us (And Die) is so jumpy and angry it makes it work for the situation
-Let it out I feel like I've said a lot of why I like it already lmao
-Inevitable takes most of the songs throughout the musical and pulls them all together in one great ending song
Least Favorite song: You Tied up my Heart
-While not the worst song in the world it is swamped out by Join Us (And Die) which is right after
Favorite Character: Paul
-He's just a dude that doesn't like musicals
-He's also doomed by the narrative
Least Favorite Character: Ted
-While he provided the most comic relief he was just kinda annoying a lot of the other times
Overall Ranking: 9.5/10
BLACK FRIDAY
So as a person who works retail I can relate to some of the dialogue about consumerism and being a minimum wage worker during the holiday season, but this was a very political musical, way more than I was expecting going into it.
The whole musical revolves around this new toy called "Tickle Me Wiggly" and how people seem to be freaking out about it killing and hurting people to get their hands on it, and that's because its a vessel for an eldritch god who's name is wiggly... and its just like, a lot of information.
The politics only go up and up in this musical talking about the state of America and how consumerism is the only thing that keeps Americans happy because everyone doesn't know how to deal with their sadness any other way (Stated in Made in America). And it escalates to world war 3 which that's not even a joke, the final song What if Tomorrow Comes the song ends with a nuke from Russia killing the characters.
Also the president is like a character, the United States of America's president is a character in this musical.
The songs are ok for the most part but honestly only a few stuck out to me, the only memorable one I can say for sure is Feast Or Famine but that's most likely because of the synth in the song that hits that funny spot on my brain.
The choreography is probably where the music shines, there are many interesting choices made because of the subject matter aiming for more controlled chaos rather completely in sync dancing, there will often be running and fighting with the characters as numbers are sang.
The set design was well done and payed off later in the musical allowing for the illusion of an all powerful god to easily be worked into the play. This is the only time in the hatchfield trilogy that there are stairs and a balcony which allow for some more prominent moments in the play.
The leads are, ok, I couldn't seem to get attached to them as the leads in TGWDLM and NPMD, the characters have sad backstories but ultimately the play suffers from the leads not being together for a majority of the play, only really uniting at the end.
The antagonist is great however Linda is a great example of a woman who thinks they are the most important in the world being chosen as a prophet and totally living for it, all her moments are funny with her constantly on the phone with her husband making snarky remarks about the things around her.
Final Scores:
Favorite song: Feast or Famine
-Think I said it already but love how this one sounds
-choreography is fantastic
Least Favorite song: Do you want to Play
-Hate hate hate how this sounds ngl
-I get its supposed to be menacing but it really just comes across as creepy and uncomfortable
Favorite character: Gary Goldstein
-yes he's played by Jon Matteson
-yes he only has like 4 lines
-yes i am biased
Least Favorite character: Tom
-honestly couldn't care less about him
-he's a lead and every scene I just wanted to be over
-sorry if thats harsh I just don't see him as a compelling character
Overall Ranking 5/10
-I wouldn't go out of my way to watch it again
So yeah those are my complete thoughts, got into the hot take zone at the end there, I don't hate Black Friday it's just the other two solo I believe, I do wanna watch more starkid I heard nightmare time is pretty good, and a very potter musical as well.
Been on a little bit of a musical binge as of late and put some songs from musicals (from ones I have watched in their entirety and ones I haven't) in a spotify playlist if you wanna check it out.
Anyways thats that, Kiwi OUT!
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