Tag: Team Starkid

A Very Potter Senior Year Finally Comes Out!

I will warn you before you read: this review is VERY VERY VERY Spoiler-Free :D Enjoy!

AVeryStarKidSeniorYearAlbumCover

After what seems like a million years, this web Team Starkid finally released their newest musical, more about and the end of the Potter musical franchise. I discovered Starkid about three years ago, sildenafil in about May of 2010, right after A Very Potter Sequel came out. I had just been dumped, BIG time, and I needed a distraction. I had seen this “A Very Potter Musical” thing all over the place; MuggleNet talked about it all the time and people who knew I was (am) a HUGE Potter fan kept suggesting it to me.

And I seriously fell in love with it. Its hilarious!

I know there are a ton of people out there who don’t like Team Starkid, or the musicals, or even just the people involved. And I can see that. The way I have always seen it: you either love it or you hate it.

I definitely love it. I love musicals anyway, of all shapes and sizes, no matter how cheesy they are. I mean, I love the High School Musical trilogy. I LOVE musicals. And someone out there decided to put together a Harry Potter musical? It was a win for me, and it was really important to me during the time that I found it. I think I watched AVPM and AVPS a thousand times during that time period; it really…it really helped distract me and make me happy during a rough time.

So I became a big Starkid fan. I’ve also enjoyed their other musicals as well: Me and My Dick, Starship and Holy Musical B@man!

So when I heard they were FINALLY going to be doing A Very Potter Senior Year…I was really excited. Sad that they would only being doing it at Leaky Con 2012 and there was no way I’d be able to make it. Then when they announced they’d be filming it and screening it on YouTube like they do allll their videos, my excitement grew alllll the way back up again.

And then I heard that basically it would just be a read-through of the script.

Doesn’t that sound boring? I thought, well, that sucks. I mean, I get it. They *actually* got Darren Criss to come back and play Harry Potter and he’s a busy man, and probably wouldn’t have the time to really rehearse the play the way they do with the other musicals. I totally get it.

But it was so much more than I had expected it to be.

First off, the cast? They got EVERYONE to come back, seriously. Darren Criss, Joey Richter, Meredith Stepien, Jaime Lyn Beatty, Lauren Lopez, Joe Walker, A.J. Holmes, Dylan Saunders, Brian Holden, Brian Rosenthal, Nick Strauss, Joe Moses, Britney Coleman, Jeff Blim, Tyler Brunsman, Devin Lytle, Richard Campbell, Nick Lang, Sango Tajima, Jim Povolo, Lily Marks, Arielle Goldman, Corey Dorris, Denise Donovan, Elona Finlay, Chris Allen, Brant Cox, Alle-Faye Monka…almost everyone who has ever been in a Starkid musical, or production, was part of this and that was a big part of why it rocked so hard. Everyone that you’ve come to know and love came back, and become a part of this.

I mean, seeing Devin Lytle as Cho Chang again…or Brian Holden as naked Lupin, Jim Povolo as Goyle, Richard Campbell as Neville, Jaime as Ginny Weasley, Lily Marks as Mrs. Weasley…and then people like Alle-Faye Monka from Me and My Dick becoming part of the Harry Potter musical awesomeness…and Chris Allen from Holy Musical B@man.

AND Ms. Evanna Lynch, the beautiful and talented actress who played Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter movies, turned up to play Luna in A Very Potter Senior Year.

I don’t want to give away too much, because I want you all to enjoy it.

I will tell you that its senior year, and now that Harry has defeated Voldemort, he just doesn’t really know what to do with his life anymore. He isn’t quite as cool as he used to be, with no one to save, and now he’s desperate to gain some of that fame back. Enter some familiar characters and some characters we haven’t seen before (McGonagall, Hagrid, Mad Eye Moody, Shacklebolt, to name a few, and we are so ready for an amazing musical.

All the new songs are super great, and they even throw in some old, very familar, and very much loved Starkid songs to build up alllll that nostalgia. Of course, there were mistakes and everyone was carrying their script around, but there were all the costumes, and everyone did a great job. I truly, truly enjoyed it.

And it was hilarious. So many amazing jokes and my sister peeked into my room a couple times to see what the heck I was laughing at.

Plus it was a very nice way to wrap up and end the Potter musical franchise. Obviously Team Starkid is still working on other things; they showed a few “commercials” during the musical. But its time to put away the Potter, the same way the books had to end, the musicals had to as well and I think they did a great job with that. Plus it was a nice way for Darren to say goodbye as well. He’s breaking out on his own now, he’s a HIT star on Glee and he’s been on Broadway. Joey Richter is breaking out in the business too, appearing on Jessie on the Disney channel and Glee as well. They’re all growing up, and it was a badass and fun way to end the musicals.

For those of you who would like to watch the musical, the first part is right here for you:

Also, coming up for Starkid: an Aladdin musical about Jafar called Twisted and a graphic novel. SO EXCITED!

What did you guys think of A Very Potter Senior Year? As always, let me know in the comments.

NEWS NEWS NEWS!!!!

Okay, view so today I totally woke up with the Monday blues. Like total and complete Monday blues. I woke up sleepy (gosh darn you, time change!!!) and grouchy, my tooth hurt and I was hungry and didn’t really have time to eat before school. Just a completely unhappy person.

So when I got home from school today, I ate lots of food, took some ibuprofen for that insufferable toothache and crawled into my bed for some good ol’ sleep time. And when I woke up, not only did I feel insanely refreshed but I also woke up to some seriously good news.

First off, for those of you who won’t be able to make Cassandra Clare’s tour this spring for Clockwork Princess, she leaves us this little note from her tumblr:

Picture 1

So, yay! That’s exciting! If you can’t make her tour, which obviously some people can’t because she’s just not coming to a town near them, you can still get your hands on a signed copy of Clockwork Princess, and one that is first edition, and has the family tree. Super cool! I think its really awesome of Cassandra to do that. I know that I am able to make it out for this tour because she has a few California dates but not everybody can and this is just awesome.

Also! News for any Starkids out there like me. We’ve been waiting MONTHS for A Very Potter Senior Year and guess what? It FINALLY has a release date! And for only a couple days away! That’s right, A Very Potter Senior Year will be hitting youtube on Friday, March 15th! Very, very exciting.

Picture 4

I know I’ve been waiting a while for it. I know some of you downloaded the album and song lyrics back in December when they released so you could learn them all before the musical, but I didn’t go anywhere near them. I want to be COMPLETELY surprised. I am pretty stoked to see that we’ll be adding McGonagall, Hagrid, Lockhart and Mad Eye Moody to the cast of characters.

You can see the Mugglenet release right HERE.

Lastly, for all you nerds and fangirls heading to Anaheim, California for WonderCon in a few weeks, like me, and for fans of Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments and Infernal Devices series…its just been announced by Lily Collins herself (see here) that the City of Bones movie will be descending upon the convention to reveal a new trailer and a brand new poster, before releasing anywhere else.

I. Am. So. Excited.

Can I just say for a moment that I adore living in California? I do. EVERYTHING is here. San Diego is less than a couple hours away for Comic Con. Wonder Con has been ten minutes away for the past two years and is normally is San Francisco, which is only a six to seven hour drive. Anime Expo is here. Gallifrey One is here. Comikaze Expo is here. Disneyland is here. People come here all the time on tours and autograph signings because its Southern California for heavens sake.

So I am so lucky that I am able to attend WonderCon as Anaheim is basically my backyard and that City of Bones will have SUPER exciting things for us when we go.

Only Starkid Can Save us From the Apocalypse…with Music!

http://teamstarkid.com/

So last night, my best friend, my little sister and I journeyed down the 101 freeway to Sunset Blvd to the House of Blues in Los Angeles to see Team Starkid perform on their summer Apocalyptour!

Image

For those of you who don’t know Starkid…well you are missing out! Starkid is a theatre group, originally out of Ann Arbor, Michigan at the University of Michigan. They did what they called the Harry Potter Musical, later changed to A Very Potter Musical to avoid any entanglements with Warner Bros. They slapped it together on YouTube and bam! Internet fame. They later followed the highly successful and extremely funny AVPM with: Me and My Dick, A Very Potter Sequel, Starship and, most recently, Holy Musical B@man. 

Oh yeah, and they’re home to Darren Criss. Yes, that Darren Criss. The one you all drool over every Tuesday night on Glee. 

Image

 

But what you didn’t know is that this group is full of amazingly talented and funny actors/actresses like Joey Richter, Joe Walker, Jamie Lyn Beatty, Lauren Lopez, Brian Rosenthal, Meredith Stepien, Brian Holden, Jim Povolo, Julia Albain and so many more and they showcased their epic awesomeness last night at the Apocalyptour show. 

Image

 

The show started off with an opening band, Charlene Kaye and the Brilliant Eyes. Very awesome enjoyable music, got the crowd super pumped up and excited. And there were definitely fans in the audience too! They even brought Darren and Dylan to help out with a couple of songs!

Then the amazingness happened. And yes amazingness is a word. 

I scoffed at all the fan girls crowding the stage, screaming their lungs out as the lights dimmed for Starkid. And then they came on stage, and I found my inner fan girl and started screaming right along. 

The show was different than your average show; instead of just randomly playing songs, there was a story to it. Our ragtag team of Starkids get super excited for their camping expedition when suddenly they find an ancient Mayan tablet. By reading it out loud, they unleash the fury of an ancient deity who is ready to destroy the earth. 

Unless Starkid can stop them! 

Starkid promises an awesome show that’ll make the deity think twice about destroying the world!

And believe me, they had me convinced. They played all the favorites and I found myself dancing and singing and jumping up and down like I was thirteen years old. This group is full of talented and fun people and they had the crowd the whole show, laughing, dancing, and just having a super blast. 

And to make it even better, they played all the favorites, a nice mix from all the musicals. I squealed when Lauren Lopez and Joey Richter did the classic ‘Granger Danger’, swooned when Darren Criss belted out ‘Home’, laughed my ass off when Joe Walker and Joe Walker sang ‘Me and My Dick’ and screamed with joy when the whole crew got us singing along to ‘Gotta Get Back to Hogwarts’. 

All in all, I had an awesome time. Sadly, their last California show was tonight in San Francisco show, and all others are too far for me to even think about trekking out to. But if Starkid is heading to a town near you, I urge you to go, its definitely a fun fun fun time!

You can check out more about starkid at their website: 

 

 

So last night, viagra my best friend, pills my little sister and I journeyed down the 101 freeway to Sunset Blvd to the House of Blues in Los Angeles to see Team Starkid perform on their summer Apocalyptour!

Image

For those of you who don’t know Starkid…well you are missing out! Starkid is a theatre group, originally out of Ann Arbor, Michigan at the University of Michigan. They did what they called the Harry Potter Musical, later changed to A Very Potter Musical to avoid any entanglements with Warner Bros. They slapped it together on YouTube and bam! Internet fame. They later followed the highly successful and extremely funny AVPM with: Me and My Dick, A Very Potter Sequel, Starship and, most recently, Holy Musical B@man.

Oh yeah, and they’re home to Darren Criss. Yes, that Darren Criss. The one you all drool over every Tuesday night on Glee.

Image

But what you didn’t know is that this group is full of amazingly talented and funny actors/actresses like Joey Richter, Joe Walker, Jamie Lyn Beatty, Lauren Lopez, Brian Rosenthal, Meredith Stepien, Brian Holden, Jim Povolo, Julia Albain and so many more and they showcased their epic awesomeness last night at the Apocalyptour show.

Image

The show started off with an opening band, Charlene Kaye and the Brilliant Eyes. Very awesome enjoyable music, got the crowd super pumped up and excited. And there were definitely fans in the audience too! They even brought Darren and Dylan to help out with a couple of songs!

Then the amazingness happened. And yes amazingness is a word.

I scoffed at all the fan girls crowding the stage, screaming their lungs out as the lights dimmed for Starkid. And then they came on stage, and I found my inner fan girl and started screaming right along.

The show was different than your average show; instead of just randomly playing songs, there was a story to it. Our ragtag team of Starkids get super excited for their camping expedition when suddenly they find an ancient Mayan tablet. By reading it out loud, they unleash the fury of an ancient deity who is ready to destroy the earth.

Unless Starkid can stop them!

Starkid promises an awesome show that’ll make the deity think twice about destroying the world!

And believe me, they had me convinced. They played all the favorites and I found myself dancing and singing and jumping up and down like I was thirteen years old. This group is full of talented and fun people and they had the crowd the whole show, laughing, dancing, and just having a super blast.

And to make it even better, they played all the favorites, a nice mix from all the musicals. I squealed when Lauren Lopez and Joey Richter did the classic ‘Granger Danger’, swooned when Darren Criss belted out ‘Home’, laughed my ass off when Joe Walker and Joe Walker sang ‘Me and My Dick’ and screamed with joy when the whole crew got us singing along to ‘Gotta Get Back to Hogwarts’.

All in all, I had an awesome time. Sadly, their last California show was tonight in San Francisco show, and all others are too far for me to even think about trekking out to. But if Starkid is heading to a town near you, I urge you to go, its definitely a fun fun fun time!

If you’re not convinced that Starkid is the best thing to hit youtube…well, ever, check out the first act of A Very Potter Musical and then get back to me :D

And even better, met the talented, silly, and super nice Nick Lang!