#hope this helps for your starkid related venture op!!

[arionaleilani]

okay so you said more info than wikipedia but streamlined so i'm going to do a timeline rundown of starkid as a company and kinda just sprinkle in some tidbits that seem important enough to include. sorry if this is too long and also sorry if i didn't actually end up giving you the info you were hoping for but hopefully this is helpful?

team starkid is a theater production company that was founded in 2009 by a few theater kids at the university of michigan. these founders were brian holden, darren criss, matt lang and nick lang. their youtube channel is team starkid, but the company is officially called starkid productions. most people just call them starkid.

their tumblr account is @the-real-team-starkid btw

it started with them making a harry potter parody musical in july 2009 called a very potter musical. they posted it on youtube to share with friends and family, but it went viral (especially on tumblr; anyone on this hellsite circa 2009-2012 has probably seen posts with starkid gifs or references at least once. it's how i discovered them in 2012!) their production company was formed after this show went viral.

also in 2009, they posted a web series called little white lies (though this series was actually made in 2007 i believe?) and another musical, this one not a parody, called me and my dick.

in july 2010, they posted a very potter sequel.

also in 2010, one of the founders, darren criss, got a recurring role as blaine in glee, which turned into a permanent main character role, which kind of boosted his career as an actor and made it so he was very busy very often. he is still to this day involved with starkid, but he's not in the writing credits for shows or anything like he used to be. from what i can tell, he's more just involved in the background business side of things, though he'd said multiple times that out of everything he's done in his career starkid is one of the things he's most proud of being part of and he clearly loves it a lot.

in april 2011, they posted starship, an original musical about an alien bug-world and space and robot wars. v cool bug puppets are used.

also in 2011, they went on their first tour, the S.P.A.C.E. tour.

in 2012, they went on their second tour, the APOCALYPTOUR.

in april 2012, they posted holy musical b@tman, a parody musical about batman. this is unironically my favorite take on batman.

also in 2012, they filmed a very potter senior year at leakycon, which they then posted in 2013. this is not a full production, a lot of the cast have their scripts with them on stage, but it concludes the trilogy.

in 2013 they did their first sketch show. and their second one.

in november 2013 they posted twisted: the untold story of a royal vizier. this is kind of a parody show as well. it's also basically if wicked was for jafar from aladdin instead of the wicked witch of the west.

in october 2014, they posted ANI: a parody, which is a parody musical about star wars.

in february 2015, they posted the trail to oregon! this is an original musical about a family embarking down the trail to oregon. the audience picks the characters names and chooses the ending.

in december 2016, they posted firebringer, an original musical about a group of people in the stone-age discovering fire.

in october 2017, they posted a web series called movies, musicals & me which is basically a bunch of mini parody musical episodes of different movies. it has ten episodes for ten movies, which are:

forrest gump

hulk

thod

terminator

castaway

50 shades of grey

star wars

the social network

the force awakens

home alone

in december 2018, they posted the guy who didn't like musicals, a horror comedy musical about a musical apocalypse. this is the first of what is now known as the hatchetfield saga, a series of projects that are based in alternate universes of a town called hatchetfield.

in 2019 they lauched a ten year anniversary kickstarter for two projects in one. the first was a reunion concert in july that paid tribute to the past 10 years of starkid, including almost everyone who had ever been involved with starkid throughout the years coming together to perform songs from their various shows. this was called starkid: homecoming and it is only available via digital purchase on their website. there is, however, an hour long behind the scenes video for starkid: homecoming that is on youtube.

the second project in this kickstarted was black friday, the second horror comedy musical in the hatchetfield saga. this was posted in february 2020 and is about a popular kids toy doll being in hot demand as people shop for christmas present on black friday.

when covid hit, starkid made it work by doing a series called nightmare time, which consists of three episodes telling different tales based in the hatchetfield saga. the first episode, filmed over zoom, was posted in october of 2020. the second and third episodes were posted in february of 2021.

in may 2022, they posted the first episode of nightmare time 2, which contains four more episodes telling tales based in the hatchetfield saga.

in november 2022, they posted vhs christmas carol: live, a starkid immersive holiday show with "a rocking 80s score" that they've performed and toured in both 2023 and 2024.

on october 13, 2023, which was also friday the 13th, they released nerdy prudes must die, another addition to the hatchetfield saga. this one is a slasher horror comedy musical about seniors in high school where people go missing and losers start dying.

in april 2024 they posted workin' boys, which is based on the musical within the musical in the guy who didn't like musicals.

right now, they have two projects that are supposed to be getting posted soon, though the fires in LA have caused them to postpone a bit as their company is now based in LA and they obviously want to make sure everyone is home and safe first and foremost. sometime this year, however, both being stated to drop in early 2025, they're going to be posting cindarella's castle and space baby.

according to their website, space baby is a result of starkid labs, which is a result of their starkid returns campaign, which is essentially a fundraising campaign they did as covid restrictions loosened to help fund multiple projects. starkid labs is for experimental workshops and projects. also listed is a project called sissy, which is a play reading, and a project called this title is permanent, which is a podcast. neither of these things have been given release dates as far as i can tell, but they are in the process.

space baby, however, is supposed to be getting posted once the LA fires are under control and the members of starkid are home and safe. it's an anthology series that "follows the ingergalactic adventures of a timeless, telepathic tot on a quest to discover the origins of existence iself." it does not say how many episodes it will have but it does say "it's sesame street meets david lynch."

cinderella's castle is a full musical that is set to be posted on their youtube "early 2025" and is "a grim retelling of [cinderella]" that is "filled with humor, puppetry and a fantastic musical score"

so that's the timeline of starkid's works with some extra tidbits of their projects thrown in. i will also add this real quick:

the hatchetfield saga is very rich with lore, the series page on the starkid fandom wiki literally has 786 items listed that discuss elements of the series. the nightmare times are not absolutely necessary in order to watch the main three musicals, but they add a lot to the world building and to the lore of the saga and knowing them makes the viewing of the main musicals even better. right now, the hatchetfield saga is definitely what starkid is most known for, especially since the release of nerdy prudes must die, which seemed to introduce a lot of people to starkid who didn't know about them before. it's incredible, but all of their works are incredible.

also a lot of people have been with starkid since the first year or two of the company being founded. joey richter and lauren lopez, for example, have been in most of the projects since a very potter musical (lauren i think has been in literally all of them, and joey has been in most but not all). corey dorris was in me and my dick, starkid's second posted musical, and has been in a lot of shows since then, including all of the hatchetfield saga. there are many more examples to give but basically it's just a cool thing to highlight, that many people have been with starkid since 2009 and are still with them today.

last thing i'll include is that starkid members have a few other groups that they are involved with, which are not starkid but a lot of people who enjoy starkid also enjoy these groups.

tin can bros is one of them - it's a media production company started by members of starkid, joey richter, corey lubowich, and brian rosenthal. they have a few shows posted there, as well as web series and other forms of media that are very fun.

STARRY is a pop rock musical written by starkid member matt dahan, and his writing partner kelly lynne d'angelo, and it's about theo and vincent van gogh. multiple members of starkid are part of the cast (dylan saunders, jaume lyn beatty, mariah rose faith casillas, jeff blim, and lauren lopez) and it's due for a premiere on the west end.

there are some more (listed here) but those two i just wanted to highlight. anyways this is way too long and probably not the response you were hoping for but hopefully it's somewhat helpful?? lol

This is random as shit, I know, but can someone break down what Team Starkid actually is? I need to learn about them for an upcoming venture.

PS: I would like more info than Wikipedia, but just like a streamlined version.