In advance of Team StarKid’s release of A Very Potter Senior Year, Hypable got the chance to reflect on the show with four original Very Potter cast members – Dylan Saunders, Jaime Lyn Beatty, Lauren Lopez, Joe Moses – and with StarKid’s agent, Pat Brady. Read their feelings on the closing of this chapter and the special weekend last August that they spent performing Senior Year below.
Hopefully you’ve had a chance to watch A Very Potter Senior Year over the weekend. The show, written by Matt Lang, Nick Lang and Brian Holden, with new songs by A.J. Holmes and Clark Baxtresser, marks a turning point in the careers of Team StarKid; before they were labelled as such, they created the original show, first titled Harry Potter: The Musical, as an extracurricular college production. When they put their low-quality video online in the summer of 2009 – allegedly as a cheaper option than burning DVDs for the cast and absent family members – they found themselves with a viral hit on their hands, and a fandom begging for more content. The group uploaded an old web series they had made, Little White Lie, and then proceeded to film and release the other shows they created as a group – the original musical Me and My Dick (that show’s cast recording becoming the first ever student musical to place on the Billboard 200 charts) – and, in the summer of 2010, A Very Potter Sequel.
In late 2010, the group’s Harry, Darren Criss, who had already found minor television success with roles on Cold Case and Eastwick, was cast in the hit show Glee and quickly – possibly due to the inbuilt fandom he brought with him from StarKid – became one of the show’s most popular performers, rising from guest star to cast regular to something that now comes close to leading actor. Team StarKid, meanwhile, produced two new musicals, Starship and Holy Musical B@man!, and went on two national live tours, with Criss participating when available; but the StarKid Holy Grail – the third Very Potter show, which had been teased about, hinted at and denied for close to two years – now seemed an impossible project.
However, in mid-2012, StarKid finally found a way to make a version of the show work – a one-off staged reading of the show, to get it out there for the fans once and for all, and close out this chapter of the StarKid story. Hypable was at the performance of A Very Potter Senior Year last August, and in the lead-up to the show’s YouTube release, we spoke to five people who belong to Team StarKid – Dylan Saunders, Jaime Lyn Beatty, Lauren Lopez, Joe Moses and Pat Brady – who recounted their experiences of the final Very Potter show.
Dylan Saunders – Dumbledore
Dylan Saunders has played Dumbledore in all three Very Potter shows, as well as taking on lead roles in Holy Musical B@man! and Starship. He has also been a featured performer on both of StarKid’s live concert tours – The Space Tour and Apocalyptour. In addition to working with StarKid, since leaving college he has performed with the Chicago Shakespeare Theater and Shakespeare Santa Cruz. Dylan has also collaborated as a vocalist and toured internationally with rapper and spoken word artist George Watsky. He will next star in The Clan, a comedy web series created by Reckless Tortuga. Dylan lives in Los Angeles.
What were your thoughts or feelings when it was decided that you were actually going to put on Senior Year, and it began to go into production? What was your initial reaction?
To be honest, I had thought for the longest time that there was no way we were going to be able to put it on. It seemed to be too much of a logistical struggle. Especially when you take into account all that goes into creating a full-scale original musical, the odds were definitely against us in getting it made. But when I found out that it was actually a possibility, that we had a venue, and the means to get virtually everyone back together to perform, it was truly an incredible moment. The Very Potter series has undoubtedly changed the course of my life. It felt like there would be some closure on a very pivotal moment in my life thus far.
I remember initially just feeling so excited to share the story. Senior Year may be my favorite StarKid script to date. It’s so full of heart and sentiment, and unbelievable humor and madness. I had the pleasure of hearing Matt and Nick re-enact the story of Senior Year from memory once, and I cried at the end. The idea that we would actually be able to do it was beyond thrilling. But most of all, I think the notion of having some of my dearest friends, many of whom I really came of age with in college, all back together in one room working creatively, I can’t truly describe the feelings of joy that brought me.
When you got into Chicago for LeakyCon, which, for you, was right off the back of the U.K. Watsky tour, did you have just that weekend’s rehearsal, or had you been working on the show prior?
It felt like being thrust into an extremely focused, fast-moving machine. The Chicago StarKid crew and the staff of LeakyCon had been working on pre-production elements for Senior Year for months prior to the show. My involvement prior to the actual weekend of rehearsal was really just limited to working on the script itself.
What was it like behind the scenes that weekend, finalizing the show while everyone was actually there on your doorstep waiting to see it?
It was an incredibly surreal weekend. The fact that it was a reunion made for some incredible energy in rehearsal. It was really thrilling to see how characters manifested, how the songs sounded with everyone together, how it all ended up looking. Because we were rehearsing at the convention, there was definitely a fire under our asses, but I think pressure was good in the end. It was my first time attending LeakyCon, and I don’t think I’ve experienced more positivity anywhere in my life.
You’ve been involved as a major part of most StarKid productions since leaving college, part of the core group with the new shows and tours, and AVPSY had a lot of cast returning who aren’t active StarKids. What was that like, having people come back in? Who surprised you? Who had you missed working with?
I come from a very small family, but I liken it to what it might feel like to have an enormous 40-person Thanksgiving. Crazy aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers and sisters, all family, all coming back for one big turkey dinner. There wasn’t really time for it to get overwhelming or emotional, it was just so good to see everyone together. It was really great to reunite with the New York-based crew like Tyler [Brunsman], Britney [Coleman], Corey [Dorris] and A.J., I hadn’t seen them in years. I’ve become good friends with Elona [Finlay] over the past few years, so it was great to finally get to work with her for the first time.
It was really moving to see all these different connections, past and present, represented in one place. I always miss working with Joe Walker. Even if I don’t see the guy for a few days, I still miss him. He’s one of my best friends, and one of my favorite people to share any stage with. My jaw dropped over and over watching how good people had become that I hadn’t seen in years.
Was there a particular moment where you thought, “Oh, this is really it, this is over”? What does it feel like now to have closed this chapter?
A wise teacher once told me, “There are no goodbyes, only ‘see you laters.’” I think that is incredibly true of this experience, and especially true for StarKid. The last moments of the performance were particularly emotional for me, mostly because it felt like the end of an era. The Very Potter series started for me in a tiny rehearsal room late at night in college. I had no idea then what we were embarking on, no idea that there would ever be a sequel or a third installment, and certainly no idea what StarKid would grow to become. It was emotional to look back on it all.
That final moment was bittersweet and energizing. I felt myself welling up towards the end, only to find the rest of the company weeping. Then to walk outside and see an entire convention of four thousand people crying, it was very moving. It made me laugh. And cry. That being said, I hope these shows live on for years to come. I have a funny feeling that they will. It will be funny to show them to my kids one day. In that sense, it doesn’t feel like anything is really over. The show might be done, but the story and the sentiment get to live on forever. That’s remarkable.
In your own words, what has the Very Potter experience given you?
Getting to be a part of the Very Potter series has tested me in ways I could never have imagined, both as an artist and as a human being. It has been the most rewarding and humbling experience of my life. I’ve listened to stories from people from all different walks of life, from all over the world, that have echoed how much the shows have changed their lives. I am consistently floored. I can’t fully express what it feels like to know that a story you’ve helped tell has brought people together. It’s still hard for me to fathom. It’s been astonishing.
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