Moving forward from StarKid Takes Manhattan, the group will premiere two brand-new musicals in July as part of their Chicago summer season. We spoke with Team StarKid about what fans can expect to see from Ani and The Trail to Oregon! this summer.
You’ve announced two shows that will be taking place this summer. You’ve got Ani, which is the Star Wars parody. The logo looks like the Broadway Annie font, so I didn’t know if this was going to be another Twisted crossover situation…
Brian: It’s not very much like Annie the musical.
Jeff: I don’t think Nick or Matt have much of an affinity for Annie.
No, I can’t really imagine that either!
Jeff: So I wouldn’t bank on that.
So we have that, and then we have The Trail to Oregon! – which you, Jeff, have written.
Jeff: I’ve written the book with Matt and Nick and I’m doing the music.
And Clark, you’re doing the music for Ani.
Clark: Me and Pierce [Siebers], TalkFine.
Brian: Do you want us to bill you as “music by TalkFine?” Like “music by Daft Punk?”
Clark: I think that’s the idea. Like “music by Daft Punk.”
Jaime: You want us to bill you as Daft Punk?
Clark: That might make us a viral hit… Or like Queen did the music for The Flash series. So, that’s the idea.
Are the shows going to run consecutively – at the same time, same crew of people?
Brian: Not in the same moment, but within a week you’ll be able to see both shows.
So it’s going to be in the same space with one night this, one night that?
Brian: Yes. Same space. let’s say Thursday would be Oregon, Friday would be Star Wars, Saturday they would both go.
Is that a big challenge then, to be organising all of that at the same time?
Brian: Yes. I don’t think that we appreciate how big of a challenge it’s going to be yet. I think that we are dumb and we have not come to respect how tough that’s going to be.
Jaime: We could do them simultaneously on the same stage and people can shift their focus.
Brian: One cast is made of Light Matter another cast is made of Dark Matter.
So there’s rotation within the cast then? You have people who are going to be in both shows in the same period?
Brian: Yeah.
Are you guys all in the cast?
Brian: We had auditions last week actually, while everyone was in town in Chicago before we left. So we don’t have any knowledge about it yet. Nick and Matt are directing, so no casting decisions yet.
Jaime: Jeff probably knows.
Jeff: I don’t know any answers. I actually don’t know.
“It’s out of my hands!”
Jeff: It’s two-thirds out of my hands.
Brian: With the brothers Lang.
Jeff: With the brothers Lang, yeah.
Clark, you’ve never acted in a show, is it something that you’ll do for Ani?
Clark: I won’t be really acting. I’m just going to be doing the music.
But all of you guys are planning to be involved in some way this summer.
Brian: Yeah, I think we’ll all be. We were auditioning for roles, but we’re pretty sure who’s going to be in it.
The Trail to Oregon! – it’s like the Oregon Trail, the old game.
Jeff: Yeah.
So how long have you been planning this?
Jeff: Uhhh, eight-plus years.
Yeah, I kind of felt like it was a long time coming – anyone who’s doing a play about Oregon Trail is going to have had like, a long attachment to that situation. Is there a basic concept you can kind of tell us?
Jeff: Yes! Well, it started out as a 24 Hour Theatre Project play starring Brian.
Clark: Really?
Brian: Yeah, when I was a freshman.
Jeff: And it’s actually gone into the woods and back – it’s now very similar to the original story, which was involving a kid who typed some favorite characters into the game and got sucked back into the Trail. So it’s about a kid who got sucked back into the Trail, the real Trail, who’s a fan of the game, or not a fan of the game. And then crazy things happen, and it’s pretty ridiculous. It’s gone through several drafts and I’ve submitted it to festivals before but we’ve rebooted it recently and it’s been like the project of my 20s.
Well, congratulations!
Jeff: Thank you! It’s an itch that’s never been scratched.
Then for Ani, are you writing for that, Brian, or is it just the Langs?
Brian: No, it’s just the Langs.
Clark: They’ve pretty much got it written already.
Star Wars is obviously something that has a massive fandom that’s maybe not as typically, say, compassionate as the Harry Potter fandom, it’s more of an exclusive…
Clark: Intense.
Yeah, a different fandom attitude and you have a bit of experience with that from Holy Musical B@man! – do you expect the same kind of thing with Ani? Do you expect to draw in Star Wars fans or do you expect to get backlash?
Brian: I think the thing about this Star Wars play is that I do think that Star Wars fans will love it. I’m not sure how much Nick and Matt want us to say about it…
Clark: I saw some tweets from Nick that I can sort of reiterate.
Jeff: What did he say?
Clark: Well, I think he was responding to people saying, “I want to watch Star Wars so I can understand the show.”
He was conducting the larger argument of what order to watch them in.
Clark: Yeah! And that’s important. He said watch 4-5-6 first which are the original trilogy. Watch that first, so you know what Star Wars is. And then watch 1, 2, and 3 because Ani takes a lot from both the prequels and the original trilogy.
Jeff: It’s like a marriage of the two.
Brian: I think we can say it’s a story that takes place between the original and the prequels.
Are any of you fans of the 451236 order?
Jeff: 451236!?
There’s this fan concept, and this is what the Twitter argument was about – I think it’s more for people who know the movies already – that if you want to watch the prequels, to watch 4 and 5 and you get the father reveal, and then you watch the first three…
Jeff: As like, backstory?
Yeah, as a flashback, and then you go back to the last one.
Jeff: I don’t think that would make me like the prequels any better.
Brian: I agree. I think the whole idea is to try and make you like the prequels better, which is just like…
Hard?
Brian: Yeah, why?
Jeff: So now it’s a bad flashback?
Brian: Yeah, exactly. Don’t ruin Return of the Jedi by making us wait nine hours to watch it.
Jeff: Oh man, yeah. Cause then in 6 when he takes off his helmet you’re like, “You killed a bunch of little kids! I don’t care who you saved — fuck you! You’re also a whiny little bitch!” It’s like, “Throw him over with the Emperor!“
Brian: Yeah, I agree.
Fair enough! Is there anything else you wanted to say to the world/audience/Internet about tonight’s concerts or what you’re doing for the next year?
Brian: I’d say thanks for having us in New York, and come to Chicago! Because besides those two plays we’re also going to have some late-night stuff going on, improv shows, sketch shows, music, stuff like that. We’re trying to make it a fun summer camp feel.
So, come to Chicago for a week and hang out with you at all your different projects.
Brian: Pretty much, yeah! Like if you come for three days, you’ll see at least three different shows, probably.
Good luck with this summer, and with the rest of tonight! Any changes between the matinee and evening?
Brian: No, same show.
Clark: Same show, but better.
Jeff: Half the energy.
Jaime: Half the energy?
N.B. Unsurprisingly, the evening show of StarKid Takes Manhattan ended up containing an equal or greater amount of energy. Read Hypable’s review of the concert here.
Header photo credit: holymusicalbatman.tumblr.com
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