#htu

YouTube publish date: February 29, 2020

Number of views on date of rewatch: 1, 788, 310

Original Performance Run: October 31 - December 8, 2019 at the Hudson Mainstage Theatre in Los Angeles

Ticket prices: (x)

General Admission: $45

Priority Access: $75

Digital Ticket: $15

Rush Tickets via TodayTix: $20

Director: Nick Lang

Music and Lyrics: Jeff Blim

Book: Matt Lang and Nick Lang

Cast album price and availability: $14.99 on iTunes

     Release date: February 29, 2020

Parody or original: an original sequel to The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals

Funding: funded by a Kickstarter jointly dedicated to the StarKid: Homecoming concert celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the company and Black Friday (x)

     Goal: $155, 000

     Total (combined): $547, 439

     Backers: 11, 704

Main cast and characters

Lex Foster - Angela Giarratana

Hannah Foster - Kendall Nicole Yakshe

Tom Houston - Dylan Saunders

Becky Barnes - Kin Whalen

Linda Monroe - Lauren Lopez

Uncle Wiley/Homeless Guy - Joey Richter

Wiggly/Gary Goldstein - Jon Matteson

Ethan Green - Robert Manion

Man in a Hurry/General MacNamara - Jeff Blim

President Howard Goodman - Curt Mega

Frank Pricely - Corey Dorris

Sherman Young - Jaime Lyn Beatty

Xander Lee - James Tolbert

Musical numbers

     Act I

“Tickle-Me Wiggly Jingle” Characters: Uncle Wiley and Ensemble

“What Tim Wants” Characters: Tom Houston

“CaliforM.I.A.” Characters: Lex Foster and Ethan Green

“What Do You Say” Characters: Tom Houston, Becky Barnes, and Ensemble

“Our Doors Are Open” Characters: Frank Pricely, Lex Foster, and Ensemble

“Feast or Famine” Characters: Ensemble

“Monsters and Men” Characters: General MacNamara, Pres. Howard Goodman, and Ensemble

     Act II

“Deck the Halls (of Northville High)” Characters: Ensemble

“Take Me Back” Characters: Tom Houston, Becky Barnes, and Ensemble

“Adore Me” Characters: Linda Monroe and Ensemble

“Do You Want to Play” Characters: Becky Barnes and Tom Houston

“Made in America” Characters: Uncle Wiley, Pres. Goodman, General MacNamara, and Ensemble

“Black Friday” Characters: Lex Foster

“Monsters and Men (Reprise)” Characters: General MacNamara

“If I Fail You” Characters: Tom Houston

“Wiggle” Characters: Linda Monroe and Ensemble

“What If Tomorrow Comes” Characters: Hannah Foster and Company

Content Analysis:

Black Friday is monumental for the theatre community. While The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals was the first in the Hatchetfield series, Black Friday solidified that StarKid has created a theatrical universe of horror-comedy musicals that are all interconnected. There have been sequels to musicals before (including the infamous Phantom sequel Love Never Dies and the Annie sequel), the only group of titles that have come close to creating a theatrical universe a la Marvel is William Finn’s Marvin trilogy which encompasses In Trousers, March of the Falsettos, and Falsettoland, the last of the two often performed as the two-act musical Falsettos. Even then, Finn’s work doesn’t equate to StarKid’s latest and theatrical project; whereas Finn intended his works as a group of one-act musicals to be viewed in succession and continuing the same storyline, StarKid’s Hatchetfield series revolves around the town of Hatchetfield and the growing cast of characters within it as the audience witness different apocalyptic scenarios in alternate universe connected by a singular entity.

Where The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals was the introduction to the universe, Black Friday was the introduction to the extended Hatchetfield Theatrical Universe’s lore. The introduction of this universe’s version of force-sensitive children, Lex and Hannah, perfectly weaves together the growing plot and alternate-universe characters the audience is already familiar with, such as General MacNamara, Emma, and Paul, and adds so much more depth to Black Friday’s predecessor, providing so much potential for StarKid’s future Hatchetfield projects. When viewing it as a stand-alone musical, Black Friday holds its own because of the strong writing, creative story, and excellent characterization, but it would be a disservice to this individual story to only view it as such. Considering that it’s a part of a currently-growing larger theatrical work, the only way to fully comprehend the complexity and creativity of Black Friday is to view it in tandem with The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals.

The book is a perfect companion for The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals because of its great writing and each actor embodied their character so well that I would say the greatest performance throughout the show was given by the ensemble as a whole. An interesting difference between the two shows, however, is the tone. The overall tone for the show feels heavier and the plot bears much more significance to the characters, as well as the audience. A lot of that is largely due to the lighting and set design, provided by Sarah Petty and Corey Lubowich respectively. Even when viewing the production from a screen, I feel like I’m trapped in an enclosed space that increases my sense of impending doom the longer I take in the dark complexities of the plot.

Important news in what I am now dubbing the Hatchetfield Theatrical Universe/HTU(TM)! 

StarKid is releasing 6 new musical shorts that take place in the town of Hatchetfield, the fictional location where The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals and Black Friday take place (albeit, in alternate realities but they’re essentially the same place). 

When I first looked at the titles, the one that struck me the most was “Janes’ A Car”. If you’re familiar with the HTU, you’ll know that Jane is Emma’s older sister who died in a car crash. In both realities of TGWDLM and Black Friday, it is heavily implied that Jane’s death is the catalyst for setting both plots of the musicals into motion, seeing as her death is the one major detail that has remained the same in both musicals. Though the audience has never technically met Jane, we know that her death is the driving force of bringing together the cast of characters in both musicals that end up being the most involved in apocalyptic storylines. Going by the title alone, I have a feeling that this story, in particular, is going to be very Twilight Zone-esque in nature, and will most definitely tease us about StarKid’s upcoming Hatchetfield musical, Nerdy Prudes Must Die. It may not give us any answers as to why exactly Jane, and more specifically, her death, is so important in this universe and the group of people within it, but I feel like we will be getting just enough to expand upon or completely change theories about her and the HTU in general. Maybe, since she’s described by Emma as being the ‘good sister’, Jane is the nerdy prude that has to die in order to set everything into motion for the multiple universes of Hatchetfield? I’m putting my money on that.

I’m also very intrigued by “The Witch In The Web”. I may or may not be looking too much into it, but the word “Web” is ringing major bells for me, seeing as in Black Friday, Hannah has a mysterious, seemingly-omniscient friend(if you could call it that) named Webby, whose consciousness is connected to the Black and White that ties the multiple Hatchetfield universes together. That just leads to me to ask: Who is the witch in the web, and how does the witch connect to the Black and White?

A title that really surprised me was “Watcher World”, not because of its connection to the HTU, but because of StarKid’s previous use of the word ‘watcher’ in their shows. If you’re familiar with StarKid’s greater line of work, you may recall that The Watchers is a derogatory term used in The Trail to Oregon to refer to the audience and their cruel tendency to enjoy watching the characters of a story in pain. Those sick bastards…

And speaking of bastards, for no other reason than my own speculative enjoyment, I’m calling that “Time Bastard” has to do with fan-favorite General MacNamara, his work with PIEP, and his history with his husband, whose existence was cut from Black Friday due to time. Maybe he rencounters his former mentor Wilber Cross, who somehow turned into the Uncle Wiley we see in Black Friday. Maybe Cross and MacNamara’s husband are the same people, making Cross’ possession by the Black and White all the more personal for MacNamara, and dramatic for us, the watchers.

So many great things to look forward to from StarKid this month!

Let us take a moment to appreciate that StarKid has created an interconnected narrative universe using musical theatre as its medium of choice. And, not only is this musical theatre universe one of the first, if not the only, of its kind, the genre they chose to format this universe in is a musical horror-comedy with a healthy dose of sociopolitical commentary.

Eat your heart out, Marvel!