YESTERDAY WAS THE BIG DAY!!! I FLEW ON A PLANE TO LOS ANGELES FOR A SINGLE DAY FOR ONE REASON AND ONE REASON ONLY: TO SEE THE GUY WHO DIDN'T LIKE MUSICALS!!!

Literally so exciting. I woke up at 5am yesterday morning to catch a flight and went immediately from the airport to the theater because this was the most important event of my whole summer. The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals is one of my favoritest musicals of all time ever (also if you have no clue what i'm talking about, this show is a horror comedy musical by team Starkid and the entire thing is free on youtube and it's incredible so if you have free time and any interest in musical theater you should watch it. There are sequels and extended lore too if you really want to get crazy person invested like me :p).

As I mentioned in a previous diary entry, I saw the ORIGINAL production when the show premiered in October 2018. I had been a Starkid fan since the twisted days and was a very potter musical fanatic, so my mom and I did a special trip to LA for me to see the show, which back then was a really big departure from their previous stuff. Right now the Hatchetfield projects are their most popular thing, so its easy to forget that the og Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals was met with a lot of skepticism and wasn't super well funded. but I was a believer day one you gotta understand. We went to the day after opening and the theater was TINY, literally had 5 whole rows and sat like 99 people. We were in the 3rd row and Lauren and Jon crawled over our laps in that one scene where they're running through the alleys. I will never forget the experience of living through The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals for the first time ever live and in person at a time when no one knew what Hatchetfield was, and if I could rewind time and choose any moment to experience for the first time all over again, I think it would be that performance. I got actual fear goosebumps during the final 2 songs, watching Inevitable happen in person that close to the stage with no prior knowledge actually made my blood run cold and my stomach nauseous but in the best way. This show is so freaking amazing and will always be my favorite JUST because of that blessed day I saw it on October 18th 2018.

ANYWAY enough about THAT, what about the show I saw 24 hours ago??? Well surprise to no one, it was AMAZING. The Hatchetfield extended universe has a crazy fanbase nowadays so there were SO many people in cosplay trading kandi, ME INCLUDED! I went to the show dressed as the character Melissa (if you know you know, but basically she's a minor character with INSANE expanded universe lore), and I went with my friend who dressed as Alice!!

I also made some bracelets to trade, which was super fun!! I was really nervous before the show because I knew that I wanted to socialize with other fans in theory but in practice, you know, social anxiety!! But it was so fun and easy because everyone who I talked to were fucking dorks just like me and it was so easy to just walk up to people I saw with bracelets and stick out my wrists and just like that we were chatting and trading. I also gave away 2 of the drawings I made (see my art page), so if you're one of the people I gave those to and are seeing this because I wrote my website on the back, hiii!!! You were so cool!!

So here are my thoughts about the actual show: 10/10 obviously, we already knew I would love it. Lauren Lopez directed this time around for her first Starkid show as director, which was awesome and you could definitely see her style all over this thing. Lauren is historically a very good choreographer and the movement in this show definitely shows it: there was amazing new, complex choreo for almost every song. A highlight of the entire show for me was the new choreo for the song "America is Great Again", which had everyone moving in flashes of slow motion that were just stunning. Other highlights for songs with new choreo that I loved were "Let It Out" and "Join Us (and Die)" - which is one of my favorites of the whole show and they should let Jaime Lyn Beatty belt more often - both of which just really beautifully used movement of the whole ensemble to tell the story. Just so much thought and intention went into the blocking; not just in the choreo but in the straight scenes too, and Lauren does so much with the comedy direction. Highlights include Ted wheeling in on the rolly chair for his entrance and that moment when Hidgens pops through a window then dissapears and keeps yapping offstage, only to pop back out on the complete opposite side of the set. Genius.

Speaking of set, SHOUTOUT SCENIC DESIGN!! The og set was very simple (aka noexistent), and it was really awesome seeing the show more fleshed out and realized with a detailed set with things flying in and distict cool locations!! It reminded me of a 50s comic book kind of, with the exaggerated angular proportions and perspecive. IDK if I can really explain it but it really evoked the kind of classic horror/monster movie vibes to me, it was gorgeous. And, keeping with big things that were different, I loved the new orchestrations in some of the songs. They were few and far between, since they didn't depart much from the original script which I think was a good thing, which really made the music changes feel INCREDIBLE when they did happen (SHOUTOUT "LET IT OUT" AAABAJHFYGHJG). But I like that at the same time they stayed incredibly loyal to the original everyone knows and loves, and every change felt like an enhancement instead of a departure (and I liked that they kept some iconic classic moments completely untouched, like "Cup of Roasted Coffee" and "Show-Stoppin' Number").

BUT, since it has to be said, some things I liked less than the original. I didn't really love how they played up some of the comedy beats through prolonged silence. I did think these parts were funny, don't get me wrong, but I thought they were funnier when the pace was snappier. I'm thinking mostly of the first scene in the office and some scenes with Hidgens, though a specific example is evading my memory (I guess it's not that bad if I can't remember a specific moment that I didn't like lol, but still worth noting). Also, I am so so sorry everybody, but I need to say it... I thought Robert Manion was a better Hidgens. Do NOT get it twisted, I wholeheartedly agree with the reasons why he is not involved with Starkid anymore, but I didn't really love Will Branner's characterization of Hidgens. I thought Will was an AMAZING Max Jägerman, but him in this role just didn't do it for me. I felt like he was hamming it up just a little too much, whereas Robert was effortlessly Hidgens. IDK, it just wasn't for me. ALSO (last thing I promise), maybe it was just because I was seated further away this time, but despite the tiny space with no set, I liked the playing space way more in the original production. I actually think the tiny theater with no set really worked with this show since the old stage was low and almost on the audience level, and the proximity and intimacy with the audience made me feel so sucked in in a way I didn't quite achieve this time.

And that's my review!! I am so happy I spent like $300 to visit a city for a single day just for this special special show, best money spent ever. I also got merch!! I got the postcard, poster which I am obsessed with, and a t-shirt with Pokey on it!! I'm normally not a merch-buyer but I really needed something to commemorate this show because it's my everything (ignore my book in the photo lol). I also leave you with one more photo of me posing with both my 2018 and 2025 playbills because YIPPEE!! WAHOO!!! BEST DAY EVER!!!

I am currently back home after a crazy travel weekend more dead than alive #worthit