Credit to @planetloserr

As a fan of both the musical and the Disney ride, I'd love to know what this monologue actually SAYS, or if there's any reliable information on it anywhere.

Does anyone have a ticket for Nerdy prudes must die in London next year? I'll take anything and pay +100€ extra on top of the ticket price. Would LOVE to see it!!

Thought this might be some interesting news for this community. The official Jeopardy Reddit account posted cryptic clues today, and the consensus is they’re hinting at another episode of YouTube Jeopardy, with Angela Giarratana as a contestant this time around.

Probably one of quite a number of peeps asking this, but anyone selling their NPMD in West End Tickets?

Was late to the party and everything is sold out.

I did my best. Feel free to give criticism.

Asking because I'm wondering if there's something wrong with my youtube or internet lol

Now we get to the Chicago era of StarKid. StarKid has left the University of Michigan and are a professional theatre company now. Their first project? Starship, which I consider to be StarKid's most ambitious musical yet.

Now right off the bat, Starship had many things going against it. It was their first professional musical, meaning they didn't have the university's blackbox stage, props and other stuff to rely on. They had to seek it out on their own with their own budget. And they were being reviewed by professional reviewers this time instead of just their peers/fans. Additionally, Darren Criss got cast on Glee while composing this so he didn't have the time to finish the songs, meaning there were only 8 songs plus 2 reprises (3 if you consider Life to be two different songs, which I don't). As a result, the most common complaints of this show are correct: this show is too long and doesn't have enough songs to justify it. It's almost 3 hours long and there are a few long gaps between songs, especially near the beginning between I Wanna Be and Get Back Up, and in Act 2 between Beauty and the Kick It Up A Notch Reprise.

Additionally, there's some stuff in this show that doesn't work despite, or sometimes because, of the runtime. Krayonder and Specs have nothing to do. They each get like one or two moments to shine and then they have nothing to do otherwise. Apparently there was a romance or something between them but it got written out. I know I said the show is too long as is, but I wish they kept that in because that would at least have been an attempt. Also, how did Krayonder survive Pincer's attack? I also wish February could have been written better as her "dumb" trait did get old after a while. And some of the vomit jokes could have been toned down (though I always laugh at the first one with the mammal wrangler laying down the base coat of slime on February). Finally, I think certain scenes do go on for a bit too long, like the first scene with the Starship crew (I wish they didn't pause the scene and play the booing sound effect tbh) and the start of the lap scene.

Despite its flaws though, I still think this show works wonders. For their first professional musical, they did a good job in utilising their ambition they had in this show. They had two different sets for this (one for the Starship and one for the bug world) and both sets are StarKid's best sets as of that point of time. The screen was nicely utilised too, with both the video call between Junior and Dr. Spaceclaw, and the crashed Starship video. The costumes and wigs are amazing, especially for Megagirl, Taz (whose Sylvester Stallone look is nicely replicated), Commander Up and human Bug. I love that Joey's headband came back and I think it was utilised the best in this as it actually had a role in the story (that being the language translator between the humans and bugs). And the puppetry was so good. Not of all the puppets were actual puppets (as they were limited) but even the cardboard cutouts felt like actual characters even if they were minor characters. All of the puppets are great design-wise but in particular, I love Bug, Bugette, Pincer, Roach and the Overqueen.

This story is a rip-off of The Little Mermaid (Bug wants to be Starship Ranger even if he's not a human, he meets February and falls in love, he meets with Pincer to become a human and thus becomes a Starship Ranger until Pincer finds out he broke his end of the deal). However, I like that it added its own uniqueness to it by taking elements from the Starship Troopers (which I haven't seen so I don't know too much about them) and using it to create their unique bug world. I think the show's pacing is a bit all over the place as we too sometimes spend too long focusing on the humans when this story is mostly about Bug. Aside from that, I think the scene changes from Bug's story to the Starship Troopers work well for the most part. The humour's mostly solid too. I love most of the bugs (especially The Caller Bug and Joe Walker's bug that he companions, the Overqueen and Pincer), Taz is hilarious (I love how she uses random Spanish quotes, like Feliz Navidad and how she uses her knife on herself after telling Krayonder to walk it off), Tootsie Noodles is the best but I'll get to him soon. The constant running gag of God being dead ("Thank Dead God") is great. Up's mustache getting ripped off by Taz then him putting a new mustache one was great. (I wish Taz kept her mustache for the rest of the show though). And the G.L.E.E. joke was funny and a nice way to diss on Darren for being too busy to work on Starship (I'm joking, Darren was in a tough position but the G.L.E.E. joke was funny). On the other hand, as mentioned earlier, the puke jokes can be a bit too much and (while having some funny moments on occasion), February's character does rely too much on the "dumb" trait.

Even though this show is technically incomplete in the score department, the overall soundtrack is great. Darren Criss managed to score some certified bangers in this one. In particular, I think the three song run of "Kick It Up a Notch", "Status Quo" and "The Way I Do" is the best three song run in all of StarKid (although there are some very close contenders in that field). Kick It Up a Notch is a Top 3 StarKid song and is on par with the greatest villain songs ever. The Way I Do is a great love duet (double duet in fact) about not knowing each other (or themselves) the way the other does. And Status Quo feels like a triumph, revelling in the fact that Bug is now a Starship Ranger. Other than those, I Wanna Be is a great "I want" song and introduction song introducing the bug world and the roles bugs play in their world. Get Back Up is a motivational jam. And Beauty is a lovely song about how there is beauty everywhere. Life and Hideous Creatures are the weak links of the show but even they do a great job of showing off vocals, having fun choreography (in the case of Hideous Creatures) and serving the story well. If I had to rank the songs, they'd go like this:

1. Kick It Up a Notch.
   
2. The Way I Do.
   
3. Status Quo.
   
4. Get Back Up.
   
5. I Wanna Be.
   
6. Kick It Up a Notch (Reprise).
   
7. Beauty.
   
8. Hideous Creatures.
   
9. Life.
   
10. Beauty (Reprise).

For the performances/characters, I'm gonna split them up into Bugs and Humans. Starting off with the Bugs, I like how despite them being a mix of cardboard cutouts (for most of the background characters) and puppets how they manage to be unique characters. I also thought the puppetry work by everyone was extremely well done. I think Dylan Saunders is the overall star of the show because of how he managed to play the two best characters of the show (we'll get to Tootsie Noodles soon), be a lead/co-lead in the two best songs of the show and make each of those 2 characters unique in a different way. Pincer is a great villain who, despite being a version of Ursula, manages to be his own version of cunning, manipulative and yet charming to Bug. The puppet is great too and it was handled with great teamwork by Dylan, Nick Lang, Joe Moses and Meredith Stepien/Lauren Lopez. I also really liked the mosquitoes (Veeto, Neato and Sweetheart) and how they fun they made their roles as the evil sidekicks. Brian Holden, Jaime Lyn Beatty and Jim Povolo work well together as a trio I must add. Nick Lang is funny as the Caller Bug and I wish he appeared more, Joe Walker was fun as the Wrangler, Jim Povolo was hilarious as the Overqueen and Julia Albain was fun as Nourishment.

As for the main Bug characters aside from Pincer, Brant Cox was fabulous as Roach and was a great friend for Bug. I wish he appeared more often but I get why he didn't. Plus, he and the Overqueen will be happy forever together, I just know it. Bugette was fun too and I did overall feel bad for her (even if she did turn Bug over) as she did have good intentions. She just wanted Bug to come over and let her tear off his head and let her larvae devour his body. Lauren Lopez had a great character voice for her and managed to let Bugette be as charming as she is. Her constant puking did get old after a while though. And then there's Bug. One of Joey Richter's best characters accompanied with a great performance and puppetry. His vocals are also much improved here (especially in Life, Kick It Up a Notch and Status Quo) compared to the previous shows. Joey brings so much charisma to Bug and makes his motivations of being a Starship Ranger so believable that you want to root for him. It is nice that he isn't playing an asshole for once too. It's also cool how he's able to be the same character when Bug turns into a human despite not having to do puppetry anymore and you get to focus on Joey instead of the puppet.

Speaking of the humans, let's get to them now. Tootsie Noodles is my favourite character of the show (although there are some contenders). He's one of the most innocent StarKid characters ever and Dylan Saunders fucking killed it in his performance. I love his Southern accent, how he's willing to learn about everything, how dumb he can be. I love how a stack of hay was his cousin that he dated before a horse ate it, and how he keeps saying "A horse ate my cousin!" His relationship with Megagirl is wholesome as fuck as well, as is the revelation that he changed his name to Tootsie Megagirl. Speaking of, Megagirl is also great and accompanied by Meredith Stepien's great performance and her first in a StarKid stage show. She does a great robot voice and robot movements, I love how she speaks with emotion then speaks a word robotically (e.g., "THERE IS A *eighty-six* PERCENT CHANCE YOUR CREW WILL"). Her inhibitor chip is a bit cliche but it still doesn't stop her from quipping with Taz. And I actually prefer Megagirl and Tootsie to Bug and February because of how Tootsie was able to convince Megagirl that humans aren't bad, despite her inhibitor chip. And as mentioned earlier, The Way I Do greatly elevates their relationship. Even if I don't love February's writing, Denise Donovan still did a great job as February in her StarKid debut. She has the charisma to make her likeable and she has great chemistry with Joey Richter. Their relationship is a bit cliche but still really wholesome. I love how she learns Bug language at the end and how well they work as a team. Also she was the choreographer and she did a great job in that department too. For additional human characters other than the leaders of the crew, Krayonder and Specs had good performances from Joe Moses and Julia Albain and occasional fun moments (like Krayonder going "WHOAAA") and Dr. Spaceclaw is hilarious with a fun Jim Povolo performance and gives off Emperor Zurg/Darth Vader vibes. I especially love how he suddenly goes "JUNIOR!" and also him finding Junior's weed. And at the start, there's some fun cameos from older StarKids (Basically a majority of the Very Potter crew) which feels like a "passing the torch" moment, since this was the first show outside of the University of Michigan.

Finally, the three "leaders" of the Starship crew (Commander Up, Taz and Junior). Commander Up is a great character and probably Joe Walker's most underrated character. I love his character arc, of not being as fearless as he once used to be to learning to move on from his injury. I also love how he can be threatening in one moment and then "Yes dear?" in another. The lap scene with him and Bug is one of the best of the whole show because not only are Bug and Up a great duo but the way they help each other with their dilemmas is very wholesome. Joe Walker gives a great performance as Up in his character voice, posture and managing to be sweet, tough and emotional all within the same character. Also, Up's tragic backstory leading to a "I've got no balls" joke was funny. And Up fighting with his heart (using Bug's advice) to kill the mosquitoes was awesome. He and Taz are also a great duo and as mentor/mentee, they work wonders. We could maybe go without the slight romantic bit about Up liking Taz "that" way though. Speaking of Taz, I also really liked her. I liked how "Rambo" she was in both her look and her demeanour and how tough she is, though I do wish we got slightly more from her character other than "she's tough and she hates how soft Up got". Also, I wish she kept Up's mustache. But she's still really funny, especially how she yells random Spanish phrases and Lauren Lopez gave a really good performance, far different from her characters at that point (Malfoy and Tanya). Finally, Junior is a good villain with a great Brian Holden performance. He doesn't do much in Act 1 other than be like "Ohh I'm sorry guys Uwu" but in Act 2 when he does finally get to stuff, it's great and at times hilariously pathetic (like when he turns off Megagirl's inhibitor chip and instantly gets choked by her). I love how he's basically just a nepo Daddy's boy through and through and him smoking weed in the Kick It Up a Notch reprise. And how introduces himself and insists that they might have heard of him. His sunglasses are cool as fuck too.

Overall, I think StarKid did overall succeed in their ambitious attempt at a first post-university show. However I think they were overall a bit too ambitious with the show being slightly overcooked and too long, with not enough songs to justify some scenes being too long and wide gaps between the bug and human worlds in some scenes. Add in some character traits that haven't aged too well and I can understand why StarKid themselves look back on this show as being the challenge to get them on their feet. I wish they gave it more credit though. They created a wonderful world blending bugs, Starship Troopers and The Little Mermaid. The design elements (set, costumes, makeup, puppets) are great, the performances and puppetry are great, the score is great with some all-timer StarKid songs and the characters are mostly great (with some being underdeveloped and one not aging too well). I think this show is among StarKid's underrated because I respect what they were able to accomplish with this given the stress they were under during the making of this. I think it was worth it in the end though. They certainly kicked it up a notch.

8/10.

Getting ready for my trip to London! I want to have a Hatchetfield shirt for each day of my trip :D (ideally 4 of them /ref and actually 5) I want to make a Black Friday one next, most likely a Pizza Pete’s shirt but I need to make the design first :/ any other ideas are appreciated! (Preferably under 4 colors as stacking them gets kinda tricky past that)
Anyways I made the beanies coffee one and nighthawks one with my cricut and heat press. The black book one I’m doing appliqué and I cut out fabric strips(I still have to satin stitch them on tho :/)

I know probably by Halloween. But do you think this year or next?

Will Branner does my favorite version of Professor Hidgins. I told my wife about it and she got this for me from the StarKid store. Material is great. Now to write my very own Music-AL.

Each song is timed out to be 20-30 minutes apart! Limited to Rum and Vodka!

• High School is Killing Me - “Grace, Just Be Cool” or “Never!”
  • Two Drinks offered (have one… or both!)
  • “Grace, Just Be Cool” Spiked Blue Slush 
  • “Never!” Spiked Hot cocoa 
• Dirty Girl - “Dirty Girl Soup” 
  • Themed to Bathtub Water that was enjoyed a little too much
  • 2 oz light rum, 2 oz pineapple juice, 1.5 oz cream of coconut, Splash of lime juice 
• Nerdy Prides Must Die - “Jagerman Will Rise, Blood Will Be My Prize” 
  • Dirty Shirley with candy cigarette 
  • Sprite, Grenadine, Vodka 
  • candy cigarettes on the side 

30 minute break to make second round of drinks

• Hatchet Town - “Hatchet Sun is Setting On Us”
  • Spicy Sunrise
  • Smirnoff Spicy Tamarind (can substitute this with vodka and hot sauce), orange juice, lime juice, grenadine, lemon soda
• The Summoning - “We’re All Pally-Wals Here”
  • Appletini with a side of Sour Patch Kids 
  • Vodka, Apple Juice, Sour Apple Schnapps, Lemon Juice 
  • Side of Sour Patch Kids (one of each color to represent Lords in Black) 
• Dirty Dudes Must Die - “Who Will Pray For You?”
  • Bloody Mary
  • Bloody Mary Mix, vodka, any additional spices or veggies preferred 

Thank you!

Hey! I am looking for two tickets for NPMD in london 28th of feb at 7 pm.

Does anyone know if they will be doing it in Chicago this year? I know they didn’t do it last year and said they might do it every other year, but i haven’t seen any announcement on whether they will or won’t be doing it in 2026

Hii

Just a post to say that if anyone is selling 2 tickets to the London show, especially on February 6th or 7th, please pls PLEASE hit me up

Ill be forever grateful

Thank you !