MTM Day 5: Firebringer

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So, I have to admit that I’ve never watched a Starkid thing before. This is my first one. I know, I probably should have started with A Very Potter Musical, but that “I don’t really wanna do the work today” clip blew up on tumblr and I felt it deep in my soul, so I watched this. Maybe next year, A Very Potter Musical.

It was cute! I thoroughly enjoyed watching it, and my 15-year-old brother watched some of it with me and enjoyed what he saw too, which was a pleasant surprise. It was funny and engaging and the songs were great.

Really, though, the thought that kept coming back to me was how much I love this as a model. I understand people that are passionate about musical theater. I also get how hopeless it can feel if you don’t live in the right place. Either you can’t try out for the good musicals, or you can’t even see them. I certainly can’t, unless I watch movie versions or bootlegs. These kinds of things don’t really stop in Abu Dhabi on their tour destinations.

I can’t claim to know much about Starkid Productions, but it feels like they’re out here doing their own thing and then making it accessible to everyone they can, which is important to me. They love theater, they put hard work into this production, and then they made a nice filmed version so that I and everyone else can see it. There’s even subtitles for the whole thing (and the subtitles are very funny). They don’t need a big local theater-going community or the permission of gatekeepers to put on their shows. They found an international audience.

I know traditional theater has a set way of doing things and they probably aren’t going to change anytime soon, but I wish they’d start doing something similar and really take advantage of how connected the world is now. Yes, watching a nicely recorded version of a musical isn’t the same experience as seeing it in person, and it would better to be able to attend a real performance. But it’s better than nothing, for myself and a lot of people.

Anyway. I’m glad the internet has allowed these creative people to do what they do the way they want to do it, and I’m glad they’re taking advantage of that.

And for tomorrow: Anastasia! The cartoon version, because I’ve never seen it. (Yeah, I know….)