Meet Team StarKid, the once-college group that brought you Darren Criss and the viral hit, “A Very Potter Musical.”
After their other musicals “Me and My Dick” and “Starship,” the theater group is now headlining the Space Tour. The Miami Hurricane got a chance to talk to Joey Richter, Lauren Lopez and Brian Holden about the tour and working with old friends.
The Miami Hurricane: Can you tell me a little about the tour?
Joey Richter: I can’t really reveal a lot of stuff. We’re kind of keeping a few things under wraps. I can promise that you’re going to hear some classics and you’re going to hear a few that are going to sound a little different.
We’re really just a group of friends that enjoy goofing off and being silly, and the tour really emulates that.
TMH: What is it like working with people that you’ve known and worked with for so long?
JR: It’s awesome. It’s easy. It’s back to habit at this point. We’re all such good friends. Working together on a creative basis is just so easy. When we know something isn’t working, it’s easy to get that out in the open and move on. We’re at a point as friends where we can be very no-bullshit and it makes it more fun. We kind of spend every waking minute with each other, which is awesome.After rehearsals, we all get to hang out, and it’s the people that we enjoy hanging out with and that we would be hanging out with anyway.
Lauren Lopez: We have a really good chemistry together where when something is working, it’s kind of like magic. It’s a really cool connection that we have with each other. It’s also nice to have a group of friends that aren’t just a group of friends, but who also have the same creative mindset as you do.
Brian Holden: Being friends for so long, we respect each other. The challenging part is that we let people get away with things, like being late, whereas normally you wouldn’t test the boundaries of things like being late to rehearsal.
TMH: What’s been your favorite play so far?
LL: I think that the first Harry Potter play was. There was something really magical about the first play. There was no StarKid, there was no business aspect to it. We just did it to have fun. And so there’s just this very nice, nostalgic innocence about where it all was at the beginning. And there’s that amazing memory of what that show became.
TMH: Do you have any advice for people who are in college or new college grads who want to get into the acting business?
BH: It’s a tough question for me to answer, because I’ve been so lucky and we did it in such an unconventional way. I’d say don’t underestimate your training. When I was in college, I did a pretty good job in classes, I think. But you can always take it just a little bit more seriously and really value the training you have. But it’s also important to enjoy your time in college. It’s one of the most unique periods in your life, where you’re sort of like an adult but not really. And you just have so much freedom and lack of responsibility. I’d say go after the projects that make you the happiest and seem like the most fun. Don’t worry about creating something totally unique. Just do what you want to do with the people you want to do it with.
TMH: Joey, you played Ron Weasley in the musical. What was it like meeting Rupert Grint, who plays Ron in the films?
JR: Oh, it was awesome. It was so funny because Darren and I were at the Teen Choice Awards, and we were kind of behind the theater. A car pulls up and one of the guys that gets out was Rupert. And I went, “Oh my God, there’s Rupert Grint.” And Darren goes, “Holy shit, we’ve gotta go get a picture.” So we essentially stalked him. We got a picture and it turned out bad, and we ended up having to take like four pictures. We felt so bad, but he was cool. And we chatted with him for a bit and had a little geek out moment. We were like, “Oh man, this is going to break the Internet.” We probably embarrassed ourselves and looked like idiots, but we had a good time.