Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 8/6/2015
EAST LONGMEADOW – A group of local teenagers have started a Kickstarter fundraiser aimed at adapting the popular science fiction “Hunger Games” series into a comedic musical parody.
Dan Kelly, a 16-year-old junior at East Longmeadow High School (ELHS), told Reminder Publications he co-wrote the musical parody alongside classmate Michael Nevins.
The Hunger Games is a series of three novels is set in a dystopian future in the post-apocalyptic nation of Panem, which sits in the ruins of North America, according to the book’s website. The country consists of a wealthy capitol located in the Rocky Mountains and twelve poor districts ruled by the capital in different states of poverty. The trilogy’s protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, lives in one of these districts.
Each year the capitol takes one boy and one girl from the ages of 12 to 18 from each of the districts to participate in the Hunger Games – a brutal fight to the death competition set in an outdoor arena.
The victors of Hunger Games receive income from the capitol for life and are given a special status in their respective districts.
“We took the three book series and warped it into an hour and 45 minutes play [and] musical,” Nevins said.
Kelly said the first two books consist of the first act and the second act is comprised of the third book.
One of the main villains of the series – President Coriolanus Snow – who is depicted as ruthless and tyrannical in the book and film series, is adapted as a “guy down on his luck whose doing the best that he can” in the musical parody, Nevins said.
“One of the biggest jokes is that the [Hunger Games] universe takes itself really seriously,” Kelly said.
The spoof also adds characters not in the book or film series, such as Snow’s wife, who doesn’t take the Hunger Games competition seriously, he added.
If the Kickstarter is funded, the production would consist or eight to 10 songs with a full ensemble of at least 30 people, Nevins said. The smallest production could consist of 11 people.
Nevins and Kelly began writing the first draft more than a year ago, but Kelly said a majority of the editing was completed by ELHS senior Julia Adamo. All three have also taken theater and comedy classes together at the Drama Studio in Springfield.
“The original intent was we were going to rebel against our school drama club and write our own play, but our intent now is to have our own thing,” Nevins said. “We wanted to see [what] three 16- [and] 17-year-olds [can do].”
The three, as part of the Kickstarter campaign, hope to continue developing their own theatre group called Wet Paint Theatre, he added. Most of the funding would go towards the Hunger Games parody, while a portion would go towards creating more original productions in the future.
The group is also inspired by Saturday Night Live and Chicago-based StarKid productions, a musical theatre company known for its spoofs of the Harry Potter series, Kelly said.
As of Aug. 3, the Kickstarter raised $740 of its $8,000 goal with 15 days left on the online fundraiser. In order for a Kickstarter campaign to be successful, the goal must be reached otherwise none of the money donated towards the project can be used and funds are refunded to their donors.
If the Kickstarter is successful, the group is planning to debut the parody sometime in December or early winter after the release of the final Hunger Games film, Kelly said.
For more information about Wet Paint Theatre and its Hunger Games parody, visit its Kickstarter page at www.kickstarter.com/projects/danhandan/hunger-games-the-musical-parody.