History Trivia / Hatchetfield

* TheOtherDarrin: Robert Manion was asked by [=StarKid=] human resources to take a temporary leave of absence from the group only a few weeks before ''Nightmare Time 2'' was supposed to be released, as a result of confessions that he had sexually harassed band members in an earlier [=StarKid=] production. Without the time to devise a more elegant solution such as rewrites or distributing his characters amongst various cast members, Robert is replaced by writer/director Nick Lang in every role, until the season finale in which Joey Richter replaces him as Ethan. Following that hasty solution, Robert's characters are starting to be passed from Nick to other cast members.

* ActingForTwo: Per the norm for Creator/TeamStarkid, nearly every single actor plays more than one character. The only exception to this is Creator/DylanSaunders, whose only ''notable'' role to date is Tom Houston, though he did play a few minor roles in Episode 2 of ''Nightmare Time''. Alphabetically by actor, followed by their major characters in order of appearance:
** Creator/JaimeLynBeatty plays Charlotte, Nora, Deb, Colonel Schaffer, Sherman Young, Noël, Jane Perkins, and Pamela Foster.
** Creator/JeffBlim plays Ken Davidson, the Man in a Hurry, Sam, John [=MacNamara=], [[spoiler:Chumby]], Tinky, and Andrew Kilgore.
** Creator/CoreyDorris plays Bill Woodward and Frank Pricely.
** Mariah Rose Faith Casillas plays Melissa, Zoey, the Greenpeace Girl, Alice Woodward, Doug, and Webby.
** Angela Giarratana plays Snigglette, Lex Foster, Lucy Stockworth, and Willabella Muckwab.
** Creator/LaurenLopez plays Emma Perkins, Donna Daggit, Linda Monroe, Jingle, [[spoiler:Emma 2]], and Jacqueline Frost.
** Robert Manion plays Henry Hidgens, the Hot Chocolate Boy, Ethan Green, Christopher Kringle, and Tony Green.
** Jon Matteson plays Paul Matthews, Wiggly, Gary Goldstein, and [[spoiler:Paul 23]].
** Curt Mega plays Howard Goodman, Jonathan Brisby, and Duke Keane.
** Kendall Nicole plays Tim Houston and Hannah Foster.
** Creator/JoeyRichter plays Ted Spankoffski, the Homeless Man [[spoiler: (actually a time-displaced Ted Spankoffski)]], Dan Reynolds, Uncle Wiley, the Obnoxious Teen, Jangle, and Konk [[spoiler: (actually Ted Spankoffski in disguise)]].
** James Tolbert plays Xander Lee and Blinky.
** Kim Whalen plays Becky Barnes, Sylvia, Jenny, and Miss Holloway.

** It was a common headcanon that Hot Chocolate Boy was related to Ted; Abstinence Camp confirms them to be brothers. And then Nerdy Prudes Must Die drives it firmly home.

* DevelopmentHell: ''Nerdy Prudes Must Die!'', which was conceived as the first ever Hatchetfield show -- the first script idea, anyway, to actually name "Hatchetfield, Michigan" as its setting -- has now been shelved for several years. Originally it was put on the back burner in favor of the later idea ''Theatre/TheGuyWhoDidntLikeMusicals'', which the Creator/LangBrothers felt was their strongest standalone concept for a musical, and then delayed again for in favor of ''Theatre/BlackFriday'', which had undergone a lot of CerebusSyndrome and felt like a better option for opening up Hatchetfield into a series. ''NPMD'' was meant to be the third Hatchetfield musical, but its pre-production was cut short by the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, and as the pandemic wore on through 2020 with no signs of stopping, the Creator/LangBrothers started work on ''WebVideo/NightmareTime'' instead and began cannibalizing ''NPMD'' plot points for ''Nightmare Time'' episodes. Unfortunately, Creator/NickLang has admitted that if too much time passes before ''NPMD'' can be mounted as a stage show, the whole concept may have to be scrapped, because too many of the ideas intended for it will have been used elsewhere, actors will have aged (it's a high-school-themed show) and the Hatchetfield timeline will no longer have a place for it. (See RealLifeWritesThePlot on the main page.)
** It's also been revealed that the Kickstarter bonus feature from ''Theatre/BlackFriday'', the short film ''Workin' Boys'', has largely been written and the cast was prepared to film it -- but acting out of an abundance of caution (particularly with their low budget compared to a big professional studio) Creator/TeamStarkid isn't shooting anything until the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic is over. And, as a breadcrumb for the fans, Creator/NickLang said even if they ''weren't'' acting out of an abundance of caution and were willing to trust everyone they personally knew to come to set having tested negative, ''Workin' Boys'' fundamentally requires a big crowd scene in its climax and shooting a scene with a big crowd of extras is an unacceptable level of infection risk. (Cue WildMassGuessing about why, exactly, a crowd of extras is so important to this movie's plot.)
** To the relief of fans, the Starkid Returns campaign was a fundraiser for ''NPMD'', among other Starkid projects - and it gave confirmation that ''Workin' Boys'' will be filmed after all.
* FakeAmerican: Thus far, every character played by Robert Manion, who is Australian.

* TheOtherDarrin: Robert Manion was asked by [=StarKid=] human resources to take a temporary leave of absence from the group only a few weeks before ''Nightmare Time 2'' was supposed to be released, as a result of allegations that he had sexually harassed band members. Without the time to devise a more elegant solution such as rewrites or distributing his characters amongst various cast members, Robert is replaced by writer/director Nick Lang in every role, until the season finale in which Joey Richter replaces him as Ethan.
* ProductionPosse: The Hatchetfield series has settled into a stable creative roster since the success of ''Theatre/TheGuyWhoDidntLikeMusicals'', with the Creator/LangBrothers as writers, Nick Lang as director (after Matt Lang relocated with his girlfriend to Wichita, KS), Creator/JeffBlim as songwriter, Matt Dahan as arranger, musical director and bandleader, James Tolbert as choreographer, and a cast composed of the half of the original Creator/TeamStarkid who followed the Langs when they left Chicago for LA. They've also officially integrated longtime friends of Team Starkid, Curt Mega and Kim Whalen, into the troupe, as well as adding some brand new faces, Jon Matteson, Mariah Rose Faith Casillas, Angela Giarratana, and Kendall Nicole Yakshe (three out of four of whom are younger women, to balance out Starkid being a [[ChromosomeCasting male-dominated]] clique of actors who were in college together in 2009).
** ''WebVideo/NightmareTime'' introduces Jae Hughes (the first member of Starkid to be out as nonbinary when they joined the group) and Bryce Charles, and ''Nerdy Prudes Must Die'' introduces Will Branner (who was on the Mean Girls Tour with Mariah Rose Faith Casillas) as well as Virginia Vass and Hamilton Davis.

** Nick Lang believes in this on principle, and therefore does not yet know who will play Alice's nonbinary classmate Ziggs, as there are no non-binary actors in the Hatchetfield ProductionPosse. For this reason, it's likely that Mariah Rose Faith Casillas's personal view of her police officer character, Doug, as a non-binary person is not canon.

** ''Nerdy Prudes Must Die'', the long-delayed third installment in the Hatchetfield stage trilogy, has been said by Nick Lang to be the "silliest" of the ideas for the three shows (and the first one they originally came up with), although it's had to be heavily revised over time as it's been delayed and ideas from it have been used for ''Nightmare Time'' episodes. He's also established that NPMD was ''never'' intended to be the final installment of a trilogy; ''Hatchetfield'' has always been meant as a much longer story than that.
** Nick has said that he and Matt's most ambitious project is to make a Hatchetfield feature film if they get the time and budget (and the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic allows for it), possibly as the GrandFinale for the series. They have several other ideas intended to be made as short films or {{Web Video}}s, with ''Workin' Boys'' having been the first, that may end up recycled as ''WebVideo/NightmareTime'' script readings due to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic.

** It was a common headcanon that Hot Chocolate Boy was related to Ted; Abstinence Camp confirms them to be brothers. And then Nerdy Prudes Must die drives it firmly home.

** It was a common headcanon that Hot Chocolate Boy was related to Ted; Abstinence Camp confirms them to be brothers.

** Mariah Rose Faith plays Melissa, Zoey, the Greenpeace Girl, Alice Woodward, Doug, and Webby.

** Obviously usually unavoidable when you have child/teen characters in a stage show, but the "Hatchetfield era" of Starkid had them take big steps to minimize this for the first time -- hiring Mariah Rose Faith and Angela Giarratana (who are both in their early 20s) to play teen girl characters Alice Woodward and Lex Foster, now that the original Starkid members are all in their 30s.

* ProductionPosse: The Hatchetfield series has settled into a stable creative roster since the success of ''Theatre/TheGuyWhoDidntLikeMusicals'', with the Creator/LangBrothers as writers, Nick Lang as director (after Matt Lang relocated with his girlfriend to Wichita, KS), Creator/JeffBlim as songwriter, Matt Dahan as arranger, musical director and bandleader, James Tolbert as choreographer, and a cast composed of the half of the original Creator/TeamStarkid who followed the Langs when they left Chicago for LA. They've also officially integrated longtime friends of Team Starkid, Curt Mega and Kim Whalen, into the troupe, as well as adding some brand new faces, Jon Matteson, Mariah Rose Faith, Angela Giarratana, and Kendall Nicole Yakshe (three out of four of whom are younger women, to balance out Starkid being a [[ChromosomeCasting male-dominated]] clique of actors who were in college together in 2009).

** Nick Lang believes in this on principle, and therefore does not yet know who will play Alice's nonbinary classmate Ziggs, as there are no non-binary actors in the Hatchetfield ProductionPosse. For this reason, it's likely that Mariah Rose Faith's personal view of her police officer character, Doug, as a non-binary person is not canon.

* SerendipityWritesThePlot: Mariah Rose Faith was supposed to be cast as Lex in ''Black Friday'' before she was signed on for the touring company of ''Mean Girls'', and Angela Giarratana auditioned for the part instead. ''Nightmare Time'' has shown that separating Lex and Alice's actresses does better in highlighting how different they are. Alice is a SpoiledBrat before her CharacterDevelopment in "Watcher's World" that doesn't want to admit that her dad is flawed but means well and wants the best for her present, and future. She's also a case of LoveMakesYouDumb in that her staying in Hatchetfield an extra day to be with Deb gets her killed, and she's in denial that Deb is a bad girlfriend. Lex is a {{Delinquent}} and JustifiedCriminal because her mother is an alcoholic and drug addict that makes her older daughter complicit in drug dealing; her biggest motivation is getting her little sister out of an unstable situation. Push comes to shove, she can defend herself in a fight. Her boyfriend Ethan may be on the wrong side of the tracks, but he's a good kid at heart, who will sacrifice himself for his loved ones. As an added benefit, Angela gets to play the Sniglette in "Watcher's World" as Mariah returns as Alice.

** To the relief of fans, the StarKid Returns campaign was a fundraiser for ''NPMD'', among other StarKid projects - and it gave confirmation that ''Workin' Boys'' will be filmed after all.

** Nick Lang believes in this on principle, and therefore does not yet know who will play Alice's non-binary classmate Ziggs, as there are no non-binary actors in the Hatchetfield ProductionPosse. For this reason, it's likely that Mariah Rose Faith's personal view of her police officer character, Doug, as a non-binary person is not canon.

* NamesTheSame:
** Nick Lang had to repeatedly confirm that "Becky Barnes" was in no way, shape or form intended as an intentional reference to "ComicBook/BuckyBarnes", nor to Bucky Barnes' sister [[https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Rebecca_Barnes_(Heroes_Reborn)_(Earth-616) Rebecca Barnes]] from the comics (who went by "Rikki Barnes").
** "Paul Matthews" is also the name of the protagonist of the 1992 film ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Potion_No._9_(film) Love Potion No. 9]]'' played by Tate Donovan; Nick Lang has clarified this is only a coincidence.
** Jonathan Brisby shares his name with the late husband of the heroine of ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH'', which is confirmed a coincidence; indeed, Nick Lang claimed to be more familiar with the book, in which the family name is Frisby.

* Even though both shows made it pretty clear there's no obvious visual difference between people who've been possessed/assimilated and people who haven't, it was very common for FanArt of ''Theatre/TheGuyWhoDidntLikeMusicals'' to show victims of the Apotheosis with bright blue GlowingEyes, and after watching ''Theatre/BlackFriday'' to switch it up and use green GlowingEyes for victims of Wiggly's cult. Creator/TeamStarkid took note of this, and in the story "Watcher World" in ''WebVideo/NightmareTime'' Season One, people under Blinky's MindManipulation are described in-universe as having telltale ''purple'' GlowingEyes.
* It was a common headcanon that Hot Chocolate Boy was related to Ted; Abstinence Camp confirms them to be brothers.

* AscendedFanon: Even though both shows made it pretty clear there's no obvious visual difference between people who've been possessed/assimilated and people who haven't, it was very common for FanArt of ''Theatre/TheGuyWhoDidntLikeMusicals'' to show victims of the Apotheosis with bright blue GlowingEyes, and after watching ''Theatre/BlackFriday'' to switch it up and use green GlowingEyes for victims of Wiggly's cult. Creator/TeamStarkid took note of this, and in the story "Watcher World" in ''WebVideo/NightmareTime'' Season One, people under Blinky's MindManipulation are described in-universe as having telltale ''purple'' GlowingEyes.

* FanNickname: Two of the Lords in Black, Pokotho and Nibblenephim haven't been given official cutesy nicknames yet, but fans have pretty quickly decided (or, perhaps more accurately, deduced) they're called Pokey (or possibly Po, in imitation of the Series/{{Teletubbies}}) and Nibbly.

* TheOtherDarrin: Robert Manion was asked by [=StarKid=] human resources to take a temporary leave of absence from the group only a few weeks before ''Nightmare Time 2'' was supposed to be released, as a result of allegations that he had sexually harassed band members. Without the time to devise a more elegant solution such as rewrites or distributing his characters amongst various cast members, Robert is replaced by writer/director Nick Lang in every role.

* TheOtherDarrin: Robert Manion was asked by [=StarKid=] human resources to take a temporary leave of absence from the group only a few weeks before ''Nightmare Time 2'' was supposed to be released. Without the time to devise a more elegant solution such as rewrites or distributing his characters amongst various cast members, Robert is replaced by writer/director Nick Lang in every role.

* ActingForTwo: Per the norm for Creator/TeamStarkid, nearly every single actor plays more than one character. The only exception to this is Creator/DylanSaunders, whose only ''notable'' role to date is Tom, though he did play a few minor roles in Episode 2 of ''Nightmare Time''. Alphabetically by actor, followed by their major characters in order of appearance:

* ActingForTwo: Per the norm for Creator/TeamStarkid, nearly every single actor plays more than one character. The only exception to this is Creator/DylanSaunders, whose only ''notable'' role to date is Tom, though he did play a few minor roles in Episode 2 of ''Nightmare Time''. In order of appearance:

** Mariah Rose Faith plays Zoey, Melissa, the Greenpeace Girl, Alice Woodward, Doug, and Webby.

** Creator/LaurenLopez plays Emma Perkins, Linda Monroe, Jingle, Donna Daggit, [[spoiler:Emma 2]], and Jacqueline Frost.

** Jon Matteson plays Paul Matthews, Gary Goldstein, Wiggly, and [[spoiler:Paul 23]].

** Kendall Nicole plays Hannah Foster and Tim Houston.
** Creator/JoeyRichter plays Ted Spankoffski, the Homeless Man [[spoiler: (actually a time-displaced Ted Spankoffski)]], the Obnoxious Teen, Jangle, Dan Reynolds, Konk [[spoiler: (actually Ted Spankoffski in disguise)]], and Uncle Wiley.

** Finally, Kim Whalen plays Becky Barnes, Sylvia, Jenny, and Miss Holloway.

* {{Jossed}}:
** It was a near-universal {{Fanon}} assumption, once all five Lords in Black were revealed at the climax of the ''WebVideo/NightmareTime'' Season One finale "The Witch in the Web", that the one Lord in Black we know we haven't seen in any capacity yet -- Nibblenephim or "Nibbly" -- would be the BigBad of ''Nerdy Prudes Must Die!'' Nick ended up shooting this down, stating that Nibblenephim has no connection to ''NPMD'' at all -- and that ''NPMD'' in its initially planned form wasn't a "MythArc" show at all -- and Nibblenephim was conceived for a different Hatchetfield project that we may or may not see recycled as a ''Nightmare Time'' episode.
** Many fans assumed that Ethan has an unpleasant home life and/or doesn't get on with his parents, partially because it gives him a CommonalityConnection with his girlfriend Lex, and partially because it would account for why he's so ready and willing to drop everything and move across the country with her. While we still haven't seen too much of his home life, ''WebVideo/NightmareTime'' introduces his father, who is a NiceGuy that obviously loves his son and there's no indication that their relationship is strained in any way. This naturally debunked a lot of headcanons and fics, but most of the fandom loved Tony immediately, and were glad that fan-favorite Ethan has at least one stable and supportive parent in his life. (Plus, it makes his plan to move to California with Lex and Hannah that much more heartwarming--he's not running away from his own family, but he loves Lex so much that he wants to be in a new one with her and her sister.)

** Creator/JoeyRichter plays Ted Spankoffski, the Homeless Man [[spoiler: (actually a time-displaced Ted Spankoffski)]], the Obnoxious Teen, Jangle, Dan Reynolds, Konk [;spoiler: (actually Ted Spankoffski in disguise)]], and Uncle Wiley.

** Creator/JoeyRichter plays Ted Spankoffski, the Homeless Man[[spoiler: (actually a time-displaced Ted Spankoffski)]], the Obnoxious Teen, Jangle, Dan Reynolds, Konk[[spoiler: (actually Ted Spankoffski in disguise)]], and Uncle Wiley.

** Creator/JeffBlim plays Ken Davidson, the Man in a Hurry, Sam, John MacNamara, [[spoiler:Chumby]], Tinky, and Andrew Kilgore.

* ActingForTwo: Per the norm for Creator/TeamStarkid, nearly every single actor plays more than one character. The only exception to this is Creator/DylanSaunders, whose only ''notable'' role to date is Tom, though he did play a few minor roles in Episode 2 of ''Nightmare Time''.

* ActingForTwo: Per the norm for Creator/TeamStarkid, nearly every single actor plays more than one character. The only exception to this is Creator/DylanSaunders, whose only ''notable'' role to date is Tom, though he did play a few walk-ons in Episode 2 of ''Nightmare Time''.

** Creator/LaurenLopez and Creator/JoeyRichter secretly dated for eight years before revealing themselves as engaged in mid-2020. They generally avoided being seen together in a romantic context to prevent suspicion, but still appeared as a few duos in Hatchetfield, namely Dan and Donna, and Jingle and Jangle. Opening up about their relationship shortly before ''WebVideo/NightmareTime'' allowed them to openly share a screen and snuggle each other during the readings, and living together allowed them to film the music video for "Peanuts!" in person.

* DevelopmentHell: ''Nerdy Prudes Must Die!'', which was conceived as the first ever Hatchetfield show -- the first script idea, anyway, to actually name "Hatchetfield, Michigan" as its setting -- has now been shelved for several years. Originally it was put on the back burner in favor of the later idea ''Theatre/TheGuyWhoDidntLikeMusicals'', which the Creator/LangBrothers felt was their strongest standalone concept for a musical, and then delayed again for in favor of ''Theatre/BlackFriday'', which had undergone a lot of CerebusSyndrome and felt like a better option for opening up Hatchetfield into a series. ''NPMD'' was meant to round out the "trilogy" of Hatchetfield stage shows but its pre-production was cut short by the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, and as the pandemic wore on through 2020 with no signs of stopping, the Creator/LangBrothers started work on ''WebVideo/NightmareTime'' instead and began cannibalizing ''NPMD'' plot points for ''Nightmare Time'' episodes. Unfortunately, Creator/NickLang has admitted that if too much time passes before ''NPMD'' can be mounted as a stage show, the whole concept may have to be scrapped, because too many of the ideas intended for it will have been used elsewhere, actors will have aged (it's a high-school-themed show) and the Hatchetfield timeline will no longer have a place for it. (See RealLifeWritesThePlot on the main page.)

** It was a near-universal {{Fanon}} assumption, once all five Lords in Black were revealed at the climax of the ''WebVideo/NightmareTime'' Season One finale "The Witch in the Web", that the one Lord in Black we know we haven't seen in any capacity yet -- Nibblenephim or "Nibbly" -- would be the BigBad of ''Nerdy Prudes Must Die!'' Nick ended up having to shoot this down, stating that Nibblenephim has no connection to ''NPMD'' at all -- and that ''NPMD'' in its initially planned form wasn't a "MythArc" show at all -- and Nibblenephim was conceived for a different Hatchetfield project that we may or may not see recycled as a ''Nightmare Time'' episode.

* ProductionPosse: The Hatchetfield series has settled into a stable creative roster since the success of ''Theatre/TheGuyWhoDidntLikeMusicals'', with the Creator/LangBrothers as writers, Nick Lang as director (after Matt Lang relocated with his girlfriend to Wichita, KS), Creator/JeffBlim as songwriter, Matt Dahan as arranger, musical director and bandleader, James Tolbert as choreographer, and a cast composed of the half of the original Creator/TeamStarkid who followed the Langs when they left Chicago for LA. They've also officially integrated longtime friends of Team Starkid Curt Mega and Kim Whalen into the troupe, as well as adding some brand new faces, Jon Matteson, Mariah Rose Faith, Angela Giarratana and Kendall Nicole Yakshe (three out of four of whom are younger women, to balance out Starkid being a [[ChromosomeCasting male-dominated]] clique of actors who were in college together in 2009).

* BigNameFan: [[https://youtube.fandom.com/wiki/Ranboo Ranboo]], a major figure in ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' Website/YouTube and a member of the LetsPlay/DreamSMP, is also a huge Creator/TeamStarkid fan who got into the fandom in the Hatchetfield era with ''Theatre/TheGuyWhoDidntLikeMusicals''. He's done stuff like sample the Prologue from ''Theatre/BlackFriday'' for his own videos, follows Jon Matteson (his personal favorite Starkid) as one of only seven followers on his alt Website/{{Twitch}} account, and as of March 19, 2021 gave ''TGWDLM'' a ''huge'' ColbertBump by streaming it to his fans.