Line #26 Theatre/Apocalyptour


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Apocalyptour_-_Prophecy_9137.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:The [=StarKids=] discover a mysterious stone tablet.]]
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4	->''"It appears to be a prophecy describing what the Mayans referred to as a troupe called '[[SdrawkcabName Dikrats]]', and how they bring about the end of the Earth..."''
5	-->--'''Jaime Lyn Beatty'''
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8	Apocalyptour is the second national tour of Creator/TeamStarKid, which is more story-driven than the SPACE Tour. The [=StarKids=], having given up singing and dancing, have turned to their true passion of archeological digs until they unwittingly unearth the Mayan God of Chaos and Death, Ma'au Guurit who is ready to bring about the 2012 apocalypse. Fortunately, Ma'au Guurit is also the Mayan God of Musical Theater and gives the [=StarKids=] a chance to save the world by putting on a concert.
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11	!!''Apocalytour'' provides examples of the following tropes:
12	* AdaptationalVillainy: This isn't Brian Holden's first time [[{{Theatre/Starship}} playing a villain]], but unlike the LaughablyEvil Junior, he manages to fill Tyler Brunsman's role as the [[Theatre/AVeryPotterSequel supervillainous Lucius Malfoy]] with aplomb.
13	* ADayInTheLimelight: As in the SPACE Tour, Darren Criss' absence means that his songs get split up between Brian Holden and Dylan Saunders, who up to this point had only played supporting roles in Starkid's full theatrical productions. (With Brian also replacing Tyler Brunsman as Lucius Malfoy, this is the highest percentage of onstage focus he's had in a Starkid production yet.) Arguably also this for Meredith Stepien, who gets an AwardBait solo number as Hermione in "The Coolest Girl in the World".
14	** Also one for WebVideo/LittleWhiteLie as a production, specifically playing Grant Anderson's comic compositions given to the other bands on the show ("Fancy Machine" and "Love Grenade").
15	* ApocalypseHow
16	* ArcWords: "Totally awesome!"
17	** After describing their current tour stop as "The Greatest City in the World!", Ma'au Gurrit then keeps describing every place she's planning to destroy as "The Greatest City in the World!"
18	* BambooTechnology: Parodied -- all of the instruments and sound equipment on stage are supposed to be ancient Mayan artifacts.
19	* BigNo: When Joe finds out that he won't be able to get his bubble tea from Japan anymore.
20	* BitingTheHandHumor: When Ma'au Gurrit asks the Starkids [[SelfDeprecation what crimes they committed to be condemned to be musical theatre performers]], Dylan Saunders says [[AllCrimesAreEqual he shoplifts from Whole Foods]], while Joey Richter adds that he's appeared on {{Series/Jessie}}.
21	* {{Bowdlerization}}: The version of "Me and My Dick" that opens the show hints that this concert will avoid swearing or overtly sexual themes, unlike the shows the songs come from. [[BaitAndSwitch This quickly proves false]].
22	* BreakingTheFourthWall: Ma'au Guurit materializes an audience. {{Lampshaded}} of course.
23	--> '''Brian H:''' There used to be a fourth wall there.
24	* TheCoverChangesTheMeaning: Several of the new song versions play with this, like "Guys Like Potter", which was very much PlayedForDrama in Theatre/AVeryPotterSequel, becoming a peppy, snarky number -- whereas by contrast all of the humor is removed from the Rogues Medley version of "It's Not Over Yet".
25	** In most of the concert versions of these songs, various comic or plot-related aspects of the song from the original musical have been dropped. (For instance, Lauren Lopez mostly drops her exaggerated Mexican accent from "Get Back Up".) YMMV if this makes these or the originals the preferred version.
26	* CurseCutShort: The opening number version of "Me and My Dick" repeatedly cuts off the title line before "dick" -- it's only completed when it unexpectedly [[BookEnds gets a reprise at the very end of the show]].
27	* DeadlyGame: In Ma'au Gurrit's time, musical theatre always ended with the audience choosing their least favorite performer to be gruesomely executed. This makes perfect sense to the Dikrats.
28	* EarlyBirdCameo: Meredith Stepien first replaced Bonnie Gruesen as Hermione in the previous year's SPACE Tour, and reprised that role here before officially becoming Hermione in Theatre/AVeryPotterSeniorYear.
29	* EmbarrassingNickname: Brian Holden gets called "B-Hole" to distinguish him from Brian Rosenthal, setting him up as a ButtMonkey for "Guys Like Potter".
30	* ExcusePlot: Obviously, but still a surprisingly coherent mini-narrative compared to the narrative-free SPACE Tour.
31	** Lampshaded, when Brian confidently declares that the dialogue they're exchanging right now is [[SelfDeprecation certainly worth $35 plus taxes and fees]].
32	* FunnyBackgroundEvent: During the opening number ("Me and My Dick"/"Ready to Go") Brian Rosenthal and Dylan Saunders' verse has the girls sit in a line with Meredith's stuffed chimp picking lice off each other's hair and eating it.
33	* HumanSacrifice: Joey Richter
34	* JarPotty: The opening number shows Joey Richter filling up a canteen with piss instead of water, then handing it to first Creator/JoeWalker, then Brian Holden to drink from, making them violently spit it out at the beginning of their verse of "Me and My Dick".
35	* LadyLooksLikeADude: Margaret, played by Jim Povolo, though it's not entirely clear if she actually is female or the Dikrats are just rolling with the name.
36	* MayanDoomsday: The whole inspiration for the theme of the tour -- which is ArtisticLicenseHistory. Includes the often-repeated misunderstanding that the date of the apocalypse was wrong because of "not accounting for leap years" as the reason Ma'au Gurrit mistimed the apocalypse.
37	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Releasing the Mayan God of Chaos and Death from reading an ancient tablet.
38	* PairTheSpares: PlayedForLaughs and lampshading the gender imbalance of the Apocalyptour cast, with five guys and three girls -- everyone else gets in a romantic mood after "The Way I Do" and pairs off to hook up backstage, leaving Joe Walker and Brian Rosenthal [[HoYay no choice but to sing a duet together]], [[Theatre/AVeryPotterMusical "Different As Can Be"]].
39	** A double example, since Dylan Saunders and Meredith Stepien played a couple in [[Theatre/{{Starship}} the show "The Way I Do" is from]] and Joey Richter and Jaime Lyn Beatty were the main couple in Theatre/MeAndMyDick, but pairing Brian Holden and Lauren Lopez is just an arbitrary way to get Joe Walker and Brian Rosenthal together.
40	* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: Throughout the show, Ma'au Gurrit is already steadily destroying the world, but since they're parts of the world the Dikrats don't live in, they're mostly worried about their favorite foods no longer being available (pastries from France, bubble tea from Japan).
41	* ShaggyDogStory: None of the Dikrats' efforts to appease Ma'au Gurrit work in the end, but it doesn't matter because Ma'au Gurrit has mistimed the date of the apocalypse anyway. (Of course, saving the world [[SpoofAesop turns out to be less important]] than PuttingTheBandBackTogether in the first place.)
42	* ShoutOut: Ma'au Gurrit's supervisor in the Mayan pantheon turns out to be [[Series/LegendsOfTheHiddenTemple Olmec]], of whom she's an {{Expy}} (at least vocally).
43	** The process of removing Joey's heart is a reference to TabletopGame/{{Operation}}.
44	* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Parodied. The Dikrats invite Ma'au Guurit to join their troupe as Jim Povolo's replacement since he's mysteriously gone missing since the beginning of this concert. (Because Ma'au Guurit is played by Jim.)
45	* TomTheDarkLord: Ma'au Guurit (Margaret) the Mayan God of Chaos and Death.
46	* VillainousBreakdown: The way this concert uses "Guys Like Potter" followed by "It's Not Over Yet" seems to imply the other Starkid men's bullying of Brian Holden has driven him to this.
47	* VillainSong: The Rogues Medley is a compilation of three of these ("It's Not Over Yet" from Theatre/AVeryPotterSequel, "Kick It Up A Notch" from {{Theatre/Starship}}, and "Rogues Are We" from Theatre/HolyMusicalBatman) and is one of the most popular songs from this concert. (In the context of the ExcusePlot, this is the Dikrats' HeWhoFightsMonsters moment.)
48	* YouHaveFailedMe: Ma'au Gurrit failing to start the apocalypse when she was supposed to led to the Mayan pantheon firing her and calling off the whole thing.
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Context Theatre / Apocalyptour