Mark Watches ‘A Very Potter Musical’: Thoughts

I’m not going to make this quite the extended review, like I usually do, because I’m not sure that I need to spend time recapping a three-and-a-half hour experience. It would sort of be like summarizing Harry Potter through another summary and none of us need that! OR DO WE.

Let me start off by saying that HOLY GOD, THAT WAS SO GOOD. I’m not sure I expected how this musical would work, but it was nice that it wasn’t just a direct adaptation from the books. Instead, the fact that this was picking-and-choosing the parts that would best fit the parody made it a whole lot stronger than it could have turned out. I will say that I expected there to be more songs than there were, but I don’t necessarily think that affected how I felt about the entire thing, though.

LIST TIME fuck yeah

Favorite Characters:

Draco Malfoy – LAUREN LOPEZ, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN MY WHOLE LIFE. Holy shit, I just want to be best friends with her and text her when I have a good meal or hear an awesome joke and shit. She was silly and physical and her sense of comedic timing was spot on. There wasn’t a scene she was in that she didn’t completely and utterly dominate. MAKE HER FAMOUS.

Harry Potter – I know Darren Criss has gotten a lot of attention for being cast on Glee, but the dude is talented. He wrote the music along with A.J. Holmes and there were a lot of twists on popular tropes within musical theater. (I’ll get to a few of those.) But he was one of the best, if not THE best, singer in the production. The dude has some pipes on him and I appreciated that.

Voldemort – How Joe Walker managed to keep up that voice for the entire musical is BEYOND me. The way Walker portrayed Voldy allowed for the exploration of the absurdity of his character in the novels. Not to get TOO serious about this, but there is a lot about Voldy that, upon close examination, doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense. I’m ok admitting that, especially as you take Voldemort out of the context of Rowling’s world. He’s just STRANGE.

SO. That being said….Voldemort probably had the best parody out of any character in the Harry Potter series. By adding the romance plot between him and Quirrell, it made him so much fuller than we could have imagined from a musical parody.

Wow, WHAT AM I DOING.

Snape – So Snape is always so creepy and evil-appearing in the books and Joe Moses instead chose to make him so very, very funny, both in his voice and his twisting facial expressions. And once he had a hook for a hand, it became the one thing to watch for during his scenes because it always seemed to creep far too close to someone’s face. Also…that wig. that wig.

Best Song:

Every single love song between Quirrell and Voldemort. Hands down. There’s no contest for me. Musically, the songs seem like traditional romantic duets, but here they are sung between a nervous, stammering professor who has another being living on the back of his head. It’s a beautiful thing, really.

Best Line:

“You’re acting like Garfield on a Monday.”

Flawless forever until the end of time.

I haven’t made concrete plans about when we will watch the sequel; I can’t next weekend because I’ll be busy with friends who are visiting from out of town. So which weekend after that would be best for you guys? I’d like to have the next liveblog much sooner rather than later, so I’m taking suggestions.

SO! Let us talk about this musical and flood the comments with GIFs!

About Mark Oshiro

Perpetually unprepared since '09.
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167 Responses to Mark Watches ‘A Very Potter Musical’: Thoughts

  1. elusivebreath says:

    I didn't watch the liveblog because when I tried to watch this before I was bored in minutes, but your review makes me think maybe I should try again?

    EDIT: Also, I am kind of sad to miss out watching it for the first time with you. WHAT WAS I THINKING?

    • Esther says:

      I hadn't been able to watch it on my own for just that reason, but the liveblog helped me along.

    • LaeniJ says:

      I watched it for the first time in full with a group of friends, and it was easier to take than when I tried by myself. It is still VERY LONG though, sigh, and yes…kind of boring, ngl.

      Apparently the sequel is meant to be a lot better though? They put a lot more thought and time into it – AVPM was made within two weeks.

  2. Katie says:

    AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
    I'm so glad that you loved it – but honestly, how could you not? AVPM kind of gets underestimated when you first hear about it because it sounds like it could be so wrong and terrible in so many ways BUT IT'S NOT. It's beautiful and poignant and hilarious in so many ways, though.

    tl;dr : AHHHHHHHHHHH can't wait for the sequel liveblog :3

  3. Lolua says:

    Saturday, January 29 or Sunday, January 30, then? 😀

    I'm really glad you liked AVPM, Mark.

  4. Kaci says:

    I wasn't around for the live blog, but can I just say HOW RELIEVED I am that you loved it? And I second nearly everything you said in this review.

  5. katherinemh says:

    <img src="http://i.imgur.com/t8DHS.gif&quot; alt="" title="Hosted by imgur.com" />

    <img src="http://i.imgur.com/2dXVJ.gif&quot; alt="" title="Hosted by imgur.com" />

    <img src="http://i.imgur.com/IdzNy.gif&quot; alt="" title="Hosted by imgur.com" />

    <img src="http://i.imgur.com/A2Sre.gif&quot; alt="" title="Hosted by imgur.com" />

    <img src="http://i.imgur.com/O8KJA.gif&quot; alt="" title="Hosted by imgur.com" />

  6. pennylane27 says:

    Mark, I just want to say that I had a totally awesome time, and whenever you decide to do AVPS I will cancel any plans I could have.

  7. Shanella says:

    I liked the musical well enough, I think I would have enjoyed it more if I wasn't watching it on my laptop and struggling to hear some of the words. Otherwise it was funny and I do wish I could see this in person.

  8. ShayzGirl says:

    Sundays work best for me, for weekends. At least now. I do AdSet so I'll be off work by noon my time (like today, I joined in around 12:30 which was 11:30 your time) Saturdays are tricky because I never known if I'll be working or not. And I try not to request days off unless necessary. I can't wait for you to do AVPS! XD

  9. sourgrapesnape says:

    YAY!!!! So glad you like it! Really though, who wouldn't?!

    Your favorite characters are everyone's favorite characters! But RON. He was AMAZING. He's my favorite. I wish I could say more but I have to go eat dinner actually so maybe I'll come back and comment later! 😀

    And I know this is sort of off topic but ohmygod I just watched the Golden Globes and Darren Criss was up on stage with the Glee cast. dsagtfweuhfvhkasg. He's so recognized now and I'm just so happy for him:') Woo StarKid recognition!

    • danielle kittens says:

      I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY HARRY POTTER WASN’T EVEN NOMINATED?!

      my friend told me it was because people think its on the same level as Twilight but I refuse to believe that! :(((((

      but everyone for glee looked so cute and were so happy for one another!

      • They're probably waiting for when Part 2 comes out before they begin the heavy duty nominating for it

      • Anonymous says:

        There's a prejudice against Harry Potter because of the early Chris Columbus movies. Hollywood just sees them as technically well-made family blockbuster movies that are too faithful to the source material and are only relevant and popular because they're made for Harry Potter fans, not because they're truly and artistically valuable. No one's really bothered to look closely at what people like Alfonso Cuaron or David Yates have been doing with them in order to make them stand on their own as movies, so they don't get consideration as artistic achievements. In that way, they are basically seen on the same level as Twilight or Transformers.

        Also, as far as the Golden Globes go, it's run by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association who only want to use the awards to raise their own profiles. The Harry Potter cast is famous, but they're not known for attending parties and awards shows, or splurging all of their fabulous wealth on luxury, so they don't bother considering the films.

  10. MissyMage says:

    It is one of the most amazing creations on earth.

    Okay, maybe that's saying a bit too much.

    But I love it. I want to meet and be best friends with the entire cast. That's how much I fell in love with it.

  11. Kaci says:

    I totally forgot to put this in my original comment, so…adding it here:

    You know that game on Whose Line is it Anyway? where they have to have an entire conversation using only song titles? I once made a new friend by doing that solely with quotes from AVPM/AVPS. It was AMAZING.

    • LunaKyria says:

      Hahah, I HAVE TOTALLY DONE THAT!! I was at a camp & a girl in my dorm room said to her friend "Did your turban just sneeze?", so I walked over and said "Did somebody say Draco Malfoy?". INSTANT BFFs for life XD
      Starkid is totally awesomely supermagefoxyawesomehot.

  12. Whitney says:

    Yay, I'm so glad you enjoyed it. :'D

    Make sure you reserve more time for AVPS because it's a lot longer than this one is lol.

  13. curiousGirl says:

    Haha. my favorite moment/song was Voldy tapdancing. hahha. Also- everytime Voldy comes out of "hiding" and he goes "NYAHAHAhaha.." OMG. So fun. I wanna watch it again now. 0_o

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  15. Openattheclose says:

    I didn't get to liveblog with you, but I am glad you loved it!
    <img src=http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_la34bbSo4I1qa5vnf.gif>

    Also, I've been wanting to post this pic for awhile, but I have been waiting for something Harry Potter related. This is what I got for Christmas, isn't it the best present ever?
    <img src=http://i55.tinypic.com/wt5zl2.jpg>

  16. lastyearswishes says:

    GIFS (I've never posted pictures here before so this'll be a test gif~):

    <img src="http://i52.tinypic.com/2itpwch.gif"&gt;

  17. Pseudonymph says:

    I'm kind of surprised to hear you say that Darren Criss had possibly the best voice of the cast. He definitely has a very good voice and I think he's great in this as a singer and as an actor. But I was much more impressed with Ginny's and Draco's respective singing abilities. I am by no means a music or voice expert, they just sounded like they had a little more range and control.

    Anyways! Glad you liked it. This must have been my fourth time watching it all the way through. I think I'll have to download the soundtrack soon.

    Oh, I forgot that Darren was actually sick during this so maybe I owe him a few more props.

    • SemiAnonymous says:

      I'm an actor who has mostly done musicals. Over the summers, I'm a music director for a performing arts camp. I teach vocal techniques.

      Darren Criss can hit notes, but he can't really sing. He's harsh and has little to no diaphragm or soft palette control. Even in the sequel, unless he was sick again, he was not a strong singer. There definitely WERE some strong singers in the cast, but honestly, Criss was one of the worst. His voice might work for some genres (and even then it needs much more refinement), but it does not belong on the stage.

      My two cents.

      • SemiAnonymous says:

        I forgot to say why I mentioned what I do. : /

        I wanted to say that maybe that's why I don't hear the "amazingness" other people hear. It might sound good to the layman, but to someone who's spent his life around people who actually can sing (correctly and well), it sounds like a wreck.

      • Nutty says:

        Yes, thank you! I thought I was the only one who thought Darren Criss was kind of good, but not as great as people make him out to be. I think Tyler Brunsman, on the other hand, is freaking legendary.

        • LunaKyria says:

          [SEMI-SPOILER FOR AVPS!!!]

          Tyler Brunsman – OMG LUCIUS IS A FRICKIN' BALLERINA. That is when I fell in love with that man. Ah-may-zing. The bit where he's all like "My name is Lucius Malfoy and we are the Death Eaters", the movement he does there? I watched that scene about 30 times over and over again until I could recreate it perfectly. And then taught all my friends to do it too 🙂
          lessthanthree for ever and ever and ever and ever

          • LOTRjunkie says:

            Haha, I saw this really late, but I have to add in- I agree with you so much because I actually am a dancer who performs with a select group that I had to audition for and I am actually trained in ballet. Which is why I appreciated Lucius so much, because HE ACTUALLY DOES STEPS CORRECTLY. IT IS A THING OF BEAUTY. That lift where the Death Eaters pick him up in the air by his arms outstretched to the sides so he can loom menacingly over I-forget-who? We've actually done that lift for dances before. That man is legit. XD

  18. lastyearswishes says:

    OH GOOD. MOAR GIFS:

    <img src="http://i53.tinypic.com/xdsghg.gif"&gt;
    <img src="http://i56.tinypic.com/2vt38yt.gif"&gt;
    <img src="http://i55.tinypic.com/2airk8n.gif"&gt;
    <img src="http://i52.tinypic.com/34zzn1x.gif"&gt;

    The only other ones I have are of AVPS so I'll save those for later~

  19. Araniapriime says:

    I thought the women who played Hermione and Ginny also had great singing voices. When Ginny belted out "Harry" I wanted to whoop and holler like the audience at a blues club. YOU GO, GINNY WEASLEY!

    • bookling says:

      Yeah, Jaime Lyn Beatty (Ginny) has such a BIG voice. I remember I was taken aback when I first heard her sing.

      • Araniapriime says:

        Especially since she was playing such a mousy little girl, and playing it so well! And all of a sudden WHAM there she is with THAT VOICE. It made me cheer!

        • ladysugarquill says:

          I missed the surprise because the first thing I saw of AVPM was the Harry song they'd posted on their facebook, back when it was called HP: The Musical.

          • bookling says:

            Aw, I remember that. And then everybody FREAKED THE FUCK OUT when Starkid had to take it down for a few days and re-name it because of copyright issues.

  20. xghostproof says:

    Oh man, I was planning on watching along with the liveblog, but after a failed all-nighter trying to keep a very large download going without my laptop restarting with updates, I honestly didn't pull myself out of bed until I saw a tweet on my phone about intermission.

    I'm really glad you liked it though! I think seeing this and the sequel has inspired me to take a couple theatre classes when I transfer to U of M (even if I'd be on a totally different campus than Starkid, it's nice to know that the school I've always wanted to go to can produce such complete awesomeness.)

  21. Araniapriime says:

    Please don't do the next liveblog next this upcoming weekend! I'm going to be away!

  22. rumbleroar19 says:

    I'm really looking forward to watching the sequel too. Any weekend is good for me. Late on Saturdays or anytime on Sundays would be awesome.

  23. stellaaaaakris says:

    I missed a liveblog again! I will find a way to be present for AVPS. It must happen.

    I love Quirrelmort. Quite possibly more than just about anything in the whole world. And I simply cannot take Quirrell as a villain seriously in the books anymore. Every time I read his stuff, it's always the guy going, "When I rule the world, I'll plant flowers…And Jane Austen novelllllllllllllllllllllllllllllsssss" and it kind of negates the evil.

    And Lauren Lopez is amazing and deserves all the high fives for figuring out that Draco really should be rolling around on the floor a lot. There's a video on youtube where Tom Felton finds out about AVPM and it's quite entertaining: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPpoz6EmDvA

    Also, yes, let's give Darren Criss his props. That guy is talented. He can write music, sing, act. I hate him. Just kidding! I think he's awesome and really miss his long hair. My favorite songs in AVPM are the ones he wrote (Goin' Back to Hogwarts and Granger Danger) and he writes all of them in AVPS.

    Speaking of AVPS…if you can't do it next weekend, you should do it the following Sunday! But it is longer, so set aside more time for awesomeness.

    • My favorite songs in AVPM are the ones he wrote (Goin' Back to Hogwarts and Granger Danger) and he writes all of them in AVPS.
      Oh, awesome! Those are my favorite songs too, along with "Voldemort Is Goin' Down." This makes me look forward to AVPS even more.

      • natalia says:

        "Voldemort is Going Down" is such a fantastic song. I love, love, love the ending, when Harry comes back and he's all "Guys, I'm alive!" and then they all sing. it's such a powerful scene and then the dancing and the wands and the akljasdjkh. I LOVE IT.

    • bookling says:

      Haha, Tom. "She?"

    • accio doublestuff says:

      one of my favorite draco lines EVER:

      "can't we just be death eaters?"

      those words + the way they are delivered = SO MUCH WIN

  24. Sarah says:

    Lololol omg wait
    Harry asks how’s LOST ends
    in a limbo-like place
    after he dies

    Just omg forever and ever
    HILARIOUS IN HINDSIGHT

  25. _LilyEvans_ says:

    I'm SO GLAD that you enjoyed it, Mark!
    I discovered it about a week after it was posted and I've been in love ever since.
    I was at Azkatraz in 2009 when they were there and I met a bunch of the cast and they are such lovely people. I've had contact with various members of Starkid several times since and it's always a pleasure.

    Quirrellmort is my OTP forever.

  26. lilyyy3 says:

    I was so relived to hear you liked Darren's voice. He (and the rest of the cast) were pretty sick for that taping and if you know to look, you can definitely tell. Any other live performance of his is a million times better, which is saying alot.

  27. Anonymous says:

    So excited you liked AVPM
    <img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t222/Celtic_Maiden/gifs/avpm-harryyeah.gif&quot; border="0" alt="avpm – harry yeah. Pictures, Images and Photos"/>

    Lauren Lopez is totally awesome and pretty much the best thing ever
    <img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t222/Celtic_Maiden/gifs/avpm-malfoywassupppp.gif&quot; border="0" alt="avpm – malfoy wassuppp. Pictures, Images and Photos"/>
    <img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t222/Celtic_Maiden/gifs/avpm-malfoyslidingacrossdesk.gif&quot; border="0" alt="avpm – malfoy sliding across desk. Pictures, Images and Photos"/>

    Also, Snape is amazing and absurd
    <img src="http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t222/Celtic_Maiden/gifs/avpm-snapewhatthedevilisgoingonhere.gif&quot; border="0" alt="avpm – snape what the devil is going on here. Pictures, Images and Photos"/>

    Plus, I love how AVPM! Ron is even better than Movie!Ron
    <img src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a141/vallieresk/gifs/AVPMRonSad.gif&quot; border="0" alt="AVPM Ron Sad Pictures, Images and Photos"/>
    I really need a chocolate bar like that 🙂

  28. LoonyLu says:

    I couldn't pick my favorite quote so…
    <img src="http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l548/Magic-AlwaysLeavesTraces/Edits/Totally_Awesome___AVPM_by_samjhaines.jpg&quot; border="0" alt="A very potter musical qoutes Pictures, Images and Photos"/>

    Also
    <img src="http://i969.photobucket.com/albums/ae179/samasylvestri/Fandom%20Secrets/A%20Very%20Potter%20Musical/fandomsecretcrushonlauren.jpg&quot; border="0" alt="Lauren Lopez Love. Pictures, Images and Photos"/>

    And finally awesome Snape gif is awesome
    <img src="http://i926.photobucket.com/albums/ad109/haaveet/tumblr_lejbgoj1NM1qzvb8z.gif&quot; border="0" alt="snape Pictures, Images and Photos"/>

  29. Bellamort1988 says:

    I can't express how utterly relieved and excited I am that you liked AVPM. It tends to be hit-or-miss when I show it to people, and I think I might have been heartbroken if you hadn't liked it. I love Voldemort more than I love all other things, and the rest of the cast is close behind him. I can't wait for you to see the sequel (I prefer it over AVPM, but I might be biased). If next weekend doesn't work, then please have it the weekend after. If we had to wait until February I would be crushed.

  30. bell_erin_a says:

    Glee was mentioned and it's AVPM so it's totally on topic, you guys.

    <img src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lbr3gugGkV1qbv3kqo1_400.gif"&gt;

    This makes me snicker every time I see it, lol.

  31. I will say that I expected there to be more songs than there were
    When the first song lasted so long, I, too, thought there would be a lot more songs, but the dialogue and acting were so hilarious throughout that I didn't mind.

    LAUREN LOPEZ, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN MY WHOLE LIFE.
    FOR REALS.

    How Joe Walker managed to keep up that voice for the entire musical is BEYOND me.
    I know! And SING in it!

    Wow, WHAT AM I DOING.
    Reading way too much into a parody! …Awesomely.

    “You’re acting like Garfield on a Monday.”

    Flawless forever until the end of time.
    I am pretty fond of "Or I would blast it into space with a monkey who knew nothing about Horcruxes." But there are many contenders! "I'm tired; can't we just be Death Eaters?" seems very versatile, for instance.

    So far my Sundays seem to be free, and I, too, would rather do AVPS sooner than later, although I'm kind of glad we can't do it next weekend because I want to have some time to be obsessed with just AVPM for a while. Give it its due and all.

  32. adev0tchka says:

    First, a couple of things:
    1. I loved all the subtle jokes interwoven throughout. It's just brilliant. I still can't wrap my head around how a bunch of college kids put this masterpiece together. The "Goyle Rules" parts cracked me up. Billy Madison has always been my favorite Adam Sandler movie, and I'm glad it got props here.
    2. Lauren Lopez is my favorite forever and ever. Pigfarts and Rumbleroar. Tee hee. 🙂
    3. I am super excite that now we can quote the musical and you will actually get it. That is a beautiful thing.

    I hope you don't do AVPS until Feb, because I'm going on vacation at the end of this month and I'd hate to miss it! Basically, I'm a selfish, jealous person who can't bear the thought of you guys all having tons of fun without me.

    Also…if you liked Joe Walker as Voldy, get ready for him as Umbridge!
    <img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l67cvld2Ml1qakeqa.gif"&gt;

  33. Alexis says:

    I always crack up at Hermione's line, "I used to think that looks weren't important, now I think they're more important than anything!"

  34. klmnumbers says:

    Hufflepuff's are particularly good finders!

    WHAT THE HELL IS A HUFFLEPUFF?

    Oh, Cedric.

  35. celinagabrielle says:

    NO. NO I WAS WATCHING THE GOLDEN GLOBES DAMNIT.

    omg I am so glad you watched this finally. FINALLY. <3

  36. Fangirl1983 says:

    I also am relieved that you enjoyed AVPM! I saw it before they edited it, so I've been a Starkid since the very beginning. I'm thrilled you'll be doing AVPS, and I think that if you like that one as well, you should watch "Me and My Dick." I was apprehensive about that production just from the title, but I found that I enjoyed it much more than I expected. I am curious as to how you felt about Joey Richter as Ron. Also, if you could get Lauren Lopez to follow you on Twitter, you could let her know whenever you had a good meal or heard a funny joke. 🙂

    • ]moonshoespotter says:

      ohhhh my god im so glad im not the only one who saw it before they edited it. my friend saved the whole original version and put it on a dvd. it makes me so happy. me and my dick was certainly amusing, but i wasnt in love with it like i am with the others

      • queensthief says:

        What was it they cut out? It doesn't strike me as missing much (you can tell one moment between Hermione and Dumbledore), and I can understand why they'd want to make it PG. I'm just… curious!

  37. Caraaaa says:

    AVPS IS EVEN BETTER.

    And "You are acting like Garfield on a Monday" has to be the best line, hands down.
    <img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lf5pj2JY8n1qb7nx5.gif"&gt;

    • Danielle says:

      "AVPS IS EVEN BETTER."

      This is true. The third one's probably going to be so awesome as to break the universe.

  38. Cathy (catd94) says:

    I'm so glad you finally watched AVPM. I'm also very happy to see you enjoyed it(:

  39. MowerOfLorn says:

    Yay! I wish I hadn't missed the liveblog, but seriously, I'm so glad you liked it!

    Now, my sister and I are both big HP fans, but she's definitely waaaay more into the musical to me, probably because she herself wants to go into musical theatre. In fact, this summer, she attended a camp to improve her theatre arts. She had a music teacher there, who she just couldn't help but feel that she'd seen somewhere before…. Eventually, my sister went out and asked- What shows had she been in? The teacher gave a call of a few normal shows, but "also this one on the internet, its not very famous, you've probably not heard of it."

    "…is it a Harry Potter Musical?"

    And oh, yes. It was. Turns out her teacher was Jamie Lyn Beatty! To say that my sister had a fan attack is probably putting it too mildly.

  40. HieronymusGrbrd says:

    I will probably have to rewatch it several times, to really get it, foreign language and all –
    But you all were right, it's awesome!

  41. Eefje says:

    I absolutely adore Snape in AVPM. I have 'what the devil is going onnn heeere?' as my ringtone :']

  42. Anseflans says:

    Ahh, this is probably the most fun I´ve ever had in a liveblog! And that´s mostly thanks to THIS AMAZING SITE. I mean, before, after some 10 minutes, Buzznet would just kind of die for me and my computer would get wayy slow, but this site performed perfectly! And I think I commented about 80 times… *ehem*…yeah…*ehem*

    For AVPS I vote for Sundays, because I'll be busy the next two Saturdays, and I DON'T want to miss this!! The time was quite perfect for me, so that's all good.

    CAN'T WAIT.

  43. Jane says:

    I AM SO HAPPY YOU LIKED IT.

    My favorite part is absolutely Voldemort/Quirrell.
    "I watch you wipe your butt daily. You can call me Voldemort, we're there."
    "No, no, you have to roll over, I can't sleep on my tummy."
    "Maybe we could go roller-skating on Saturday."
    "How do I explain this? It's like that movie She's All That. Remember, we watched that together?"

    OH GOD I could go on and on!

  44. elyce says:

    yay mark! I knew you would love it! I do love all the characters you mention, but how could you forget Ron?! He's such an asshole douche but so totally loveable at the same time!

    AVPM also does something incredible for me… it makes me like Ginny. I honestly didn't think it was possible, but there you go ;D

    My favorite songs are Going Back to Hogwarts, Granger Danger, Voldemort is Going Down… okay, all of them. Why choose!

    And I have to disagree about Darren being the best singer. He's good, yes, but I think there are better: Brian Rosenthal (Quirrel), and Tyler (Cedric). I suppose they're both more operatic singers, but they have the best pitch and tone.

    And my favorite line has got to be, "Hufflepuffs are particularly good finders!"

    When I stalked the HPDH red carpet, I met a guy and we sang almost the entire soundtrack to AVPM while sitting out in the cold all night. 😀 it was totally awesome.

    Apparently all my gifs are from AVPS, so I shall hold off until then!

    • elyce says:

      oh, and I'd like to add about when to watch the sequel… if not next weekend, please NOT the weekend after since I won't be home! :[ I'll be in Germany. So maybe the week after that?

  45. psycicflower says:

    Next chance I get I'm going to go through this post and the live blog and save all of the gifs.

    I wasn't sure if I was going to like AVPM. Because it's a bit of a meme for HP fans so I was worried that that was the main reason it was popular and that it might not be that good. I'm glad that wasn't the case. I really enjoyed it.

    Quirrell and Voldemort kind of stole the show for me though. They just make me
    <img src="http://i56.tinypic.com/2ni3aqu.jpg&quot; border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
    I'm very tempted to go download their songs.

    I'm not too bothered by when the next live blog is but I think the timing of this one was good, for me at least, since it started at 7pm and ended just before 11pm.

  46. natalia says:

    YAAAAYYY!!!! i KNEW you'd like it.

    I couldn't figure out the time for the liveblog or the place (was it here through comments? Is that how it works, this liveblog thing?), so I checked this post as soon as I got up! So excited to see you now understand the brilliance that is Starkid and LAUREN LOPEZ. She's my favorite. Her Draco is simply flawless. (Although, now that I've watched the musical about 58 times, no exaggeration, I do love this Harry a LOT. He's such an ass, I kind of adore him).

    And hey, any longer review of this thing from you is fine by me! Really. Tell us the exact moment you thought "wow, this is totally awesome".

  47. Yusra says:

    weekend after next would be PERFECT. Specifically SUNDAY.
    Oh how I love the beginnings of semesters.

    [and it doesn't even matter that I haven't been able to watch AVPM because of the stupidmathsexam because, well, poo.]

  48. jpe228 says:

    So now I feel like a douche because I found out that you were doing this two days ago and I have a copy of a dvdrip of this that you could have watched rather than the Youtube videos. (Although it seems to have worked out for the best, as I was able to do laundry and go to the bathroom during the liveblog, which can't happen if you're not taking breaks so whatev *happy dance*)

    • ohyoda says:

      Oh man, how did you get your hands on a DVDrip! Would you mind uploading that?

      • jpe228 says:

        I found it when I searched "avpm"… somewhere. It was a torrent, but I think it's a gray area as to whether it's illegal or not (it's available free through Youtube, and they're not allowed to make money off it, so I'm not sure downloading it damages anything).

        Anyway, the link to download is http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/5041007/A_Very_Po
        It is a DVD image so you either have to mount it on a imaginary drive, or burn it to a DVD and then play it. I use Daemon so I don't have to do anything else.

  49. cait0716 says:

    This musical caused me to replace "Jesus tap-dancing Christ" with "Holy tap-dancing Voldemort" in my vocabulary. Because Voldemort tap dances! And that's enough to make me love just about anyone.

  50. StarGirlAlice says:

    Oh My Wizard God. YAY. Ok, I'm going to try and make this make sense. I can't get over how amazing AVPM is. It's utter genius. Personally, my favourite songs are Not Alone (Darren Criss does a version of this on his EP Human, and it is AMAZEBALLS), Granger Danger and Get Back to Hogwarts (it is a work of genius). Everything about the entire musical makes me smile like an idiot. I have to say that my favourite characters are Ron (I love Ron in the books and films as well), Snape and Malfoy. I want to be Joe Moses friend (on that note, Mark, YOU HAVE to check out Potion Master's Corner on Joe Moses' Youtube Channel, it was filmed during AVPS rehearsals and is magical.)
    The best line for me- "What the hell is a Hufflepuff?" "Hufflepuff's are particularly good finders" BRILLIANT.
    Anything involving Snape is my favourite part of the musical. And Joe Walker=YUM.
    All in all, some seriously amazingness went on in AVPM and I bloody love it.

  51. bookling says:

    <img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_3lVOb8wvDlE/TKAzeDNZoiI/AAAAAAAAAVA/Nsx_r67jaUI/avpm_obscure.gif"&gt;

    Lauren Lopez approves.

    Darren Criss is AMAZING, and I'm so glad he's having success on Glee. I know you don't watch the show anymore, Mark, but have you heard any of his songs from the show? He's SO GOOD. Plus, there's nothing like hearing "Baby It's Cold Outside" sung by two guys.

    Anyways, I'm so glad you loved AVPM and now you will understand all the gifs and the jokes!

    • Cally_Black says:

      Oh gosh, I listened to and watched their version of Baby, It's Cold Outside on infinite loop.
      <img src=http://www.gifsoup.com/view4/1460942/blaine-and-kurt-glee-o.gif>
      <img src=http://www.gifsoup.com/view4/1450731/kurt-and-blaine-o.gif>

    • Roonil Wazlib says:

      I absolutely LOVE the version of Baby It's Cold Outside by Darren and Chris Colfer. Their voices song amazing together.

      • SlumberingCub says:

        When I was driving home for the holidays, that version came on the radio. I have never had such an intense fangirl moment in my life. lol.

  52. Elise says:

    Jamie Lynn Beatty –I also love that short on youtube where she is snow white

    Julia Albain as Crabbe –I'm pretty sure I read or heard somewhere that the original crabbe dropped out or couldn't be there so she stepped in a couple days before the show. That's why she had so few roles.

    Lily Marks –she is also really funny in MAMD

    AJ Holmes –I watched that clone series too! But I can't find it again. It was hilarious though and there were some super impressive fight scenes.

  53. Elise says:

    I'm soooooo happy that people liked AVPM! The HP fandom continues to impress me in all ways.

    I don't think anyone has mentioned Little White Lie yet… Obvs you should all watch Me and My Dick and the Potter Sequel, but while we're all waiting for Starship enjoy the older starkid production, Little White Lie.

    On the Starkidpotter youtube, click on "Uploads" next to the subscribe button then scroll down until you see Little White Lie. Some of the songs are soooo catchy that they are still stuck in my head.

  54. momigrator says:

    I didn't get to watch with you, but I did watch it yesterday morning and last night, can't wait to go through those comments.

    Things I liked:
    I loved, loved, loved the Quirrel/Voldy bromance. I was beaming ever time I saw a scene between them. -sigh-
    I loved that Ron was eating in every scene.
    Draco slinking around and rolling about- HILARIOUS, as well as the Hermione crush.
    Dumbledore insulting Hermione, as well as everytime they said, "Thanks, Hermione."
    "Oh Goyle Rules!" Lolololol.

    Also, I had no idea there was another one. (How the hell did I miss that after reading so many comments from MRHP?), but when I found out I was like, "EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" -dance-

    Also, did anyone else feel gross with the Hermione and Ron kiss?

    • para says:

      Yepp, I did. I think it was pretty much the only scene that made me go 🙁 There is a fine line between poking fun at Ron's borderline mysoginistic attitudes and writing a scene that is just mysoginistic, and the kiss scene was too near the latter for my liking.

  55. Cally_Black says:

    Since all the AVPM GIFs I have have already been used, I'm just going to post some Darren Criss GIFs. Anybody object?

    <img src=http://i51.tinypic.com/2cijsjn.gif>
    <img src=http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lbneeyXD2b1qax1hd.gif>
    <img src=http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lbnecn6ZIi1qax1hd.gif>
    <img src=http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lbnecxCDAJ1qax1hd.gif>
    <img src=http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lbneddYMWr1qax1hd.gif>
    <img src=http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lbnedwDMz01qax1hd.gif>
    <img src=http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lbnemxeUsr1qax1hd.gif>

    Ok, last one!
    <img src=http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lerftbwdRq1qevoic.gif>

    WAIT! I found one that hasn't been used!
    <img src=http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lezmyuQoZZ1qb8p29o1_500.gif>

    Also, Darren Criss is the best thing to ever happen to Glee. Blaine, Kurt, and those crazy Windsor boys are going to take over and dominate!
    <img src=http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lf5fmuqljM1qcyrf1.gif>
    Just Deal With It Glee!

  56. Hey, click the up arrow if you have a girl crush on the absuuuuurdly awesome Lauren Lopez! 😀

  57. Hermione_Danger says:

    Malfoy was amazing, but Goyle just stole my heart.

    PRESENT YOUR ARM, NERD.

  58. zuzu says:

    One thing I really want to know is who Goyle was going to give the wreath to after he took it from Schlongbottom.

    My theory is that he was also in danger of falling in love with Hermione Granger, mainly because of his disbelief of being beaten by a nerd . . . that is a girl.

  59. accio doublestuff says:

    I’m not going to make this quite the extended review, like I usually do, because I’m not sure that I need to spend time recapping a three-and-a-half hour experience. It would sort of be like summarizing Harry Potter through another summary and none of us need that! OR DO WE.

    WE DO MARK. at least I do. I CANNOT BELIEVE I MISSED THE LIVEBLOG HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE. damn me for not watching Dr. Who and thus not checking Mark Watches every day the same way I check Mark Reads. I have literally been waiting for this moment since Mark Reads Harry Potter chapter 2 of sorcerer's stone. I can only say that my soul is bursting with joy because more people have now watched AVPM.

    Oh well. I am now prepared (AM I?) for AVPS liveblog. although it's not nearly as good (in my opinion). but what sequel ever is (besides possibly shrek 2 and movies that are supposed to be trilogies/etc such as LOTR).

  60. Narcissaa says:

    Your comment must be approved by the site admins before it will appear publicly.

    Oh? Is this because there was so much HTML or is it a new thing for all comments?

    • xpanasonicyouthx says:

      I have them automatically set to me moderated if it has more than 5 links, since they tend to be spam. 🙂

      I have approved it, though!

  61. puffleprophet says:

    AS long as it's not next weekend or the 12th/13th I will be there 😀
    Now I'm just gonna go on a gif stealin' spree…

  62. EmmylovesWho says:

    I am so glad you loved it! Totally awesome!
    *unoriginal comment is unoriginal*

  63. Silverilly says:

    I missed the liveblog because I was actually seeing Joseph at the time (which, YAY FOR MUSICALS AT LEAST???), and I came back about the time you guys were starting Act II. Why didn't I just pop in at that time?
    Well . . .
    I'd never seen it before.
    I KNOW. FOR SHAME. I just never had the time, so I was going to watch it with YOU, but then I was seeing Joseph . . .
    Anyway, when I came back I decided to watch it myself. Fucking awesome. I loved all the interaction with the band and the whole YOU'RE SUCH A SPARE, CEDRIC awesomeness. Just. Love.

  64. Ron eating something in every scene was my favorite ever. THE GIANT HERSHEY BAR, OMG.

    I was a little "eh" about it when it first started, but I got sucked in pretty quickly. There's just too much to even talk about. It was hilarious.

  65. Lumosnox says:

    Mark, you really should see at least part of Little White Lie for Lauren Lopez's INCREDIBLE performance as Tanya Freemont. It's pretty mindblowing to see her playing a girl, and a bitchy queen bee girl at that. AND YET SHE TAKES TANYA AND MAKES HER THE MOST COMPELLING, SYMPATHETIC CHARACTER IN THE WHOLE THING.

  66. fnoodles says:

    oh. I missed this. *sadface*

  67. canyonoflight says:

    Mark! This was linked in a comment thread during the watch yesterday, but did you watch Darren performing "Not Alone" at an event for The Trevor Project? http://youtu.be/q_SGA46QxP4 The choir is a little loud, but other than that it's perfect.

    P.S. You should watch Me and My Dick by StarKid at some point. It's…interesting. Also, they have a web series called Little White Lie that's entertaining.

  68. paulineparadise says:

    A Very Potter Musical, A Very Potter Sequel and all the Harry Potter movies and books make me so happy. Even when I see one line, or something that can reference to it, I get all happy and sunshine and rainbows inside.

  69. Kate says:

    I dont know about any1 else but I liked the sequel better than the first

  70. Roonil Wazlib says:

    If you like Joe Moses as Snape, you have to watch the Potion Master corner series on youtube!!

    If you like Lauren Lopez, you should watch Little White Lie (A miniseries on youtube by starkid)

    If you like Darren Criss' voice, check out his live performances on youtube, or his EP Human on iTunes.

    ALSO: all the starkid music is available here: http://teamstarkid.bandcamp.com/

    • kickyc says:

      I think a comment on Little White Lie sums up my most pressing question right now:
      "Woah, woah, woah. Wait up. Draco's dating Harry?"

  71. Jaylo says:

    OMG AVPS IS SOO SO SO SO SO FUN!!!!!
    But the thing is, at first I didn't like it that much, but now it's like my favorite of the two. It's pacing is just so much better, and lots of their comedic characters are much more lively and get a lot more jokes, like BRIAN HOLDEN ANYBODY?!?!?!?!?!
    So yeah, just don't raise your expectations too too high because they always get crushed, but I seriously love AVPS more than AVPM now, it just took a little while to grow on me 😉

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  73. Tamy says:

    Mark you MUST watch AVPS soon!! And I'm glad you liked AVPM; my favorites are Draco, Ron, Snape, Cedric (find!) and Voldy, of course. Well, actually I loved the whole casting xD

  74. Lady X says:

    Im just gonna chip in my 2 cents, and say First : omg excite!
    Second: Dumbledore gay? *bow,Starkid,bow
    Third; Even tho i really enjoy AVPM, AVPS IS MY FAVE ( only person to ever say that imma just sayin)

  75. SymphonyOfRain says:

    For the release of DHP2, my friends and I are going as characters in AVPM from our houses: Alicia is Malloy… er, Malfoy, Amanda is Cedri- FIND! and I'm Cho Chang, y'all. My goal is to go around quoting AVPM and AVPS. We're all going to memorize the lines from our characters (which, admittedly, isn't much for Amanda and I), and I think Alicia's going to memorize her choreography for some of Malfoy's best scenes. One of the ones is from the sequel. The other? The sence where Malfoy tells the trio about Pigfarts.

    "Konichiwa, Cho Chang! It is good to meet you. I am Ginny Weasley." "BITCH I AIN'T CHO CHANG!" "That's LAVENDER BROWN!" *dope slap* "RACIST SISTER!"

    We're going to try and get as many people in as possible, and sing AVPM 😀

    Anyway, about AVPM itself… Danger Granger, Not Alone, and Voldemort is Going Down are some of my favorite songs, Quirrelmort has possibly ruined my life, because I cannot take them seriously anymore. But I still love them very much xD I can't wait until you watch AVPS. And, of course, Lauren. Everyone loves Lauren.

  76. Medical Jobs says:

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  77. jonbademian says:

    I AGREE WITH YOU ABOUT LAUREN LOPEZ! I want to be bff's with her real bad. haha

  78. shortstack930 says:

    Wasn't able to do the liveblog but I finally got around to watching it on my own and it was AWESOME! I don't know who was better: Draco Malfoy or Voldemort. They were both hysterical and I love the way they performed the roles. Can't wait to watch AVPS!!

  79. Emily says:

    In addition to a liveblog for the sequel would you consider doing one for Starkid's newest musical Starship?

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  82. Brenda says:

    Hi Mark, this is Brenda. Currently trying to liveblog with you for the Sequel but for the past 57 minutes it keeps saying there's an error, and Ibelieve all the endless commenting and fun have denied me entrance of the site. I only arrived 2 minutes late and now I can't partake in the activities, because the website will not let me be part of it. It's really sad as I actually skipped out on a funeral thingy just for this liveblog. Please please please find a way to allow more users to go on as I know I'm not the only person with this problem. Thanks if you read this. If not, well it's not a huge thing. I guess.
    Good luck ,

  83. dobbyssecondlovechild says:

    I’m English, and the for the first scene the American accents just seemed SO wrong, but literally 24 hours after finding it I’d watched it twice and shown 3 friends!

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