Some make you happy! Some make you sad! Some are quite big! Some are quite small! Some are too long— some are just plays with song! And they’re— all— called— MUSICALS! And CJ Productions (a relatively new and upcoming small professional theatre company based in the Baltimore area) is producing The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals. Direct from Team StarKid, this 2018 viral sensation of a musical is making its Charm City debut under the Direction of Sammy Jungwirth (the J in CJ Productions) with area musical director Charlotte Evans at his side. Sitting down for a few moments with Sammy, we’ve had the pleasure to chit-chat about the show and what people might expect when they come out to see it!

Thanks for finding time for us in your busy schedule; I’m excited about this one— like so many of the projects you seem to get involved with, this is not one I’ve seen or really even heard of! But let’s back it up for our readers— this the first or second full-length licensed stage musical that CJ Productions is doing?

Sammy Jungwirth: We did The Last Five Years, which is full-length though it runs without an intermission. So this is our second. And it’s called The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals.

And where did we find this The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals?

Sammy: It’s from Team Starkid, who also did Twisted and Trail to Oregon.

Gotcha. And you’re a Team Starkid fan? Or how did this one fall into your lap?

Sammy: This is their most popular show. And it’s not even their newest. And of their shows, until this one became available, the only two that were open for licensing were Twisted and Trail To Oregon. This came out in 2018. And it was the first part of their Hatchetfield series. When this show hit, they stopped doing the parodies and the Disney-spoofs and that kind of thing. They created their own mini universe. The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals became so popular that their next two full-length shows were sequels to that. They did Black Friday and Nerdy Prudes Must Die, both of them are direct sequels to The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals.

That’s pretty wild. Now if this one turns out to be a success for CJ Productions, will you contemplate producing the two sequels?

Sammy: Probably not. I thought about it. But I don’t think I want to have CJ Productions to just be a Starkid retool-company.

Perfectly understandable. Now, you’re doing The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals at the new home of CJ Productions? Tell us a little bit about that.

Sammy: Yes. We struck a deal with Notre Dame on Charles Street. They were looking for a theatre to be in residence and I know that another company was there for a hot second a few years ago, but they were still looking and we were looking for a space to do this show. Xander (Alexander Conte, the ‘C’ of CJ Productions) and I reached out and we were able to strike a deal with the rental costs and all of that. That’s kind of our new home base. I’m not going to say we’re totally in residence there because our very next production after The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals actually isn’t going to be there. But I am going to call it our home base for now.

Is it a larger space? Large scale space? How would it compare to someplace like where you did your last production?

Sammy: It is pretty large scale, actually. It’s not quite as big as Reach, which was the auditorium where we did The Last Five Years but it holds about 600. And the stage is a decent size.

So in terms of a place you’ve very recently worked— by comparison to the venues in Havre de Grace— it’s not quite The STAR Centre but it’s easily triple the Opera House.

Sammy: Exactly.

Now you’re directing this, as well as designing the set and the lighting, so how does this particular project compare to projects you may have worked on recently?

Sammy: As far as directing and producing goes, it’s definitely the largest project that I’ve ever tackled in that. Xander and I still don’t like to do shows with too big of a cast. This is the largest show we’ve done so far, in terms of cast size, and it’s still only eight people. There’s also a large creative team, filled with a lot of the same designers who I worked with during Cockpit in Court’s production of Cats this past summer. This show requires a lot of special effects and makeup.

That sounds fun. Who is doing your makeup?

Sammy: Tigga’s doing the makeup. (Area makeup artist and performer Tigga Smaller.) As soon as we got the ball rolling for this project, I had reached out and asked her.

She is a fascinating makeup artist and I very much enjoy her work. And I think she’s a brilliant addition to any team. So you have Tigga on makeup, you and set and lights, you mentioned special effects— who else is on your creative team?

Sammy: Tiffany Zellner is doing our costumes. She’s a former CPM kid. And she had just helped out with wigs during Cats this summer and that’s why I’d asked her to come on board for this. It’s a lot of different groups of people, which I think is the most fascinating part. We’re trying to create our own little community full of people from here and there. Our Stage Manager, this is actually her first show as a stage manager. Her name is Marina Fazio and she’s a good friend of Xander’s. She’s kind of newish to theatre as well. She’s so organized and has the qualities that a stage manager really needs.

Excellent. A good stage manager can really make all the difference to a show. Now who’s your music director?

Sammy: Charlotte Evans. She’s great!

We all know Charlotte! And another one that I think is a really strong addition to your creative team. Now is this a dancing show at all?

Sammy: There is dancing. A good amount. I wouldn’t say it’s 42^nd Street level but we have Rikki Lacewell doing the choreography. It’s very kind of goofy, fits in with the vibe of parodying other musicals, sort of like Something Rotten. And she’s had a lot of fun with that. And did I mention we’ll have a live band for the show?

That’s amazing. Who’s your pit conductor?

Sammy: Charlotte will be conducting. Lisa Wood is playing drums. Greg Bell on bass and I’m not sure of the names of the other members yet, we’re still working out those details.

That’s perfect. I’m just excited you have a live band! Can you give us a non-spoiler synopsis of this show for people, like myself, who are unfamiliar with it?

Sammy: That’s kind of the fun of it, isn’t it? Going in totally blind to something new? But the show is about a guy named Paul who as the title suggest, doesn’t like musicals. The show opens on kind of a mundane office where Paul is working his 9 to 5 job and we meet the eight different characters of Hatchetfield, which is a small town. One day, this meteor hits. And the next day, any time that Paul goes outside or out in public, everything is just a flashmob of people singing and dancing. And the only people who don’t seem to be affected are some of the people in his office. He comes in and slowly discovers that something with this meteor has made the world a musical. The rest of the show is him, his friends, and his love interest trying to dodge these musical people. It’s very chaotic. Lots of special effects and blood and gore.

This makes it sound perfect for Halloween, which is totally why you’re opening on November 1^st, right?

Sammy: I would definitely call it a Halloween musical. Too bad Halloween isn’t on a Friday this year!

Perfect. Now who all is in your cast? I know I saw the name Julia Williams floating around, and also J Purnell Hargrove.

Sammy: Yes to both of those. Now, J …this might be a bold statement, but it might be their best performance yet. This role really fits them and they’re super excited to show that off. And the wig that will be appearing.

Oh my!

Sammy: Oh my indeed, you just wait and see.

Fantastic. So J…and who else?

Sammy: Eric Bray, who plays Paul. I won’t give away any spoilers but he also steals the show. It’s going to be great. Then we have Serenity Mariana, who is actually a former Cockpit in Court Jesters kid and a CPM (Children’s Playhouse of Maryland) kid and she is actually performing in this show while attending NYU. So she’s living in New York right now and she has been coming back and forth for rehearsals. That’s a testament to how much some people love this show. She was willing to make the commute, we worked out a deal with her schedule, and we’re thrilled to have her. We also have Xander (Alexander Conte) in it. It’s interesting because the role that Xander is playing, in the original— that guy also wrote the music and lyrics for the show. We’re slowly starting to notice that Xander has the most songs and we figured out it was because the actor was writing for himself. But it works. And then we have Kristen Stickley who is new to us. I believe she’s performed at Iron Crow Theatre before and some other professional theatres. And then we have Adam Biemiller who is also hilarious. Who else am I missing?

Julia. You’re missing Julia.

Sammy: Oh yeah, Julia Williams. She’s also our dance captain. And she’s affiliated with a lot of CJ Productions stuff just because she’s so talented and she’s a good friend of ours. But we’re still missing— oh yeah— Derek Cooper. He’s fantastic. He plays the dad-like character who is just trying to keep everyone sane throughout all this crazy madness.

Other than the fact that it’s a newish show, or at least it hasn’t been done to death or done at all, in this area, why should people come out and see The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals?

Sammy: There are certain shows that I come across that I just feel like people have to see. Another example of that was when I first saw Disaster: The Musical on Broadway. The first thing I did was talk to James (Artistic Director James Hunnicutt) and told him Cockpit needs to do that show.

I recall that well. It happened and Seth Rudetsky showed up to Cockpit in Court for the opening weekend Sunday matinee! That was pretty wild.

Sammy: But that show— I said “James, we need to do Disaster.” And people loved it and now a bunch of people do it every summer.

It’s actually on Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre’s 2025 season roster. Shane Jansen, who I think you just worked with for J&H is actually directing it there.

Sammy: That’s awesome. But getting back to why people should come out and see it. This show is just so funny. The score— some of these songs— they’re just designed to get in your head. The choreography is great. We’re doing a lot of interesting things with design. My freelance design gigs, I’m always very excited about them? But there isn’t always the opportunity to get really inventive and kind of have things be more abstract. The challenge in and of itself with this show has also been exciting.

That’s a perfect segue, I was just about to ask what your biggest challenge been with this show so far?

Sammy: Tackling a show that’s new, that isn’t necessarily known outside of the people who follow Team Starkid, that’s definitely been a big challenge. Having this show be our biggest show yet— we’ve spent a lot of time on marketing and trying to get the word out. But this show is so popular with people my age and college age students, so we’re hoping to get all of those groups of people out to see it. Trying to show its appeal to slightly older age brackets has been a challenge too. The people who love Twisted and Trail to Oregon will come see this. But we want everyone to come see it. In my opinion, this show is so far ahead of other shows. It’s one of the very few shows that I can think of in recent history that’s truly original. It’s not based on anything. It’s not a parody. It’s nothing like that. It’s an original idea with such a deep back story. The script is so great and it’s so funny.

That all sounds wonderful. What is it that you’re hoping people will take away from this experience when they come out to see The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals?

Sammy: I’m hoping any time people see one of our shows in the future, they see that theatre can be done in a different way. I’ve told you lots of times before, even when I design, I’m always thinking ‘how can I make this look different? How can I add my own spin to this?’ What we’re trying to do is just make our own thing and use the minimal resources we have to create our own style and concept. Theatre can be done in many different ways. You use what you can and you get a great show out of it.

Absolutely. Why do you think its so important for people to be a part of or come out and support their local theatre scene?

Sammy: I think it’s just so important because not only do you make so many great connections but the creativity you get when you’re with a bunch of people like that— with everyone sitting in a room coming up with this— it’s amazing. The few times I have directed, I don’t think a director should be like a dictator. They shouldn’t just be sitting and saying and barking orders. At the end of the day, theatre is a collaborative space. Like with this show? A lot of things that Adam is doing on stage are just things that he thought of during rehearsal in the spur of the moment, and they worked and they’re funny so we’re going with them in that more collaborative vein. And you get that experience when you work in your local theatre scene, in whatever capacity that you choose to do that.

This sounds like it’s going to be great fun! Tell us the specs for this show again?

Sammy: We run two weekends starting November 1^st. Tickets are $30. Just because we do pay all of our actors. We’re a small professional company. Xander and I are big on paying our actors and paying our creative team. If people put in the time and effort to work with us, they should be compensated for their time.

And given where you are situated in Baltimore City, even most community shows are between $20 and $25 so that seems more than reasonable for the quality of show you’ll be producing.

Sammy: Thank you. We also have student tickets for $18 and we know that’s our target market as far as ‘interest in this show’ goes. I’m hoping everyone comes out and sees this show.

Anything else you want to say about this show?

Sammy: I’ll say this. The rights for this show became available on a random Tuesday morning back in January of this year. And it was snowing. Everyone was off school, off work. I saw it on social media and I drove to Xander’s apartment. In the snow. And we were the first to get the rights. Because I just had this feeling. If we could be the ones to bring the show to Baltimore, I just knew people were going to love it. So now you all have to come out and love it.

The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals plays through November 10^th 2024 with CJ Productions at Notre Dame of Maryland University in Baltimore, MD. Tickets are available for purchase in advance online.