# Ani (musical) > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ani_(musical) > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ani_(musical).md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ani_(musical) > Source revision: 1346884400 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Parody play with music Ani A Parody Music Clark Baxtresser Pierce Siebers Book Matt Lang Nick Lang Setting Star Wars universe: Death Star and Tatooine, c. 1 BBY Basis Star Wars Premiere 3 July 2014: Stage 773, Chicago Productions 2014 Chicago The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's general notability guideline. Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention. If notability cannot be shown, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted. Find sources: "Ani" musical – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (April 2026) (Learn how and when to remove this message) ***Ani: A Parody*** is a play written by Matt Lang and Nick Lang with music by Clark Baxtresser and Pierce Siebers. The musical parodies *[Star Wars](/source/Star_Wars)*. "Ani" was the childhood nickname of [Anakin Skywalker](/source/Anakin_Skywalker); it also alludes to the musical [*Annie*](/source/Annie_(musical)) and [The Who](/source/The_Who)'s concept album [*Tommy*](/source/Tommy_(The_Who_album)). ## Production history The musical was performed between July 3 and August 10, 2014, at Stage 773 in [Chicago](/source/Chicago), [Illinois](/source/Illinois).[1] It ran for a total of 22 performances, and was performed in repertory with *[The Trail to Oregon!](/source/The_Trail_to_Oregon!)*, both being produced by [StarKid Productions](/source/StarKid_Productions).[2] The group uploaded the musical in its entirety to [YouTube](/source/YouTube) on October 31, 2014. The musical's [cast recording](/source/Cast_recording) was released on [iTunes](/source/ITunes) the same day. The cast recording reached #4 on [*Billboard*](/source/Billboard_(magazine))'s [Comedy Albums](/source/Comedy_Albums) the week of November 22, 2014.[3] ## Synopsis The story takes place shortly before the events of the 1977 film *[Star Wars](/source/Star_Wars_(film))*. ### Act I A voiceover plays over of an announcer (Brian Holden) narrating the win of Ani at a pod race. An Imperial officer (Eric Kahn Gale) comes in and prompts him, calling him "Lord Vader". Vader turns around and tells the officer to call him "Ani" (Chris Allen) ("Ani"). The officer asks Ani how he's doing and Ani replies that he was looking out into space, thinking about the good old days. He wistfully adds that the thing about the good old days is that you don't know that you're in them until they're gone. Ani asks why he came around and the officer tells him that he's late for a meeting with other Imperial officers. The Imperial officers, led by Moff Jeffrey Tarkin (Joe Walker) discuss their plans for the [Death Star](/source/Death_Star). Ani arrives late at the meeting, much to the annoyance of the others, and presents various Star Wars joke pitches. ### Act II Ani, [Tarkin](/source/Grand_Moff_Tarkin), and [Jar Jar](/source/Jar_Jar) begin training for the Boonta Eve ("The Force (You Got It)"). Mara goes to Jabba's palace to audition for the dancing slave girl position but is ridiculed and denied an audition for having no previous experience. Tarkin takes Emily to the [Mos Eisley](/source/Mos_Eisley) cantina for drinks. There they meet [Obi-Wan Kenobi](/source/Obi-Wan_Kenobi), who is shocked to hear that Ani is still alive after he defeated and left him for dead years prior. Tarkin is contacted by [Palpatine](/source/Palpatine) and he and Emily leave the cantina to take the call. Palpatine has been informed by another general of Ani's goal to race, and demands Tarkin to bring him back to the Death Star. Tarkin dramatically refuses and hangs up. Tarkin and Emily later share a romantic moment after Tarkin charms Emily with romantic lines Ani gave to him ("Haunted By The Kiss"). Meanwhile, Obi-Wan forms an alliance with Sebulba to kill Ani and Jar Jar. Obi-Wan appears at Jar Jar's residence; he draws a pistol on Jar Jar, robbing him and then shooting him before fleeing. Jar Jar later dies in a hospital with Ani being there for his final moments. Ani decides to give up on racing on the fear he may be targeted next but is convinced otherwise by Tarkin and Mara, who remind Ani of his dream. On the day of the race, Sebulba sabotages Ani's pod by removing the power coupling. The race commences ("One In A Million"). Ani and Sebulba appear to be evenly matched until Ani's pod runs out of power and Sebulba knocks into him, causing him and his pod to crash into the side. Palpatine confronts Ani at the crash site and apologizes for not understanding Ani's passion in pod-racing. He reactivates Ani's pod with his force lightning, sending Ani back into the race. Ani catches up to Sebulba and punches him in the nose, winning the race shortly after. Ani's friend [Boba Fett](/source/Boba_Fett) is able to secure Mara an audition for a slave girl position through his connections to Jabba. Ani, Tarkin, and Emily are there to watch Mara's audition ("Back On Top"). She gets the part and the cast celebrates with a reprise of the musical's first song. ## Cast and characters Actor/Actress Character Chris Allen Anakin "Ani" Skywalker (Darth Vader) Joe Walker Moff Jeffrey Tarkin Denise Donovan Mara Jade Brian Holden Jar Jar "J.J." Binks / Admiral Motti Julia Albain Emily the Stormtrooper Eric Kahn Gale Sebulba / Qui-Gon Jinn / Jabba the Hutt Joe Moses Boba "Bob" Fett / General Veers Meredith Stepien Oola / Cantina Band Member Nick Lang Emperor "Pappy" Palpatine / Obi-Wan Kenobi / Bib Fortuna Clark Baxtresser Cantina Band Member Pierce Siebers Cantina Band Member Every actor with the exceptions of Baxtresser and Siebers also played various characters as part of the ensemble. ## Musical numbers Act I "Ani" "Long Ago And Far Away" "Strike Back" "With My Own Eyes" Act II "The Force (You Got It)" "Haunted By The Kiss" "One In A Million" "Back On Top" [4] ## Reception *Ani* received mixed reviews. [TheForce.Net](/source/TheForce.Net) said of the "non-musical musical" concept, "The music and lyrics, despite being wonderfully penned by TalkFine, don't seem to be as effective off-stage as they probably would have been on-stage," also criticising the [production design](/source/Production_design) and describing the script as "not Nick & Matt Lang's best"; however, there was praise for the performances and the humour.[5] Observation Deck criticised the weak plot but praised the humor.[6] Hypable's Danielle Zimmermann praised Brian Holden's portrayal of [Jar Jar Binks](/source/Jar_Jar_Binks) and Nick Lang's portrayal of [Obi-Wan Kenobi](/source/Obi-Wan_Kenobi), calling the show "cleverly written and a lot of fun."[7] This was Starkid's last parody musical for a number of years, with Starkid only returning to the format in 2020 with "[A VHS Christmas Carol](/source/StarKid_Productions#A_VHS_Christmas_Carol_(2020))". ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Team StarKid announce summer season schedule, 2 new parody shows"](http://www.hypable.com/team-starkid-summer-season-schedule/). 9 April 2014. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Team StarKid announces Summer Season schedule"](http://www.hypable.com/team-starkid-announce-summer-season-schedule/). 15 May 2014. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Comedy Albums: Top Stand Up Comedy Chart"](http://www.billboard.com/charts/comedy-albums/2014-11-22?i=4). *[Billboard](/source/Billboard_(magazine))*. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [""Ani: A Parody" by Starkid on iTunes"](https://music.apple.com/us/album/ani-a-parody/936885305). *[iTunes](/source/ITunes)*. 31 October 2014. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["TheForce.net: TFN Review: ANI: A Parody"](http://www.theforce.net/story/front/TFN_Review_ANI_A_Parody_161119.asp). *www.theforce.net*. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Observation Deck - Miscalibrated Internet Receptor Stalks"](https://web.archive.org/web/20171016014218/http://observationdeck.kinja.com/). *Observation Deck*. Archived from [the original](http://observationdeck.kinja.com/) on 2017-10-16. Retrieved 2017-10-15. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Starkid's 'Ani: A Parody' review: A non-musical musical"](https://www.hypable.com/starkids-ani-a-parody-review-non-musical-musical/). 21 July 2014. ## External links - [StarKid Productions](http://www.teamstarkid.com/) official website - [StarKid Productions](https://www.youtube.com/user/StarKidPotter) on YouTube v t e StarKid Productions Stage productions A Very Potter Musical soundtrack Me and My Dick soundtrack A Very Potter Sequel A Very StarKid Album soundtrack Starship soundtrack Holy Musical B@man! A Very Potter Senior Year Twisted The Trail to Oregon! Ani Firebringer The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals Black Friday A VHS Christmas Carol Nerdy Prudes Must Die Cinderella's Castle Concert tours The SPACE Tour live album Apocalyptour live album v t e Unofficial Star Wars media Awards The Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards Fan films Broken Allegiance Chad Vader Crazy Watto The Dark Redemption The Dark Resurgence Dark Resurrection Darth Maul: Apprentice Darth Vader's Psychic Hotline Duality The Formula George Lucas in Love Han Solo: A Smuggler's Trade Hardware Wars How the Sith Stole Christmas The Jedi Hunter Pink Five Pink Five Strikes Back Rebel Scum Return of Pink Five Ryan vs. Dorkman Saving Star Wars Sith Apprentice Space Janitors Star Dudes Star Wars Gangsta Rap Star Wars: Origins Star Wars: Revelations Star Wars: SC 38 – Reimagined Star Wars: The Emperor's New Clones Star Wars: Threads of Destiny Star Wars Uncut Thumb Wars TIE Fighter Trooper Clerks Troops Vader Episode I: Shards of the Past Fan edits Backstroke of the West Harmy's Despecialized Edition Obi-Wan Kenobi: The Patterson Cut The Phantom Edit Fan games Movie Battles Documentaries A Disturbance in the Force Elstree 1976 I Am Your Father The People vs. George Lucas Plastic Galaxy The Prequels Strike Back: A Fan's Journey Literature Another Hope Commander Toad Eltingville: Bring Me the Head of Boba Fett The Love Hypothesis Lucas Wars Star Warped Music One Man Star Wars Trilogy Ani "Darth Vader vs. Hitler" "The Saga Begins" "Yoda" Other The Force is with Cristal Beer Category --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ani (musical)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ani_(musical)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ani_(musical)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.