Competition research

Team StarKid

Team StarKid is an American theatre company who produce primarily comedy and musical theatre productions. They started by making parody musicals of well-known media franchises/products such as Harry Potter, Batman, Star Wars and Disney's Aladdin. However, they have also created original productions, focusing specifically on this within the last few years. A lot of their customers engage with their work online as they upload all of their shows to YouTube. This means people have access to these from all over the world, giving them a global audience.

StarKid also has a website, which they keep very up to date by always advertising their most recent productions on their home page. Their other website pages include:

• About
• Info about all the shows/series they've done
• Music (purchase albums/songs)
• Connect (contact info, social media links)
• Tickets
• Shop (merch, licensing, music, DVDs)

In terms of ticket prices, general tickets are around £25 ($35) and VIP tickets are around £45 ($60). They then also will sell digital tickets for livestreamed shows, which are around £11 ($15), with the option to pay more to help them and support their work.

Social media they use:

• YouTube <= Will likely use
• Instagram <= Will likely use
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Tumblr

On their YouTube channel they:

• Upload trailers/sneak peeks for shows
• Upload full productions (posted sometime after the last live production)
• Upload digital series
• Do livestreams
• Update their banner and logo to match their most recent production

On their Instagram they:

• Post content relating to their most recent show
• Post behind the scenes images/videos
• Post trailers
• Upload cast photos
• Do Instagram Lives
• Upload highlights for shows and projects

StarKid is similar to my company in that create original musicals, and they've been focusing heavily on diversity and inclusivity in their more recent productions. They also post their musicals online to watch for free, making them accessible to people from all over. This is something I'd like to do with my productions if possible. However, their works always focus more on comedy with some occasional dark themes involved. I will try to create a range of musicals that cover different genres to appeal to a wider demographic, especially those with different musical tastes.

Little but Fierce

Little but Fierce is a London-based theatre group that stages feminist theatre works that are written and directed by women with majorly female casts. They produce both new writing and feminist takes on classics, and try to focus on working with and telling the stories of marginalised groups (e.g. women of colour, the LGBTQ+ community, the disabled). 

They were motivated to create this group due to the lack of range in female roles and lack of roles for those in marginalised groups. 

On their website, their webpages consist of:

• Home
• About us
• Productions
• Podcast
• 37:5 Shakespeare Project (a new upcoming project)
• Mental health initiative 

They also have links to their social media profiles on Twitter and Facebook.

On their Twitter they:

• Share events they're going to be involved in
• Post personal updates 
• Share others' works who have the same ideologies

They haven't posted on their Facebook in a few years, but they primarily shared pictures from their productions and links to websites selling tickets to them, which typically cost around £15.

Little but Fierce is similar to my company in that they focus on diversity and equality in their productions, but whilst they have a specific focus on women and feminism, I won't be focusing on one specific group of people. They also stage primarily plays whilst my theatre company exclusively does musical theatre.

Graeae 

Graeae is a theatre company based in London that always place Deaf and disabled artists at the centre of their works. They perform both new and existing plays, making them inclusive for all by integrating audio description and sign language throughout their artistic process and productions. They also explore a variety of theatrical genres from contemporary pieces to musicals, incorporating a variety of different mediums, such as puppetry. 

On their website there are the following pages:

• What's On
• Our Work
• About
• News & Opinion
• Digital Library
• Your Support

In terms of pricing, their tickets usually cost between £10 - £25, depending on the kind of performance it is and where it's being performed.

At the bottom of their website they have important contact information such as their address, phone number and email, as well as links to their social media profiles on:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• YouTube
• Instagram

They primarily post about their newest productions on their social media, providing links with information about them. They post basically the same things across all of their social media platforms and include many images on all of them to showcase productions and cast members. On their YouTube specifically though, they upload primarily trailers and interviews with the cast and creatives involved. 

Graeae is similar to my business in that it is a theatre company and they occasionally stage musical productions. They also focus heavily on making theatre diverse and accessible, which is a key aspect of my company also. I am also interested in their incorporation of different mediums, like puppetry, which could be something that I experiment with within my business.