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In Honor of The NEW 2021 Production - EVERYTHING We Know About "Diary of a Wimpy Kid the Musical!"

  • #0 - Why I'm Writing This.

If you know anything about me, it's that I love Diary of a Wimpy Kid and strange, sometimes awful, but always interesting media... So when I heard about the existence of a musical based on Diary of a Wimpy Kid, I practically lost my mind right then and there.

I spent weeks doing research, reading through reviews and scouring through websites, spending all my free time learning as much as I could about this piece of art, until I hit a brick wall.

Due to contractual obligations, the people involved are unable to legally give me a copy of the script, which was my "dream" when starting the search.

However, one phone call I made, told me that, while it would take a while, plans were being made, and that I shouldn't give up home on one day seeing Diary of a Wimpy Kid the Musical one day.

Well, that day is here! ... Kinda!

As of this writing, Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis, Minnesota has confirmed that from April 27th, 2021 to June 20th, 2021, they will ONCE AGAIN be performing a live production of Diary of a Wimpy Kid the Musical.

So, in honor of the new production, and in order to put all of my information in one place, I am creating this write-up!

  • #1 - Quick Summary

"Diary of a Wimpy Kid the Musical" is a musical production put on by "Children's Theatre Company," also known as CTC, in Minneapolis, Minnesota with multiple shows performed from April 12th, 2016 to June 12th, 2016.

Children's Theatre Company was founded in 1965 and seems to pride itself on stage adaptations of children's books, with some of their most famous productions being Pippi Longstocking and How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Their productions are considered some of the highest quality children's productions in the United States, and in 2004 was named "best children's theater in the US" by Time Magazine.

In the 2016 production, the official summary for the musical was;

Greg Heffley is in survival mode. All. The. Time. From bullies to his big brother to his height-challenged stature, he’s the wimpy kid we can all relate to. The beloved series hits the stage in a brand-new musical with Rowley, Manny, and of course, Rodrick joining in the mayhem. A ridiculous amount of fun for anyone who has survived, is surviving, or hopes to survive middle school, inspired by the award-winning and bestselling book series.

In the 2020 production, the official summary is;

Middle school, ugh. It’s the worst. But Greg is determined NOT to be at the bottom of the popularity chart. He’ll leave that to his weird neighbor, Fregley. Or maybe Greg’s best friend, Rowley Jefferson. But it’s not going to be Greg…no way. See Jeff Kinney’s popular character take center stage as Greg’s cartoon diary becomes a raucous musical. Will Greg’s plans lead him to sacrifice his one true friend? Can anyone avoid the dreaded Cheese Touch? Grab a hall pass and don’t be late for an adventure familiar to anyone who actually survived middle school.

While the musical is obviously based on the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, it considers itself an adaptation of the first two Diary of a Wimpy Kid movies, 2010's Diary of a Wimpy Kid and 2011's Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules.

  • #2 - Fox's Part

Details are vague, but we do know for a fact that 20th Century Fox, the company behind all the Diary of a Wimpy Kid movies, used "Fox Stage Productions" in order to be involved with the making of this production.

The reasons behind this are equally vague, but the most likely reason is to set a standard of quality due to their attachment to the brand.

Their involvement is interesting, as it most likely changed multiple things about the musical, such as the musical's story, which again is closer to the movies than the book, and the budget, which was reportedly noticeably over the $1,000,000 cap that Children's Theatre Company usually sets on their productions.

While there's no clear evidence of this, multiple theories suggest that this musical was meant to be larger than it was and was on the way to bigger things, perhaps even Broadway, official paperwork referred to the musical as a "developmental production" which means that the 2016 showing was not meant to be its definitive form, but the Disney/Fox merger interrupted things.

  • #3 - Jeff's Part

Jeff Kinney's method of handling the Diary of a Wimpy Kid franchise could be considered very interesting, as he's not one to really market the character in comparison to, say, Jim Davis's Garfield. Greg Heffley is not known for being on mugs or t-shirts as, it appears, that Jeff Kinney has very high standards for the quality of the things his brand is attached to.

However, usually once that quality standard is met, most likely due to his busy schedule as an author, he tends to back away from the project.

Much like his relationship with the production of the movies, once Jeff saw that everything was being handled well, he took a step back from the project. He was not involved with the writing or directing of the musical, though he has taken the time to advertise the production multiple times.

However, despite this Jeff LOVES the musical, is very proud of it and all the kids involved, and at one point even said that he considered it better than his own work.

  • #4 - Promotional Material

In 2016, the fanbase for Diary of a Wimpy Kid was almost entirely comprised of grade-school children and this was, after all, a one-city musical performed a handful of time, over a three-month period.

So, needless to say, promotional material is scarce, but we've saved as much as we can.

There were five video advertisements made for CTC's YouTube page;

Diary of a Wimpy Kid the Musical

Diary of a Wimpy Kid the Musical Trailer

Diary of a Wimpy Kid the Musical at Children's Theatre Company

Diary of a Wimpy Kid the Musical Slams ALS

Diary of a Wimpy Kid the Musical Audience Reviews

At one point in time, a promotional website was hosted, but now it is only accessible through The Wayback Machine.

There's also multiple pictures of the production and pieces of promotional material that I've reuploaded here.

  • #5 - The Production Itself

Diary of a Wimpy Kid the Musical had a rough production cycle, apparently. The script wasn't finished until four day before the first dress rehearsal and continued to have near-constant revisions.

However, Fox's +$1,000,000 budget helped significantly, allowing for out-of-state casting and an experimental set, that was considered a highlight of the production.

Lots of people were involved with the making of the musical and, while we can't be certain that any of them will be returning the staff for the 2016 consisted of;

and

  • Mike Tutaj, who worked as the projection designer.

The cast of the 2016 production, most of whom will like not be returning for 2021, was comprised of;

and

  • #6 - The Songs

One of the problems with Diary of a Wimpy Kid the Musical small showing was that there was very little converge and, because of that, such little information is known about the musical that we don't even have a full list of songs. Thankfully, with enough research, we were able to get some information about a few of the more popular songs;

The Middle of It All - Greg Heffley the "main theme" of the play, used heavily in the promotional material and a possibly full, but poorly recorded version was found in an interview that Jeff Kinney did during the time of the productions release. You can find the interview here or a reupload of just the song here.

  • Do The Right Thing - Susan sings to Greg about how he needs to do what he knows is right, most likely instigated by Greg and Rowley's Safety Patrol plotline.

  • All About The Mom Bucks - Chirag and Greg rap, for some reason... My friend Damien actually managed to find a phone recording that was done by one of the moms in the audience. Both the video and audio are awful, but I'm just happy there's proof that it exists. You can find a reupload here.

  • That'd Be Fun - Greg goes to a sleepover at Fregley's house, where Fregley proceeds to freak out Greg with his weird tendencies. With the best recording thus far, Alan Schmuckler, one of the lyric writers, added this song to one a live show that he recorded to use as a resume for future projects. You can find a link here.

  • Animal Heart - Joshie sing an addicting pop song that Greg despises and Rowley worships.

  • Untitled Cheese Touch Song - Greg, apparently, touches "The Cheese" and is then aggressively sung at by his classmates.

  • Untitled Election Day Song - Patty and Greg have some sort of musical battle over who gets to be the school's treasurer where Greg wins(?) by lying about Patty, claiming she has head live.

Considering the play contains over 50 scenes and is clocked at 2 hours and 15 minutes long, there's most likely more songs in the musical, but until we get an official list, we won't know for sure.

  • #7 - Extra Tidbits

I read through dozens of articles and found the useful information and compiled it here.

They apparently sold Greg cookies in the lobby.

The stage was designed to slant slightly to the left(?) in order to create a feeling of "off-balance."

Unlike the books, Greg apparently goes through a full arc, making this a true coming-of-age story.

Familiar plots from the book include;

  • Greg running for treasurer, though this time against Patty instead of Marty Porter

  • Fregley chasing Greg with a booger at his sleepover,

  • Greg chasing children with a worm in the Safety Patrol, getting Rowley in trouble, and being told by Susan to do the right thing,

  • Greg ranking everyone in his school in a popularity list, where Bryce Anderson is high, Greg is in the middle, and Rowley and Fregley are low,

  • everyone pretending Chirag is invisible,

  • Greg and Patty wrestling in gym class, leading to an awkward fight on the ground

  • Greg and Rowley running from bullies on Halloween,

  • Greg attempting to get in the yearbook by being good at sports, having the best smile, being the "class clown," and working as the newspaper cartoonist,

  • and The Cheese Touch!

It's likely that there's more similarities to the books and movies, but these are just the ones that I know of for sure.

  • #8 - In Summary

Overall, this musical has a lot of potential and I really hope I get to see it. I know I'll be attempting to snag a ticket and make it up to Minnesota sometime next year. If anyone else has any more information, don't hesitate to put in the comments or DM me. I'm sure more information will come out as they advertise the 2021 production.

Posted Mar 6, 2020, 4:49 PM UTC · edited

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