“The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals” first debuted in 2018, and now Team Starkid has revived it with an all-new Los Angeles run. This horror comedy musical follows Paul, a normal office worker who lives and works in his hometown of Hatchetfield and has a crush on the local barista. Things take a terrifying turn when everyone around him begins to sing and dance with no music or prompting after a meteor crashes in town. Paul, Emma, his crush, and a few of his coworkers attempt to survive this musical apocalypse.

Lauren Lopez pulls double duty as director and performer, playing Emma. Jon Matteson stars as Paul. Jeff Blim, Jaime Lyn Beatty, Joey Richter, Corey Dorris, Mariah Rose Faith Casillas, and Will Banner also star as multiple characters. “The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals” book is by Nick and Matt Lang with music and lyrics by Jeff Blim.

In an exclusive interview with Temple of Geek, Matteson discussed returning to the role of Paul in “The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals.” He also shared the importance of live theater and why it was exciting to revive this world. Matteson also teased upcoming projects and explained why he loves working with Team Starkid.

“The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals” Star Discusses Capturing The Horror & Comedy

Temple of Geek: I love how you guys oscillate between horror and comedy so seamlessly. What for you, is maybe one of the challenges in kind of balancing the genres of horror, comedy, and musical at the same time?

Jon Matteson:

“Well, this show is interesting because it’s definitely leaning into the genre and also the film “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” I think, I don’t want this to sound like a cliché, but just playing the truth of the situation. I think everyone, both the director, Lauren Lopez and us, we all just are trying to play the truth of it, even if it’s ridiculous.

Especially me, I’m like, okay, I don’t have all these insane quick changes. My one job that I have to get is believing this. And I feel like an a**hole, if I don’t at least believe what’s happening. So I feel like I have to really sell that this is a terrifying thing. The implications of it being like, oh God, everybody’s being replaced by singing, dancing, doppelgangers. So as long as we lean into the truth of it, I think it can be both funny and scary.”

Temple of Geek: Yeah. Oh, it totally works. The first time your character’s like that was terrifying. Okay, what’s happening? I was like, that’s so real. I would not react as if this is so cool. I’d be like, something’s wrong.

Jon Matteson:

“Especially when you realize that when you see what they’re doing. There’s no music being played. So when Paul is seeing this, there’s just all these people singing in perfect harmony and being really menacing, but he doesn’t hear any music, until “Let It Out.””

Jon Matteson Shares His Excitement About Reprising Paul & Returning To Hatchetfield

Temple of Geek: For you, what was exciting about returning to this character and returning to this musical?

Jon Matteson:

“What was really exciting about that, which is a gigantic luxury, I think, is you never get the chance to come back to a part after six years of a break. Also over the pandemic StarKid had a lot of additional projects that were related in the universe. So I continued to get to explore Paul and Emma and that world of Hatchetfield. It’s like I got to do, without knowing it, six years of homework and then getting to come back and being like, oh yeah, I know who all of these characters and I know this world really well, and it feels very fun and easy to play in.”

Temple of Geek: Feeling like you knew Paul better coming back this time around, did it feel more natural kind of stepping into him? Was there something you had going on that’s not necessarily on stage, but you knew for yourself that made the character feel even more real for you this time?

Jon Matteson:

“I think since the original show, I’ve worked even more corporate jobs to support myself as an actor and an artist. It’s very, very easy to drop into a guy who’s working a soulless data entry job at a company that I’m sure there’s lots of great companies out there, but there are some like CCRP that doesn’t really treat their employees very well. So yeah, that was very real for me and very fun.

But also, what’s great about this part as opposed to playing something like Grease or something, is we don’t really age out of it because one’s a dad and they’re all just older people working in an office trying to survive and live in a little town. It felt very easy to drop in, especially with the chemistry, with all the cast. It was a dream come true. Truly.”

The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals Star Praises Team StarKid

Temple of Geek: You’ve worked on a number of different productions with different companies. What is it about Team StarKid that stands out to you?

Jon Matteson:

“I think it’s the level of both professionalism and the feeling of, they always want to make sure that it’s fun and that everyone’s voice is heard. We also have the luxury of having an incredible audience that is incredibly engaged, that create fanfiction and lore and artwork. Which also feeds into the world of Hatchetfield and the characters, because I’ve seen so many great essays on who Paul is. Is Paul autistic or not?

Everyone is out there doing dramaturgy on these shows, and I can’t imagine anything else like it. Also, especially with this show, Lauren Lopez was an incredible director, and the production team was incredible. The designers, the lighting and scenic designers from day one, both were really invested in the show and supported the narrative of the show and the actors themselves. So yeah, it’s really, really great.”

Temple of Geek: What is it like to have the director on stage with you?

Jon Matteson:

“I think it could be challenging for some directors, but we also had a great understudy Rianny [Vasquez] who was subbing in all the time for Lauren. Lauren also made it feel seamless as she was directing and watching the show. But I think there was also a level of trust in the company that makes it really easy. There’s not any ego, which really feels great.”

Jon Matteson On The Importance Of Live Theater

Temple of Geek: What is it about live theater that stands out to you in this landscape of different media we have that’s different storytelling styles?

Jon Matteson:

“That’s such a great question. I think with live theater, it feels incredibly risky all the time. You’ve one shot to get it that night for the audience and you could bomb, but it feels really alive. It’s not something that can really be replaced by AI. It’s so messy and emotional and fun and mistakes happen, and that’s also part of the live theater experience that’s very human. Again, I feel like I’m getting sappy, but that’s how I feel about it.”

Temple of Geek: Are there any other musicals or genres of musicals you’d like to be a part of?

Jon Matteson:

“Despite the role of Paul, I adore musicals. I love classic musicals, even though I’m not a great tapper, but I would love to do old classic musicals like “Singin’ in the Rain” or Rogers and Hammerstein. I love those genres as well, and the elevated nature of those. But I also have always leaned towards dark comedies and dark shows. I think people like to, see in the best way, I think people like to see bad things happen to me and they like to see me squirm. So if that’s my type, I guess I’m happy to do it, happy for somebody to drop an anvil on my head or torture me or have me being part of an infected universe.”

Temple of Geek: Just full Looney Tunes.

Jon Matteson:

“Yeah, all the time.”

Jon Matteson Talks Jenga TTRPG Show “We’re All Going To Die”

Temple of Geek: Do you have any other projects coming up that you’re excited about?

Jon Matteson:

“Yeah, I’m really excited about a show that I’m producing with George Primavera called “We’re All Going To Die.” It’s this live another horror show, but it’s this live TTRPG that we play using a Jenga tower. What’s really, really wonderful about that show is the risks are very, very real for the audience, because if the Jenga Tower falls, a character dies. And sometimes in live TTRPG shows, the audience has to watch the cast do the math on stage.

But for this, if that tower goes down, that character’s done. There’s no spell casting to bring them back, they’re dead and they sit and watch the other people play. We’ve only done it once, but we have a lot of shows coming up at Dynasty Typewriter. We have six months of shows coming up with them, and we’re so psyched that we get to keep working with them and working on that show because the first one felt like a live horror movie on stage.”

Temple of Geek: How does that work with the Jenga Tower and the TTRPG element?

Jon Matteson:

“Great question. George, who’s a great storyteller, will come in and say, okay, you are going down a rickety staircase in this house, and it’s clear you could fall and die. Set a timer, you have 30 seconds to pull, two blocks go. So you run over and you’re in front of the audience trying to get those two blocks and keep the tower from falling. If it succeeds, great, you don’t die. But as the show goes on, he’ll raise the stakes, he’ll be like four blocks under a minute. And then on our last show, we had an audience member come up for the final moment to come and pull the blocks for the final person to see if they live.”

Temple of Geek: Oh man!

Jon Matteson:

“And they did it, which was incredible.”

Temple of Geek: The musical is fantastic! I can’t wait for more people to see it live.

Jon Matteson:

“It feels really electric and special. I feel really lucky to be a part of it. We have a very ambitious year planned for next year, so I’m very excited to see. Those plans could change, but we have two shows that we’re planning on doing next year that are going to be really, really exciting. One in LA and one in Chicago.”

“The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals” will be playing at El Porto Theater in North Hollywood until August 2 with tickets available now. It is also available on Team StarKid’s YouTube page.