Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: The Musical

Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: The Musical is a stage musical, co-conceived by Jeff Kinney and directed by Mark Haley, with songs by various artists and a book by Kyle Jarrow. It is based on the successful book series of the same name and made it’s world premiere in April 2017 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver, British Columbia, Several days after the original book’s release. The Musical made it’s broadway debut at the Palace Theatre in October 2018.

Diary Of A Wimpy Kid premiered to critical acclaim. At the 73rd Tony Awards, it was nominated for six awards, including Best Musical, And winning two: Best Costume Design in a Musical and Best Supporting Actor in a Musical for Tom Turnley.

The Show Closed at Palace Theater on August 23, 2019. At the time of It’s closing, it had played 21 previews and 308 regular performances. A North American Tour opened on February 1, at Shea’s Performing Arts Center in Buffalo, New York. A production at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa was Televised by Nickelodeon under the name “Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Live and Destined for Greatness.” None of the productions are associated with the musical by the Children’s Theatre Company.

Pre-Show
After an orchestral warmup, in which a medley of tracks from the first DOAWK film are played, Greg Heffley appears onstage and states that his book is a journal, and not a diary. He then explains that he came all the way to whatever city the show is being performed in from the tiny town of Plainview. He then starts bragging about how the musical depicts his greatness, but is bum rushed by Rowley Jefferson, who showers the audience with packs of M&Ms. The situation escalates into an argument, and several characters from the show join the fight before a stage manager (Jeff Kinney in Vancouver) tells them to go backstage and get ready. He then apologizes for “Whatever that was”.

Act One
Greg prepares for his first day of at Westmore Middle School, while reflecting on his life leading up to that moment (“That’s My Life”). When he gets to school, he meets up with his Best Friend Rowley and meets local weirdo Fregley. Shortly afterwards comes gym (“Hellhole Of A Class”). Halfway through the song, Fregley interrupts asking everyone if they want to see his secret freckle; Greg angrily yells at him to “Go to Carson and punch Ibrahimovic in the corn nuts”.

During lunch, Rowley asks Greg why he’s becoming more of a jerk, while Greg angrily denies every accusation. When Rowley asks him what he sees in his life, Greg begins to sing the praises of himself in a Busby Berkeley-esque number (“Destined for Greatness”). After discovering the disgusting conditions of the boys’ bathrooms, he screams that middle school is even more awful in real life, and imagines what it would be like if he and other students banded together and destroyed the school (“Demolition”). After school, Greg and Rowley stumble across a piece of moldy cheese, but a kid named Chirag screams at them not to touch it. He then tells the two the unholy legend of the cheese touch (“Cheese Touch”).

Greg makes up his mind to become the most popular person in school after stumbling across Rodrick’s old middle school yearbook, but he and Rowley get into trouble with him after he finds out they were in his room (“Don’t Mess with Löded Diper”). Greg signs up to wrestle the next day, but is humiliated in back to back losses against Fregley and Patty Ferrell, a jerk who only got in because her parents threatened to sue (“Wrestling Song”).

Soon comes Halloween, and Greg And Rowley go to the snooty rich suburbs of Plainview to get more candy (“Paradise”). They threaten to call the cops on some immature teenagers, and get chased everywhere after they accidentally scrape their truck (“Look Out and Above!”), Which cultivates in them getting splashed by Greg’s dad. In the bedroom, Greg states that they still managed the save the candy, so Halloween wasn’t all that bad (“That’s My Life Reprise”). He then asks Rowley turn off the light, and after he does, Rodrick says “Boo!”, and they both scream.

Act Two
Greg And Rowley join the safety patrol in an attempt to gain popularity. (“Stop!”). They also decide to enter a comic strip contest for the Westmore Warbler, the school newspaper. After expressing displeasure at Greg’s idea, Rowley comes up with an strange comic called “Zoo Wee Mama!” (“Sunday Funnies”). Greg disowns the comic completely and believes his comic is better. After a bizarre game results in Rowley breaking his arm, Greg has to lead preschoolers into school in pouring rain. After he sees a red truck, Greg convinces them the driver is an alien and hides them in a construction pit (“Stop! Reprise”) before realizing he’s just a normal person.

Rowley is suspended from the patrol, but Greg later clears things up. Greg gets suspended from the patrol instead, and a betrayed Rowley befriends another kid named Collin and gets reinstated (“Trouble”). Greg tries to get famous by himself by joining the school production of The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz (“Destined for Greatness Reprise”), but gets cast as a tree. during the production, Greg refuses to sing after seeing Rodrick with a camera. Patty throws a fit, Greg convinces the other trees to throw apples at her, and the production spirals out of control (“Oh, How I Loathe You”).

Greg is enraged to find out that Rowley’s comic won the contest, and he didn’t get any credit for it, despite the fact he asked not to be associated with the comic. Greg goes to confront Rowley, but the other students expect a physical fight. After failing to start a proper fight, Greg says ”How about a rap battle instead?”, Which is met with thunderous enthusiasm (“Rap Battle”). However, The teenagers from Halloween arrive wanting revenge, and force Greg to watch while Rowley eats the cheese (“Too Far”).

The other kids return to the playground, and discover that the cheese has a bite out of it. However, Greg, in an act of selflessness, takes the blame. Greg And Rowley apologize to each other and mend their relationship (“Sorry”). Greg and Rowley earn a spot in the yearbook popularity pages as “Best Friends”. However, Greg states that one day, he will be the greatest, richest, sexiest man alive (“Destined for Greatness Final Reprise”). The cast then appears onstage for a photo op, while Forever The Sickest Kids’ “What Do You Want From Me” plays over the speakers. After the cast takes a final bow, Fregley remains onstage to soak up the glory, before an arrow with the words “THE END” hits him in the butt and forces him offstage.