Oregon Trail: The Musical (Yep, That's What I Said)

How do you write a song about dysentery?! Learn how a musical about the game, The Oregon Trail, became a reality.

Who’s tired of Disney musicals on stage? No? Me neither. But when you need something a little different, may I introduce you to The Trail to Oregon, a musical based on the game The Oregon Trail. I’ll pause in case you need to let that settle in. That’s right, someone based an entire musical on a game where I usually died of dysentery. And the best part? You can watch it right here, right now!

Back in 2014, StarKid, the same team that brought us A Very Harry Potter Musical and Firebringer (“I don’t really wanna do the work today!”), staged an entire musical based on a popular 1980s educational game: The Oregon Trail. You probably know where this is going: a family braves the harrowing journey and sings songs of sorrow and triumph along the way. It’s a feel-good show that sticks to its historical roots. Right? That’s what you’re thinking? Let’s just put it this way: the first iteration of this musical focused on the fictional character of Jack Bauer, as in Keifer Sutherland’s character from 24. So, yeah… there’s that.

**trail to oregon – speedrun (youtube.com)**

I can’t even begin to explain this – just watch the video below, and you’ll understand (then scroll down to watch the actual musical):

Jeff Blim spent the better part of 10 years trying to crack the code on a musical adaptation of the computer game Oregon Trail, but nothing was working…and time was running out.