By Justin Wagner
Evil Dead the Musical seems like a show that needs no explanation. To those who know the trilogy of Evil Dead films by Sam Raimi, they are either a classic example of American cinematic range, or a disgusting display of 80s special effects and cheap humor. As the majority of patrons to this show are likely already long-time fans of the series, this is your opportunity to stop reading and go buy your tickets – this musical does not disappoint! For those without the pleasure of such an easy decision, read on.
Ash, our hero, takes Linda (his girlfriend), Scotty (his best friend), Shelly (Scotty’s new squeeze), and Cheryl (Ash’s tagalong sister) to visit (uninvited) a cabin in the woods for spring break, only to stumble upon an ancient magic book called the Necronomicon that unleashes the chaotic and evil world of the dead upon them. We’ve all been there. Later, we meet Annie (daughter of the cabin’s missing owner, both of whom are researching the text and magic within the Necronimicon) and her professional/romantic partner, Ed. After the only known path to the cabin is destroyed by the Evil, Annie and Ed find their way with help from Jake, the local yokel. With some teamwork, dedication, and a whole lot of blood, they manage to vanquish the dead and save the day.
A healthy question to ask at this point might be, “How on Earth could they possibly manage to turn that story into a musical that is not only tolerable, but entertaining?” The easy answer is by pandering to the loyal fan base. Brace yourself for a brief lesson in cinematic history.
The films began with Evil Dead in 1981, which was a more classic approach to horror films at the time. Viewed without context today – with its cheesy dialogue and low-budget effects – it is corny and hardly considered scary. Through the lens of the 1980s, however, it was an innovative and frightening approach to horror films: Startling and gory to fit the ever-more desensitized American audience, with innocent-to-a-fault characters who hark back to the classic days of cinema. The first act of Evil Dead the Musical follows this story pretty faithfully. Evil Dead 2 showed the zany aftermath of the original story and introduced the comedic element of the series, which eventually spawned this adaptation and gives us the general path of the second act. Lastly, we come to the final installment of the trilogy, Army of Darkness. The plot of this film is not at all relevant to Evil Dead the Musical (save for a glossed-over-yet-satisfying reference at the end), but it does by far lend the most favored feature of the stage adaptation: The one-liners. The entire script of the film is lousy with catchy, cheeseball catchphrases, and they found a way to work in every single one of them. These quotes are enjoyable for the general campiness, but actual laugh-out-loud hilarious for those waiting to hear each one.
The music itself is fun, diverse, and incredibly well written. Each number is met with full enthusiasm from the cast, who maintain near-flawless delivery, even during some pretty intense physical numbers. The dialogue is often very satirical and self-mocking, and sometimes needlessly vulgar – not a deal-breaker, but certainly shocking at times, even for a show of this nature. The costumes and props certainly beg suspension of disbelief; they are just good enough to have fun (and very creative), but with no intention of dropping your jaw for realism. And the blood – oh, the blood! Let’s just say there is a splash zone to envy a Gallagher show.
Overall, this show is campy and entertaining, which is exactly what it promises to be. There are times when it seemed to slow down, but only because it’s so packed with songs and jokes elsewhere that when it runs at an average pace one is left wondering where all the action went (admittedly, these moments are few). It is not a show that could survive without an already-existing fan base, that is certain; but we can thank the fan base for allowing it to exist, and spreading the entertainment to those who’ve not yet experienced it. For diehards, it’s a must-see. For those simply open to a night of cheap and harmless entertainment, it’s highly recommended. For anyone else, your mind was likely made up before reading this review (can’t win ‘em all). Evil Dead the Musical gets a severed thumb-up.
By Leah wagner
In order to truly enjoy Evil Dead, The Musical you need to go in with a love for melodrama, lots of blood, and the movie. The third point is the most important, because without that you’ll miss many of the jokes. And there are a lot of jokes Jokes about the plot holes in the movie itself, jokes about the actors themselves, so many jokes that because I don’t have a deep love of the movie I missed them.
The movie, I have been told, is a cult classic. I was not introduced to it until I was in my twenties and now that I’m in my thirties and a mother I find myself less likely to be impressed by the underground, counter culture. It’s campy, poorly written, filled with plot holes, and the parts that could have been scary were robbed by the campiness.
The play kept all of that. It appeals to a certain kind of audience; ones that enjoy too loud rock music, wear holey jeans and leather vests to the theatre as their appropriate theatre going attire, and love to talk through the whole thing. The really dedicated fans are brave enough to sit in the front rows in what is aptly known as the “splatter zone”. They seemed to enjoy getting splattered with fake blood both due to plot requirements and because it’s fun to spray the audience. That’s the kind of play it is.
With that being said, there were parts I did enjoy. Let’s get onto those.
I appreciated the clever set and use of well placed mechanics. They stayed mostly in the cabin and had lots of moving parts on the walls which was very funny. The songs were funny and while it was obvious the cast was not made up of dancers, they had a lot of energy.
There were some technical issues that were either planned or just a fact of live theatre, but I won’t dwell on those. The actors aren’t well known, which made me want to enjoy this even more. But it was lost on me, I am not the target audience…and I’m okay with that.
