Evil Dead: The MusicalMy brother took me to see Evil Dead: The Musical in Toronto the other night as a birthday present. It's silly and campy, full of hammy actors and bad puns, but it's SO much fun I would recommend it to anyone for a fun night out. It's currently playing at the Diesel Playhouse in Toronto, and has been extended a second time until June 14th, so get your tickets quickly.
The play follows the same premise of the movie: Ash, a guy who works at the local S-Mart, goes up to an empty cabin in the woods with his girlfriend, his best friend, a woman his best friend just picked up, and his sister. The cabin is owned by a professor who has been attempting to translate the Book of the Dead, and the kids break in to spend a weekend there, but the prof had managed to raise the zombies, who fight them and turn them into zombies one by one. My favourite character is the sister, turned into a zombie early on and chained in the basement, who continually pops up through a trapdoor just to taunt Ash. She was hilarious. Jake was another funny one; the actor was great, though he was better when he was delivering lines. When he had to react to another line, he was completely hammy and overacting like he was in a silent movie. But then again, this is a play about horny zombies, so his acting style was rather fitting.
If you go and want to have some REAL fun, sit in the first couple of rows, also known as The Splatter Zone, and you will get seriously wet. Near the very end of the play, the actors just go crazy with the blood, aiming it directly at the patrons, who are cowering beneath their tiny plastic parkas that have been supplied by the staff. You will be warned repeatedly in case you sat there accidentally... but that didn't stop one woman from scowling the entire time, and eventually standing up in anger and shaking herself off. (Learn how to listen, lady... they only had a loud announcement at the beginning AND there's a sign out front AND someone comes around to warn you AND they give you the parkas and give you another warning AND they offer to re-seat you if you don't want to be there...) After the show, I popped into the washroom, where a bunch of women were madly scrubbing fake blood off their arms. It was pretty funny.
Go check it out. It's definitely a fun night out.
7 comments:
Augh, I'm so jealous.
Nikki, I loved the Evil Dead movies in the 80's! Sounds like the Ash onstage is exactly like the movie one! I thought the third one was the best. I laughed more than anything...especially with his hand that runs around. I'll have to keep an eye out here in Boston for it.
Ryan Ward is an awesome Ash. I don't think the show would be the same without him.
Justin and I sat in the front row. He got drenched, I had a few shots, and we took pictures outside the theatre of the blood. My daughter went the night Bruce Campbell did a q&a afterwards.
You can pick up the soundtrack (of the New York production) in most record stores.
Cabin in the woods, oh yeah!
I saw it when it was 'off broadway' in NYC and loved it! It was such a great show, and it really was well done! I still have my blood soaked shirt from sitting in the front row!
I like how act one is essentially Evil Dead, and act two is Evil Dead 2, and they blatantly disregard all inconsistence between the two films with a "Wow, that's weird!" type of moment.
I want to come up to Toronto to see it again, but I don't know if I can make it in time before it closes.
Anyone who hasn't seen it yet, definitely try your best to go. It's awesome.
I loved it! I saw it back in early Feb, and because they had double booked our seats, my brothers and I were put in the splatter zone -- FRONT ROW CENTER. It was hysterical.
Except their fake blood doesn't wash out of my brand new white t-shirt I bought that very afternoon on the night I saw the show.
This is the picture of Me & Colleen.
Note that I was sitting next to Justin, front row centre.
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