Links:
Evil Dead The Musical - Main Site
EDTM Myspace Page
EDTM Cast Album (Soundtrack) Page (Coming out March 24!)
EDTM Merchandise
Background:
The Evil Dead (1981) is a campy horror flick written and directed by Sam Raimi and starring the illustrious Bruce Campbell as Ash.
Plot Summary:
Five friends go up to a cabin in the woods where they find unspeakable evil lurking in the forest. They find the Necronomicon and the taped translation of the text. Once the tape is played, the evil is released. One by one, the teens become deadly zombies. With only one remaining, it is up to him to survive the night and battle the evil dead.(Incidentally, this is also the plot of the musical.)
This was followed by Evil Dead II (1987) and Army of Darkness (1992). The pieces most people remember are from the middle of Evil Dead II through Army of Darkness. For example, Ash as a shotgun ("boomstick")-armed, one-handed, chainsaw-wielding hero.
Review:
WONDERFUL! As a fan of Evil Dead, Ash and all-things-Bruce-Campbell, I thoroughly enjoyed the musical! The writers managed to translate the fun, campy attitude to song and dance. The entire atmosphere of the story is that it's making fun of itself - at no time is anything taken too seriously. The musical numbers are downright amazing and the cast succeeded in bringing them alive. The lead actor, Ryan Ward, was excellent and it certainly didn't hurt that the producers cast someone who closely resembles a younger Bruce Campbell. The musical went out of its way to include many hallmarks of the Evil Dead movies, including well-known phrases, references and plenty of T&A. The writers also went so far as to include many trademarks of the campy horror genre, such as the drawn-out-fists-shaking-at-the-sky "NOOOOOOOO!!!" and some overzealous, bloody dismemberment.
If the musical were still running, I would strongly recommend it for fans of the movies and anyone who would enjoy a silly, irreverential horror musical. Truly a good time.