Band: EVIL DEAD: The Musical
Genres: Musical / Comedy
Related artists: N/A.
Country: Toronto, CANADA
Years Active: 2003-present
Song: "What The Fuck Was That"
Album: "Evil Dead:The Musical"
Year: 2007
For fans of: Graf Orlock, Great movies and hilarious songs. The Opposite of "RENT".
This amazing post was written by my wife - hence that fantastic grammar, lack of errors and general understability. Crap, that's apparently not even a word.
“It has been a number
of years since I began excavating the ruins of Candar with a group of my
colleagues...
I believe I have made
a significant find in the Candarian Ruins. A volume of Ancient Sumarian burial
practices and funerary incantations.
It is entitled, ‘Morturom
Demonto’ – roughly translated, ‘Book of
the Dead’.
The book is bound in
human flesh and inked in human blood. It deals with demons and demon
resurrection and those forces which roam the forest and dark bowers of man’s
domain.
The first few pages
warn that these enduring creatures may lie dormant but are never truly dead.
They may be recalled to active life through the incantations presented in this
book. It is through recitation of these passages that the demons are given
license to possess the living.”
~Professor Knowby
'Evil Dead', 'Evil Dead 2' and 'The Army of Darkness' are all modern B-movie
masterpieces. They combine the comedic brilliance of Bruce Campbell, buckets of
blood, demonic possession, chainsaws and the odd time portal. These movies have spawned dozens of fan sites, remakes and blogs, plus one of the greatest musicals ever created. That’s right,
I said musical. As in, ‘Phantom of the Opera’ and ‘Les Miserables’, but with
the singing undead.
This promo ad pretty much sums it up:
A group of Toronto writers staged the first production of
EVIL DEAD: The Musical back in 2003. It moved to the Montreal Just for Laughs festival in 2004 then off-Broadway from 2006 to 2007. From there (luckily
for us) it came back to the Great White North and set up camp for a Toronto run
that was extended five times its original length.
Dave and I first went to the show in 2007. It played at the
Diesel Playhouse, a small theater with cabaret seating for maybe 100 people. I bought tickets online, and the
first two rows were called the ‘splatter zone’...I wasn’t sure what they’d be
throwing at us so I decided to sit a row or two behind it just in case.
There was a merch booth at the building entrance featuring the
soundtrack and t-shirts with 'WHAT THE F*CK WAS THAT?' in giant white letters across the front. I
have such a vivid memory of these two things. I remember thinking “That shirt is ridiculous”,
and “Who would buy the soundtrack to this musical?” If only I had known...
Well, the show began and my mind was blown before the first
song finished. It was campy, hilarious, and completely over-the-top. Those in
the ‘splatter zone’ were treated to blood spurting from various characters’ hacked
limbs and Candarian demon mouths. Cartoonish, demonic stuffed animals serenaded
us from the walls of the set. The play’s director came out dressed as a
headless torso and chased the chainsaw-wielding Ash around the stage, all the
while spewing blood from his stump of a neck.
Oh, and they were singing the whole time. Let’s not forget
that. The songs were amazing and catchy
as hell. I revisit the soundtrack every once in a while and am always reminded
of how fantastic every song is. A few of
my favourites are:
'What the F*ck Was That?' (yes, I ate my words BIG
TIME on that one)
'Good Old Reliable Jake'
'I’m Not a Killer'
'All the Men in My Life Keep Getting Killed by Candarian
Demons'
'It’s Time'
Have a listen:
Dave and I have become a little obsessed with Evil Dead: The
Musical since that first show. We saw it three additional times, including a
very special 300th show on June 26, 2008. We’ve collected
promotional posters, foam chainsaws and axes, playbills and promo materials.
You name it, we have it. Everything imaginable, except that damn 'What the F*ck
Was That?' t-shirt. I look at it as a little dig from the universe for doubting
the awesomeness of a musical based on Evil Dead.
Evil Dead: The Musical continues to tour around the U.S. If
it’s playing in your city and you are even remotely interested in the original Evil
Dead movies, Bruce Campbell, gratuitous violence and/or screwball comedy
musicals, get thee to the theater!
I would pay *a lot* of money to see this
show again, and am currently plotting ways to coordinate a road-trip down to
Detroit when it opens in October 2013.
"By the saw or the gun..."
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