Presented by Roshi Entertainment
Permission by Renaissance Pictures, Ltd. and Studio Canal Image, S.A.
License provided by Music Theatre International
Book and lyrics by George Reinblatt
Additional lyrics by Christopher Bond
Music by Frank Cipolla, Christopher Bond, Melissa Morris & George Reinblatt
Additional Music by: Rob Daleman
https://evildeadthemusical.com/
JAN 25 – FEB 25, 2024
Boston Conservatory for the Arts
539 Tremont Street, Boston, MA
Review by Gillian Daniels
BOSTON, Mass – Evil Dead: The Musical synthesizes three cult films into a bloody mess. That mess is made literal through the liberal use of Kool Aid, splattered in the faces, clothes, and plastic ponchos of a deadite (ie, Evil Dead fan) audience as happily animated as the zombie antagonists. This show is exactly what it says on the tin and it leans into its campy, sticky silliness with the enthusiasm of a swimmer executing a cannonball in a public swimming pool.
The first act of the rock musical compresses Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead (1981) into a teenage slasher romp. Brian McGee is Ash Williams, a preppy college student S-Mart employee taking a trip to a mysterious cabin in the woods with his nervous sister, Cheryl (the hilarious Christine Armenion), his too-good-to-be-true girlfriend, Linda (Sara Landry, who serves impressive comic timing with the love ballad, “Housewares Employee”), his jerky friend, Scotty (Phillip Laks), and Scotty’s airheaded, sexy girlfriend, Shelly (Tommi Lynn Silva). His vacation is soon ruined by trees that are alive in a way they usually aren’t. Ash begins losing his loved ones and sanity as gleefully evil Candarian demons serenade him with the fantastic “Look Who’s Evil Now?” and “Join Us.” He insists “I’m Not a Killer” while learning new and exciting uses for household appliances and gardening tools!
By the second act, we’re in the full, cartoon logic bloom of Evil Dead II (1987). Looking for her father who was investigating the dark arts before he mysteriously disappeared, Ash is joined by Annie (Silva again, this time getting more of a chance to exercise her comic chops with such pieces as the song, “All the Men in My Life Keep Getting Killed by Candarian Demons”). Annie brings Jake (Stuart Harmon, who briefly steals the show with “Good Old Reliable Jake”) and Annie’s fiance, Ed (Andrew Gibson, who eventually gets his moment as “Bit-Part Demon”), in what is turning out to be the longest night of Ash’s life. No longer a preppy young man in a button up shirt, Ash claims his iconic chainsaw, a shotgun (“boomstick”), and a trauma-response sense of chauvinistic humor in order to ascend to his status as demon-slaying antihero.
I had a good time at this one. Not every joke worked for me and ending on the song “Blew that Bitch Away” felt like an abrupt ending. But, this was a perfect show to see with horror-comedy-loving friends.
I’m also glad I invested in a poncho in time for the second act, which involves the highlight of actors shooting super soakers full of Kool-Aid into the audience. Woe to the random attendees who buy tickets without knowing what they’re in for, particularly the two confused souls sitting nearby me who, before curtain, were attempting to parse what they had signed up for! Outsiders of the Evil Dead fan base are more likely to be baffled than delighted.
The only thing that threw me out of the show repeatedly was the set. The use of HD is impressive. I loved how the cast interacted with it in increasingly humorous ways, but the computer-generated backgrounds don’t compliment Sam Raimi’s homemade, lo-fi aesthetic. Even if it’s more cost effective, screens, no matter how well used for jokes involving video games and evil trees, just don’t quite hint at the reality of a stage show in the same way a few props and talented actors can create a whole world.
Evil Dead: The Musical is crammed with references to the films, jokes and in-jokes that poke both at the characters and the increasingly ridiculous plot, and over-the-top gore. This occult comedy is made by and for cult fans. The best part is how this musical takes itself just seriously enough to enthrall the audience but never so seriously as to compromise what made Raimi’s original films feel special.
