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Musical is bloody good for laughs
(by Herb Hammer - May 13, 2009)
THEATER, BY HERB HAMMER
Musical is bloody good for laughs
Cult horror movies have had their day. The intent when they were popular was to scare the bejabbers out of teens. They loved it and came back for more. Now, these movies are mostly gone.
In the 1980s, one of the worst of these bloody films, "Evil Dead," did pretty good business, so good that two sequels followed.
Canadian comedy writer George Reinblatt thought it a good idea to bring the movie sequel to the stage, call it "Evil Dead: The Musical" and have a good time making idiotic fun of the entire business.
Beck Center is staging this blood-and-gore comic musical thriller in its Studio Theatre in Lakewood.
Adults only with the intelligence of children, please.
In order to make the story of this mess of a musical comedy, Mr. Reinblatt starts off with five sex-minded college students on spring break sneaking into an abandoned cabin in the woods.
In the midst of some intentionally awful songs and clumsy dances, the story moves on. The kids find a 13th-century book of the dead and an audio tape that summons demons. In fact, nearly everyone becomes possessed.
Now, the fun begins. As his friends, including his sister, are turned into ugly demons, our hero, Ash, chain saw in hand -- one hand only, for he has cut off the other -- begins chopping up the demons before they get him.
Blood begins to fly. If you're sitting in the first two rows, you'll be covered with it.
The plot, the songs and the dances are purposely terrible, except perhaps one song sung by the talented Betsy Kahl. Her "All the Men in my Life Keep Getting Killed by Candarian Demons" brings down the house.
A talking moose head, trees that come to life and a hand that takes on a life of its own offer a modest amount of laughs.
The lighting by Michael Boll and the amazing special effects by P.J. Tommey and Dan Folino, who also does remarkable work as Ash, the bloody lead character, breathe life into this overplayed, over-danced and over-sung two hours of insanity.
The opening night audience began laughing long before there was anything to laugh at, something that had the rest of us wondering.
Ash's sister now has become a demon, spending the entire show trying to crash out of the cellar while screeching indistinguishable monologues. Ash's friend is now on the sofa with his insides falling out. With Ash's girlfriend's demon head threatening to put an end to the leading man, you come to realize this is a show for the youth who haven't fully developed a true sense of humor.
But that's just it. Mr. Reinblatt's script and lyrics have targeted this audience just as the movie "Evil Dead II."
Director Scott Spence does exactly what's expected, creating juvenile hilarity just by spouting blood everywhere in sight. Not only that, but it's not hard to see he's having a good time doing so.
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