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Zombies, severed hands sing, dance in 'Evil Dead: the Musical'
By Penny Rathbun, prathbun@acnpapers.com
THE COLONY - Five college kids plan to spend a weekend in the woods at a remote cabin enjoying nature and each other. Within minutes everything goes horribly wrong.
That's the premise of The Colony Lakeside Community Theatre's latest offering.
But these are not the woods of Robert Frost poetry. These are the woods of dozens of black-and-white horror movies shown in 1960s passion pits. For those of you born since the 1960s, that's what drive-in movie theaters used to be called. For those of you born in the 1990s -- just Google drive-in movie theaters.
Of course this is stuff tailor-made for a musical comedy. "Evil Dead: the Musical", books and lyrics by George Reinblatt, is now playing at the Lakeside Community Theatre.
Blood and guts on stage goes back to the ancient Greek theater, but it's doubtful they sang about it in such a fetching fashion as the Lakeside Community players.
"Evil Dead: the Musical" is based on three classic horror pictures from the 1960s. Lakeside Theatre has taken this rendering of the most entertaining parts of these pictures to create a memorable evening of theater.
Benjamin Keegan Arnold and David J. Wallis, both of The Colony, co-directed this show. They have a thorough grasp of its adolescent humor. You'd have to to pull this off convincingly.
My friend that came with me to see "Evil Dead" was worried about understanding its subtleties. I assured her she would have absolutely no problem.
Nolan McDermott of Dallas as Ash, the lead college student plays out his friend's motto perfectly. "Go big or go home." He goes from a Sunday schoolish nerd to someone you would want with you if you were fighting off zombies in the woods in the 1960s. Though he is a better actor, dancer and comedian than he is a singer, he performs with major high energy. His fight with demons is an amazing physical feat and bad-ass funny.
Ash's girlfriend, Linda, is played by Anna Boyd of Denton. She doesn't stop either. In the beginning she is all cutesy perkiness, the sort that just calls to be slapped down. She gets her comeuppance with a simple, but effective stage trick. She also gets to sing a lot. Come see this show while you can still see her perform for a reasonable amount.
Rachel Robertson of The Colony has the dual role of Shelly and Annie. The same goes for Robertson in both of her roles. She uses all of her talents to the best advantage, but she could more than get by with just her great singing voice. Her turn as a zombie gives you something to think about.
Scott is Shelly's boyfriend. Jonathan Bryant of Denton plays Scott as all hormones and no social graces. He doesn't need any after all. It is "Evil Dead, the Musical." He has his moments of bad boy charm. He is particularly cute in the dance numbers.
Irvin A. Moreno of Denton plays Ed, Annie's minion. He's quite the teddy bear in his number "Bit-Part Demon." Fortunately he doesn't have a bit part because his antics on stage are fun to watch.
Aaron Schultz of The Colony as Jake looks like he might have accidentally married a family member. He manages comic moments when he's just standing still.
Victoria Irvine of Garland plays Cheryl, Ash's fifth wheel sister. She gets to do all the stuff on stage she doesn't normally get to do as LCT president. Here she sings, dances and has to recite some of the best, or worst, depending on how you look at it, puns that would make grade school kids groan. When the cellar doors open up just know she'll be down there with something worthwhile to say or sing.
Paul Niles of The Colony is Professor Knowby, the man who unleashes the evil dead on the world by reciting an incantation and then forever regrets it. With his suit and bow tie he is a pillar of sanity. Perhaps it's sanity. No one is ever quite sure.
Krysten Hahn of Little Elm, Marygail Lakner, Cody Schultz and Benjamin Keegan Arnold round out the zombie and tree crew in these woods.
The set itself is almost a character in this show. It does things. So do a few of the forest animals as well. Pay attention to them during the dance numbers choreographed by Dani Maravilla. There is a particularly loquacious moose head on the wall.
The lighting and sound are designed by director Arnold. Both are intricate and both are well executed by lighting board operator April McCallum and sound board operator Christopher Duncan.
Band members Bryce Biffle, Sarah Lovelady, Paul Thomas, Ray Herbert provide the music that makes this romp in the woods a lot of fun.
A lot of stage blood gets spilled in this show. Some of it gets spilled on the audience, though nobody leaves with any unwanted stains. If that's not your thing for interactive entertainment you may not want to sit in the first row.
Also if hearing the F word repeatedly spoken and sung is a worry, either don't come or throw caution to the winds and come anyway. Be aware there is strong language and adult situations. The show is not for young children.
If you want to completely forget about your worries for a couple hours and enjoy a few evil laughs, come see Lakeside Community Theatre's production of "Evil Dead: the Musical."
The show runs at the Lakeside Community Theatre through August 27. Call 214-801-4869 for reservations.
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