EVIL DEAD: THE MUSICAL
Featuring Ryan Ward, Tenja Hagenberg. Directed by Hinton Battle,
Christopher Bond. Written by George Reinblatt. Presented by Jeffrey
Latimer Entertainment and the Diesel Playhouse. To Apr 5. $10-$65. Diesel
Playhouse, 56 Blue Jays Way.
Returning to its spiritual home and once again starring Ryan Ward as the lantern-jawed, demon-slaying everydude Ash, this latest reanimation of the Dora-winning splatterstick spectacular boasts a bigger budget (read: more blood), but thankfully never strays from its endearingly low-rent, last-night-of-Fringe! feel. Although, when demonic possession, wanton gunplay, chainsaw dismemberment, forcible tree-sex and self-amputation are your major plot points, it’s kinda hard to really Mirvish things up too much.
For the unconverted, ED:TM follows a gang of coeds, led by college sweethearts Ash and Linda (Dena Chiarcossi), to an isolated cabin in the woods. After stumbling across the mysterious Sumerian Book of the Dead (and some conveniently tape-recorded incantations), they unwittingly unleash a cavalcade of wisecracking evil spirits hell-bent on killing them all. And then things get weird.
Soaked in gore, awash in terrible puns and smashingly drunk on its own ridiculousness, the production manages to satisfy its source material’s rabid fanboy/girl base while still being a bloody riot for neophytes. For every diehards-only riff and recycled catchphrase, there’s a lively song-and-dance number or expository power ballad at the ready to flesh out the messy ancillary details and smirkingly acknowledged plot holes. The enthusiastic cast runs completely wild with the script, hamming it up with straight-faced b-movie aplomb as they dance, defile and disembowel each other to a brilliantly OTT score. Loud, raunchy and gory as hell, ED:TM is still more fun than you can shake a boomstick at. Come get some.