I highly recommend you go see Evil Dead: The Musical because if you have seen the original Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2, then you will understand all the jokes/songs that the cast make and will need to gasp for air from laughing too hard and too long. If you haven’t seen any of the films, that is okay, you will still laugh at all the jokes they make and what they talk about.
The musical makes light hearted jokes not just about the films it’s based on, but at horror movies in general that take place in the woods. If you have seen at least one horror film that took place in the woods, then you know the ingredients that many movie productions use to make a horror movie. If you think this is going to be scary, think just the opposite!
I highly recommend you buy a ticket in the splash zone because at random parts of the musical you will be sprayed with blood! So wear a white shirt or get a poncho that they handout when you walk in if getting covered in blood is not your thing. They also have plastic bags to put your phone in and have plastic on the floor in front of the seats to cover a bag if you brought one.
The cast did a great job of portraying their characters and mocking them by making jabs at what they are doing and how it’s a crazy situation they are in. They blended the first and second Evil Dead wonderfully and used great quotes from the movies to add to the humor.
If you’re still iffy on going to see this because it says it’s a musical, see it anyway! They are singing exactly what we all think when watching a scary movie at home or in theaters! After hearing the songs, you’re going to want a CD of them because they are catchy and relatable to a viewer.
The best song of the musical has to be at the beginning with the opening song. It sets the tone and what you are about to witness. I won’t go into detail because I don’t want to ruin the glory of the musical, but be prepared to laugh almost the whole time as they sing. The best scene is right before the musical is over. It was hilarious and well done on how to end it. Basically, it ends like almost every other horror movie.
The only downside of the whole musical has nothing to do with the story, but the technology. The microphones the actors used would go out and the audience would miss a piece of a joke or plot. It was hard to follow on what was happening when I could barely hear the actor’s voice when they were normally speaking versus them speaking into their microphone. Admittedly, this only happened a few times and was fixed after intermission.
Longwood’s Theatre department always puts on amazing shows every year and they continue to get better with every show. Get your ticket, preferably splash zone, and enjoy the show while you can!
