Theater review
A bloody good time at Red Branch
‘Evil Dead: The Musical' features overstated and hammy performances
Not every play sets out to be profound. The only place that “Evil Dead: The Musical” goes deep is into an artery, but on its own terms. This campy show at Red Branch Theatre Company definitely qualifies as a Halloween-timed treat.
This stage musical's source material is the 1981 horror movie “Evil Dead,” its two sequels and countless other movies that involve a group of college students who go to an isolated cabin in the woods.
Obviously, these characters are unfamiliar with the genre, because you can bank on somebody hearing a spooky noise and deciding to check it out alone, preferably late at night and with lightning and thunder accompaniment. Not a smart course of action.
One by one, they will be picked off by demons who control shoddy special effects. Although the apparent cause of death is a chain saw or a zombie bite, the real cause is stupidity on the part of the characters. That's one reason why audiences laugh and shout at the characters, telling them how dumb they are.
This stage version is populated with its share of dimwitted college kids who won't live to see graduation, but its campy self-consciousness prompts the characters to wonder aloud about the stereotypical situation they have gotten themselves into.
That's why the Red Branch actors give overstated and even hammy performances, letting us know that these collegiate characters are kinda-sorta in on the joke.
“Evil Dead: The Musical” realizes that it's spoofing horror movies that already seem like they are going for laughs as much as scares.
There's no escaping the predictability of this kind of satire, but there's also no denying that it's bloody good fun.
Speaking of blood, patrons in the first few rows of the theater are offered plastic ponchos to protect their clothes from the gushers of fake blood that flow as hands and heads are chopped off in the course of the evening.
If you're wondering whom to credit, or blame, for all this, the 2006 off-Broadway musical has a book and lyrics by George Reinblatt.
His knowingly inane story is criticism-proof in the sense that anything you say about its cartoonish nature would be likely acknowledged with a giggle.
Similarly, the music by Reinblatt, Frank Cipolla and Melissa Morris has such a goofy quality that it's best to laugh and go along. One straight-faced criticism worth making, however, is that some of the generally catchy songs are so brief that they're not allowed to satisfyingly build.
The tightly integrated story and score admittedly have the virtue of brevity, because the creative team realizes that the Book of the Dead-themed premise revealed in the first act will lead to an all-out bloodbath by the second act, and once the blood starts flowing, the only additional thing you'd call for would be a mop.
Directed and choreographed with enthusiasm by Jenny Male and featuring equally lively musical direction by Aaron Broderick, the Red Branch production is silly all the way through. It goes for belly laughs.
As the five college kids who mostly are majoring in stupid behavior, there are enjoyably over-the-top performances by Ben Stoll, Carson Elizabeth Gregory, Danny Bertaux, Sarah Goldstein and Angeleaza Anderson. Others in the cast include Peter Boyer, Sarah Luckadoo and Cole Watts.
The most consistently strong singing comes from Goldstein, whose confident voice propels such songs as “It Won't Let Us Leave,” “Look Who's Evil Now,” “Join Us” and “Ode to an Accidental Stabbing.” In those songs and elsewhere, other cast members also have their share of audience-pleasing moments.
In terms of the audience, a cautionary note is in order here. This show is not appropriate for small children. Although the situations in “Evil Dead” are sophomoric and the gore is a hoot, the characters use adult language.
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