So Evil, It’s Good

Evil Dead: The Musical

A Meadville Community Theatre Production

A Review

For theater lovers (and reviewers, too) any season is the right season for a worthwhile show. However, an outdoor performance in mid-October may test the mettle of some not-so-devoted attendees.

Apparently forgoing a look at the Farmer’s Almanac, producers of the Meadville Community Theatre decided to stage their current production Evil Dead: The Musical on the grounds of Voodoo Brewing Company in Meadville.

Why MCT wasn’t producing the show at its regular location at Allegheny campus was a question I had before I arrived; why they were producing the October 15th show I attended amid chilly winds and rain storms I wondered after I spotted the show’s pianist wearing ski gloves before the performance (No kidding!)

That said, after finding a seat and settling in under a high carport-like structure and still getting sprinkled on, I migrated to the other side, kept my fingers crossed and settled in for a definite Halloween-esque production.

Originally staged in Toronto in 2003, Evil Dead: The Musical is a riff on the Evil Dead movie franchise that launched the careers of director Sam Raimi (Spiderman, Darkman, A Simple Plan) and actor Bruce Campbell (Bubba Ho-Tep, My Name is Bruce).

Telling the tale of five college kids who go to an empty cabin in the woods (a cliché that never ends well) to party, they find a mysterious book, the Necronomicon, that once read aloud, releases demons or Deadites. The college kids fight the Deadites, become Deadites, some somehow become human again”before, during and after swearing, singing, sexing, screaming, stabbing and cracking wise.

With live backing music the actors perform some songs with memorable titles: What the F*** was That, I’m Not a Killer and Ode to an Accidental Stabbing.

Chock-full of blood and gore (Beware to those who sit up front: It’s a blood zone!) and the occasional dancing that was somewhat choreographed, the audience could tell the actors were enjoying themselves onstage. Ash (Dan Winston), the lead demon slayer, broke the fourth wall several times speaking directly to the audience; his horndog buddy, Scott (Mitchell King) was entertaining in his profanity and salaciousness; Cheryl (Alicia Greathouse), Ash’s sister goes from wimpster to wicked once possessed; Shelly (Meadow Campbell), Scott’s pickup girlfriend amuses with her dishy ditziness, while Linda (Renna Wrubleski), Ash’s actual girlfriend, serves as a genuine love interest actually worth battling demons for.

Troupers all, the cast of the Geoff Hall-Ahmaya Andrews production kept the audience amused, grossed out and entertained at the same time”not an easy juggling act.

Troupers all, the audience stayed and enjoyed Evil Dead; no one bailing at intermission”albeit some applauding while wearing gloves on their hands.

Just like the pianist.

***Daphne Beaumont

***Explicit language, violence and sexual situations; parental discretion is strongly advised.

Evil Dead: The Musical runs through October 22. For more information, visit mctbackstage.com

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