Theatre Raises ‘Evil Dead’ in Time for Halloween

By Dan Nonte, University Relations

Contact: (336) 334-4314

Posted 10-1-09

GREENSBORO, N.C. — A singing, biting moose head. Chainsaw amputations. Gratuitous blood and gore.

It all adds up to “Evil Dead: The Musical,” UNCG Theatre’s campy, gore-filled Halloween offering. “Dead,” based on Sam Raimi’s 1981 cult horror classic, runs Oct. 23-Nov. 1 in the Brown Building Theatre.

Late night showings are scheduled in celebration of the Halloween season.

“Evil Dead: The Musical” opened as a fringe production in Toronto that had audiences shouting out lines along with the actors. The show later moved Off Broadway. Its tunes have some of musical theater’s stranger titles, including, “Look Who’s Evil Now,” “Do the Necronomicon,” “Bit-Part Demon” and “All the Men in My Life Keep Getting Killed by Kandarian Demons.”

“The musical is hugely entertaining for Deadites and for those who have never seen the movie,” said theatre professor and director Jim Wren. “It’s going to be a great event. It’s sort of our personal haunted house.”

“Dead” begins as five college students arrive at a cabin in the woods. Inside, they find an ancient copy of “The Book of the Dead” as well as a cassette tape with recorded incantations from the book. When they play the tape, they unwittingly release soul-devouring demons. One by one, the students are slain and possessed by evil forces. The hero, Ash, is left to battle his zombified friends.

When it played off-Broadway in 2006, a New York Times reviewer said, “‘Evil Dead: The Musical’ wants to be the next ‘Rocky Horror Show,’ and it just may succeed. Some people might think that you’d need to have seen at least one of Sam Raimi’s ‘Evil Dead’ movies to appreciate this show. But not necessarily. Horror comedy is, to say the least, a highly accessible genre, even for those who don’t recognize and cheer the signature lines taken from the movies. Sure, the show is idiotic, but that’s the point.”

“Evil Dead: The Musical” is not for children. It contains adult language and graphic effects.

Wren said a student group will sell plastic ponchos to shield audience members from splattered theatrical blood. “It’s a small space, so practically all the seats are in the splatter zone.”

Show times are 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Oct. 23, 24 and 27-31 and 2 p.m., Oct. 25 and Nov. 1. Tickets are $18 for adults; $15 for seniors and non-UNCG students; $12 for groups of 10 or more and UNCG alumni; and $10 for UNCG students. Contact the University Box Office at (336) 334-4849 or http://boxoffice.uncg.edu.