Evil Dead, the Musical, makes a triumphant return to the Copeland Auditorium in Dexter Michigan by way of Dexter Community Players, who stage the show for a second year in a row — and it is tighter, better performed, and funnier all-around with three-times the blood quotient.
Based on several of the Evil Dead movies, the musical has been a cult hit since it first made the rounds of the Canadian fringe festivals, then onto Toronto, NYC and now taking over the world…(There’s another version playing in Downtown Detroit for the second year in a row as well).
But Dexter’s is something special — its a community show coming together to stage something you would never expect in this otherwise smaller town — one of the strongest overall productions of the show outside of Toronto you are likely to see — complete with original stage effects and other surprises. For extra fun, wear white, and sit in the first 4 rows (called the Splatter Zone) and get drenched in gooey, icky, red-sugar-syrupy blood for two hours — and there is three times the gooey-goodness as last year. Wear a white tux; or a wedding dress; or purchase a white t-shirt at DCP.
I couldn’t get out to see the show last weekend, so this review comes with only a couple performances left…see dextercommunityplayers.org for tickets. And leave the young ones at home — this is R-rated stuff.
Don’t worry about the scares — they are all for fun and absolutely none of them actually make you jump; but they will make you laugh as curses fly, blood and guts splatter the cast and audience; guns shoot; trees dance; and everyone sounds great. Thanks to director Jason Smith for making it all work; Jonathan Sills for some great vocal work and band (which also includes Philip Eversden and Tim VanRiper), and the entire DCP cast and crew for a rollicking good time.
Kudos to cast Peter Crist, Stacey Smith, Corrina Gauss, Chris Bryant, Ann Hernandez, Katie Selby, Neil Clennan, Zak Stratton, Lawrence Bryk, and Nicole Roth.
GO SEE IT. Expect scene changes you can drive a truck through (can’t help it, costume/makeup changes are a bitch); schlocky perfectly timed performances (its what you expect with cheap horror right?) and a really fun evening out in Dexter. For you Ann Arbor folks, that’s a 10-minute drive west of town.
By the way, if you are not familiar with Dexter Community Players work, their shows often give the other local companies (civic or professional) a run for their money in the musical department; witness not only their current Evil Dead, but recent productions of Annie, The Wedding Singer, Curtains and others. Go check them out.
Mostly Musical Theatre 