There are 2 Evil Dead musicals running in Vancouver right now. One from Calgary which is the touring production, with a Goliath budget for special effects and advertising, which Peggy and I saw about a week ago. And one local Vancouver production with a David budget and the upward fight in getting people to their smaller, more intimate theatre.
Did David slew Goliath? That answer would be no.
Both productions had something different going for each of them. The Calgary one was all bells and whistles, with the neat-o sets including the cabin that was alive with props and sheets-of-rain blood bath.
Although the Vancouver one was far less superior in the flash department, it did have better choreography and actors, playing up the camp factor, especially the lead actor Scott Walters who played Ash, although he acted a bit too much like Jim Carrey’s Ace Ventura.
If Peggy and I hadn’t seen the touring production, we probably would’ve thought the Vancouver DSR Production would be the bee’s knees. Certainly our friends Janet, Roger and Camilla who came with thought so.
We sat in the splatter zone this time. Smack centre of the stage. Peggy and I wanted full-on blood spatter action, so that it would complete the look of our costumes.
Did we get it?
Me more so than her. I even had the actor playing Scotty end up dead on my lap, as Ash blew the other Candarian demons right in front of our rock star seating. As for the fake blood? Kinda smelled like kool-aid.
When it was over and the house lights came on, Peggy and Janet agreed that I had just the right amount of blood spatter for my costume as zombie girl, or should I say ghoul.
Peggy on the other hand, dressed as Wednesday Adams, had gotten just a few flecks on her collar, hair and the microscopic dot on her cheek. She had held her headless doll’s torso in front of her so that it could get most of the flying blood.
Janet, on the other hand, opted to wear a pretty much full body plastic poncho instead. A bloody mess did not go with her costume as douchey girlfriend.
Vancouver or Calgary production, it was the Evil Dead musical songs that I got to enjoy all over again. And even now can not seem to get it out of my head. And that can be a teensy bit of a problem when the song that’s stuck in my head is “What the Fuck Was That?!”, sung by Ash and Scotty after blowing away Scotty’s skank that he picked up at a bar 3 days ago.
Of course the audience doesn’t get tired upon hearing the average joe anti-hero signature line taken from The Army of Darkness movie:
Yeah. Alright, you primitive screwheads, listen up. See this? This is my BOOMstick! It’s a twelve gauge double barreled Remington, S-Mart’s top-of-the-line. You can find this in the sporting goods department. That’s right, this sweet baby was made in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Retails for about $109.95. It’s got a walnut stock, cobalt blue steel and a hair trigger. That’s right. Shop Smart. Shop S-Mart. YA GOT THAT!? —Ashley J. Williams
View more photos of the Evil Dead musical on my Flickr album.
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