Don’t you wanna join the crew? You’ll be all dead and evil too! JOIN THEM!! JOIN THEM!!
It’s an annual tradition like Christmas Carol or Rocky Horror only so much more bad-ass and way more fun because of the…
BLOOD.
Yes. Blood. For their ninth year— Evil Dead: The Musical returns (Deer in the Spotlight is producing this in the creepy back-gym of Havre de Grace’s STAR Centre this year) to get you SOAKED…if you’re seated in the splash zone. And if getting drenched in the blood of hapless, campy caricatures-come-Candarian-demons isn’t your thing…there’s non-soaking seats for all your normies too. Directed by Bob Denton with Musical Direction by Shane Jensen and Choreography by Tigga Smaller, Parker Bailey Steven, and Lanoree Blake, you’re in for a screaming good time whether you’re in the splash-zone or not! A high-camp, hilarious romp through the haunted woods of who-the-hell-actually-knows-where, this zingy, zippy musical theatre tradition is the must-see show of Spooky Season in Havre de Grace. Plus they sell merch! And who doesn’t want an S-mart badge!?
ROLLCALL:
Director? Bob Denton? ✔️And he’s got all the wicked-sick hydraulics in place on that zany cabin-in-the-woods set (also a fabrication and labor of love belonging to Denton and company.) It’s one of the most visually impressive ‘pack-n-play’ pieces of theatre to exist as it’s not only a fully functional and visually appealing set but could readily be a feature in high-quality spook-installation for Halloween season. As Technical Director and Scenic Master (working dangerously close with Tyler ‘Danger’ Bristow’ who does the show’s lights and is also the show’s crew-run-man on-scene with assists from Becky Flickinger and Tigga Smaller) Denton’s work is just unhinged; you get all kinds of splatter-worthy special effects and an immersive drenching into his love of this musical. As the show’s Director you get a wild-ride of a show— the perfect level of high-octane camp, the spicy blend of raunchy-rude-old-school fun, and slick scenic pacing as everything flows from one scene to the next…even and especially when caution tape goes rolling away.
Music Director? Shane Jensen? ✔️You betcha! Tracks never sounded so balanced as they do with Jensen at the helm. And musically the cast of nine really get their vocals on under Jensen’s seasoned direction. You get those nice, peppy, perky, blended harmonies during “Cabin the Woods” and some really optimal backing doo-woops during “All the Men in My Life Keep Getting Killed by Candarian Demons” from Good Ol’ Reliable Jake and Ash, with Ash really wailing those Frankie Valli-style falsetto sweet sounds. There’s robust belting and torch song romance numbers and even a tango; the musical styling selection is pretty wild and Jensen has a firm hand— maybe Ash’s right hand!?— on all of it.
Choreographer? TEAM SSB? ✔️Oh yes. Tigga Smaller, Parker Bailey Steven, Lanoree Blake all reporting for Necronomicon duty. Those Deadites like to get their freak on and Smaller, Steven, and Blake ensure that they’re givin’ it their best Henry Winkler and then some. The zombie-gnawed-leg-stand-mic fixture even got worked back into that number this year (it’s a real shocker and a treasured piece of Evil Dead history with this company!) You can feel the call of the music and if you’ve seen this show even just once before you’ll be popping your pelvis in your seat along to those sick, sick moves. Aces all round, SSB!
Where’s whatshisface? “Danger” ✔️ (The same aforementioned Tyler Bristow from somewhere above here!) You’ll see him. As the apathetically annoyed or annoyingly apathetic— jaded but juiced? Juicy but jaded? Not sure which of those best befits his total attitude for this production but it wouldn’t be Evil Dead: The Musical without it. Scene-man? Running-scene man? (No actually running was seen with this man during the production but give him some crime-scene-caution-tape and watch what happens…) He thwaps that footbridge into place real good. And if you’re extra lucky? Sitting somewhere up-close? When poor Cheryl goes out to investigate the woods and gets set upon? Bristow might just smack you apathetically with so-so gusto using his two twig-n-leaf stick!
Stage Manager? Lithia Knopp? ✔️Costume Designer? Lithia Knopp? ✔️No they didn’t clone her. (Though with all the crazy-amazing things she’s doing for the show I’ll bet she wishes they had!) Knopp is running the board from the back, calling the shots and making all that amazing stuff happen with Bristow’s epic lights, Denton’s excellent set and all that jazz. Knopp has tear-away costumes…torn-away costumes…costumes that won’t tear…and some clever replicas in place for when headless torsos have to run around on stage whilst the heads of the actors are…elsewhere. It all flows down the production pipeline like gallons and gallons of blood when it comes to the way Knopp’s sartorial selection fits the overall aesthetic verve of this show.
Returning Ceiling Candy Artist? London St. Juniper? ✔️Dangling from the vaulted gymnasium ceiling for your deathly pleasure as pre-show and intermission entertainment, London St. Juniper will be ‘hanging out’ above you providing visually striking and stunning aerial moves that feel like they fit right on in with this show.
Now about this band of Deadites… These nine zany… I hesitate to call them ‘actors’ because I’m fairly certain their reanimated corpses that Bob Denton is just packing away with the set at end of each annual run of Evil Dead. I mean seriously, they look just a little younger each year…get a little more physically insane on stage each year…and seem to grow just a little bit more talented each year. And next year marks ten years…so holy hell who knows what they’ll be doing then— flying through the entire performance several inches off the ground. And there’s all kinds of added goodies for this year’s performance but let’s not spoil too many of them. You’ll just want to keep your eye on Matt Wolffe as he ‘flies’ through right before the character of Annie gets introduced. Just to mention one.
Of course, speaking of Wolffe… “Matt Wolffe and Tigga Smaller. Shemps. Fake Shemps. Moose. (Meese? Mooses? Headless Moose?) They do their thing and it’s great. It’s like playing “Easter Egg Hunt” when you try and count how many times these two pop up throughout the production.” (TheatreBloom 2023) That’s still true. Trying to count where these two pop-up and when is a form of entertainment all its own. And that’s still true and it’s one of the many, many things that the audiences who flock regularly to this spooky season stage tradition like to do.
Yosemite Sam…also known as Good Ol’ Reliable Jake is back again to be fussin’ and a hollerin’ with hi trademarked ‘octave-vocal-jumps’ whenever he gets rage-cited (like angry-excitement only more vocal) and boy oh boy does he start jumping and flinging and flapping his arms in a true stomp-down temper tantrum on stage. He’s even got a little grown-in ponytail in his beard to complete the look, that Steve Flickinger does. And he’s got vocals that grease their way right on over his eponymous number. If you can, be sure to get one of his business cards when the character is first introduced (I think I’m up to seven now…with one or two from long before Flickinger took over the role some eons ago!) He’s got a wild temperament and if you’re extra lucky…he might just fall on you. Or bleed on you. Or in my case— both!
Mary Elizabeth Gipe returns for her…fourth year in a row? (We determined last year or perhaps the year before that…that between myself and Bob Denton one of us can’t count…and it’s me…so this could be wildly inaccurate or also completely on the mark.) Taking up the dueling mantle of slutty Shelly and sensible Annie, Gipe gives you a spiky contrast between the sensuously intelligent Annie and the ‘lights-on-nobody’s-home’ Shelly. The vague look of two brain cells fighting for oxygen when she’s playing Shelly is sublime. And all of the hard innuendo that she gets to dispense as Annie is just brilliant. And she gets to do a lot of proper belting, particularly during “All of the Men in My Life Keep Getting Killed by Kandarian Demons” before she turns into one. (It’s not a f**king spoiler. Pretty much everyone turns into a Kandarian Demon at some point. Sheesh.)
Parker Bailey Steven returns to her raunchy role as Linda…who just about loses her head over the opportunity to be Ash’s S-Mart girlfriend. You get the campiest of campy camp crap happening between Steven’s Linda and Mike Bliss’ Ash…especially when they cheat smile out at the audience whenever something hokey is going down. They plow right over that line of raunchy and rude and have a blast with it. Though nobody is going to take the title of King Raunch away from Rance Denton as Scotty.
He’s another one that just gets better with age. Somehow more agile. Somehow able to fling himself all over that stage during those knock-down, drag-out fight scenes…though Denton’s floor-flop capabilities are second only to Mike Bliss himself who still runs the circus when it comes to solo-on-self stage combat. That scene never gets old, looks and feels more violent with every progressive year and is just unhinged and unfettered in a hilarious fashion. Denton takes vocal point on “Do the Necronomicon” and takes the center-focal dancing spot too.
Who am I forgetting? Oh! Cherly! Sh*t! Sorry, Cheryl! Guess you…slipped…my mind. Slipped right on down to the basement! In chains! Okay, okay, nobody’s as good at bad puns as Lanoree Blake and it’s always a treat to see her back haranguing and harassing Ash and the others once she too becomes a Kandarian Demon, which happens pretty freaking quick in this production. Mastering the nerdy, whiny vocal patois and cadence of the ‘younger, awkward’ sister, Blake makes a stellar transition from that feeble character into the foul-mouthed, taunting Demon-of-your-nightmares and I’m here for it. And you should be too.
It all comes down to that S-Mart-employed, boomstick-toting, Kandarian-Demon-slayin’ badass Ash. That’s right, the original Dorian Gray of Havre de Grace (if you drop down into Cheryl’s basement you might find a picture of Mike Bliss moldering away down there…), Mike Bliss is belting his face voice, doing vocal acrobatics, physical acrobatics, and campy-acting acrobatics. But what’s really wild is he takes it dead serious, which just adds to the heightened camp and over-the-top caricature nature of his performance. You’ll never grow tired of hearing him belt “Die diiiiiiiiiiieeeeee!” at the end of the first act and the top of the second act and if you’re lucky, you’ll be sitting close enough to get some of those extremely intense stares directed right at you from Bliss. It’s—well, bliss! (There, Cheryl, do I get a pun-clap now?)
Do not wait to get your tickets. This thing sells out every year. It’s extraordinary the performances are wild, the special effects are extraordinary and it’s the must-see show of Havre de Grace this spooky season. Be sure to catch Evil Dead: The Musical at The STAR Centre for it’s limited two-weekend engagement. If you miss it, you’ll—
What? Who? Oh. Right. Him.
Sorry. Forgot the other whatshisface. Bit Part Demon Guy. Whose feet swing along from behind the couch once he’s died but before he become a demon while Annie is singing. Peterson. Matthew Peterson. That one. He’s in this thing too. Again. (Now with three-times more added physical shenanigans that will have you busting a gut with laughter because he’s hitting the deck like the rest of them in true Evil Dead laugh-out-loud style.)
Back to the telling you to get your tickets part. GET YOUR TICKETS. And JOIN THEM.
JOOOOOOOIIIIIIN THEM!!
Running Time: Approximately 2 hours and 10 minutes with one intermission
Evil Dead: The Musical plays through October 26th 2024 as a Deer in the Spotlight production in the pickleball-gymnasium of The STAR Centre— 700 Congress Avenue in Havre de Grace, MD. Tickets are available at the door or in advance online.
