Evil Dead: The Musical comes alive at New World Stages on Monday, October 2 for an unlimited Off-Broadway run. Official Opening is set for Wednesday, November 1 @ 7:00 PM. Evil Dead: The Musical, directed by Christopher Bond and Tony® Award winner Hinton Battle, is presented by Jenkay LLC, Jeffrey Latimer Entertainment and Just For Laughs Live.
A “dis-arm-ingly” riotous musical comedy based on Sam Raimi’s 80s cult-classic horror films, Evil Dead: The Musical unearths the old familiar story: boy and friends take a weekend getaway at abandoned cabin, boy expects to get lucky, boy unleashes ancient evil spirit, friends turn into Candarian Demons, boy fights until dawn to survive. As musical mayhem descends upon this sleepover in the woods, “camp” takes on a whole new meaning with uproarious numbers like “All the Men in my Life Keep Getting Killed by Candarian Demons,” “Look Who’s Evil Now” and “Do the Necronomicon.” Buzzing chainsaws and dancing demons add to the frenzy, slaying audiences with a tale of lust, love and dismemberment.
Evil Dead: The Musical first glimpsed the light of day in Toronto, where early workshop engagements played to capacity and beyond. While mainstream audiences flocked to the show, diehard Evil Dead fans made pilgrimages from across North America to witness the birth of a new cult hit. The popular workshop production enjoyed two sold-out runs at Toronto’s Transac Club before heading off to Montreal, where Evil Dead: The Musical opened on July 2, 2004 at the Cabaret du Plateau as part of the 22nd Just For Laughs Festival.
Directed by Christopher Bond and three-time Tony® Award-winner Hinton Battle, Evil Dead: The Musical includes book and lyrics by George Reinblatt, music by Frank Cipolla, Christopher Bond, Melissa Morris and George Reinblatt with music supervision by Frank Cipolla and choreography by Hinton Battle.
The 80s B-movies directed by the legendary Sam Raimi (Spiderman, “Xena: Warrior Princess”) are the inspiration for this new musical. Over the years, the Evil Dead films have garnered an enormous following and enduring cult appeal. As viewers deemed the films wildly funny as well as scary, they became loyal fans of the original and its sequels. “With each installment, the trilogy delves further and further into farce and camp,” observes Evil Dead: The Musical co-creator and director Christopher Bond, “Turning it into a musical was the next logical step.”
George Reinblatt makes his NY debut with Evil Dead: The Musical, but is no stranger to comedy writing. In addition to regularly writing for American comedy stars North of the border, he recently finished up as head writer for Canada’s Walk of Fame, which honors outstanding Canucks. For five years, he’s written at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal for greats including John Cleese, Tina Fey, Jason Alexander, Jim Belushi, Tom Arnold & Craig Ferguson. Evil Dead marks his first stage production. Christopher Bond is a graduate of the Queen’s University, Ontario Stage & Screen Studies program and has been developing/directing Evil Dead with his partners since 2002. He appeared in Tony & Tina’s Wedding at Second City in Toronto, produced the Toronto Fringe Festival hit Cheapskate and directed the horror spectacle FearFest at Paramount’s Canada’s Wonderland. Bond loves both horror movies and Broadway musicals and declares that this combination can exist. Frank Cipolla has performed percussion, keyboards & electric bass for 15 years. He is the drummer of the funk-ska band “Franklin’s Fault” and provides the bass grooves in Toronto’s “The New Math.” He recently Music Directed & Arranged York University’s Mock Trial Law School Revue and Queen’s Players Toronto’s The Apprentice Bride.
Co-creator Christopher Bond teams with Tony® Award winner Hinton Battle to direct. Hinton Battle is a three-time winner of the Tony® for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical (Miss Saigon, The Tap Dance Kid, Sophisticated Ladies). Other Broadway credits include The Wiz, Chicago, Dreamgirls and Bob Fosse’s Dancin’. TV credits include “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Sister, Sister,” “13 Days to Glory,” among others. Battle is a recipient of the NAACP Image and Fred Astaire Awards, and the founder and artistic director of The Hinton Battle Theatre Laboratory. Most recently he choreographed Idlewild, a new film starring Outkast, making its world premiere at the Ziegfield Theatre (NYC) on August 21. He co-stars in the upcoming major motion picture Dreamgirls.
Evil Dead: The Musical features Jennifer Byrne, Jenna Coker, Renee Klapmeyer, Amy Shute, Tom Walker, Brandon Wardell, Ryan Williams and Darryl Winslow.
The production includes set design by Tony® Award winner David Gallo (B’way: Best Scenic Design – The Drowsy Chaperone, Gem of the Ocean, Dance of the Vampires, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Smell of the Kill), costumes by Cynthia Nordstrom (B’way: Dance of the Vampires; Off-B’way: A Property Known as Garland, Jewtopia, Silent Laughter; over 14 shows for Walt Disney World) lights by Jason Lyons (B’way: The Three Penny Opera, Barefoot in the Park, Abigail’s Party, Brilliant Mistake for Friends in Deed, Hurlyburly) sound by Peter Fitzgerald (B’way: The Odd Couple, Movin’ Out, Victor/Victoria) and Kevin Lacy (B’way: Say Goodnight Gracie, Annie – the 20th Anniversary; Off B’way: Jewtopia) with makeup and special effects by Louis Zakarian (Film: Requium for a Dream – art/makeup, Dogma – effects; TV: Saturday Night Live – Emmy Nomination).
Evil Dead: The Musical possesses New World Stages, Stage 1 (340 West 50th Street, between 8th & 9th Avenues) starting Monday, October 2 and will play as follows: Monday through Thursday @ 8:00 PM, Friday @ 7:30 PM, Saturday @ 7:00 PM with special LATE NIGHT performances Friday & Saturday @ 11:00 PM.
For more info, visit the Evil Dead: The Musical website.
