Not really a theater review … more a fanboy gush over ‘Evil Dead: The Musical’ at Selma Arts Center
By Donald Munro
I can’t write a real review of Selma Arts Center’s “Evil Dead: The Musical.”
Pictured above: Chris Ortiz-Belcher and Chloe Mae Tabor get to know each other better in “Evil Dead: The Musical.” Photo: Selma Arts Center
I’m just too big a fan of the material. (Which should be pretty obvious considering the number of pixels I’ve thrown at the production these past weeks.)
Sure, there are people with opposing views – many people, I’m guessing –who see it differently. If they go to the current blood-soaked production now playing through Sept. 7, they likely will use words like this to describe it: Cheesy. Sexist. Supremely violent. Unabashedly profane. Disgusting. Silly. Stupid.
I cannot defend this show from any of those adjectives. Yet I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face as I watched it.
Thus, as the production finishes up its third weekend and heads into the fourth, I present the following non-review, complete with weirdly specific categories:
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Best lyric: “I got some Shelly on my shoe.” I’m not even going to give you the context on this one. (Credit to Chris Ortiz-Belcher as Ash and Kaci Clason as Shelly.)
Best sound made by a human throat: The gurgle at the end of “Good Old Reliable Jake.” (Credit to Bryan DeBates as Jake.)
Best possessed animal on stage: The beaver. (Credit to the beaver puppeteer.)
Best voice of a singing moose: Joseph Portella, who sounds like a mix of the smarmy announcer for “Big Brother” and a couple of lungfuls of helium.
Related story: Selma Arts Center hopes for a bloody good time with ‘Evil Dead: The Musical.’ As for me, I’m waiting for the song about Candarian demons.
And: Now streaming: ‘The Munro Review on CMAC’ puts the spotlight on the scary, campy (and often utterly silly) ‘Evil Dead: The Musical’ at Selma Arts Center
Best overacting: I’d have to go with Chloe Mae Tabor as Linda, whose onstage style is equal parts perky corporate trainer and melodrama heroine.
Best fake blood: Elizabeth Heinrichs, the makeup, hair and SFX designer. Sure, the blood might be a bit pale in the color department – lacking some hemoglobins? – but it washes out if you scrub hard enough. Which is important at a slasher musical.
Best blood ninjas: The Blood Ninjas, who creep out from time to time and spray extra blood on the audience. (Credit to James Anderson, Morgan Blackburn and P.J. Clausing.) We need to give lots of props to these hard-working thespians, especially because there is not a lot of call for blood ninjas in other musicals. This is the only chance they’ll get to work for a long time. Also, I loved how gratuitous the ninjas were in their fake-blood spraying of those sitting in the Splash Zone; there’s no chance you’ll get out of there unsoaked. None at all.
Best prop: the chainsaw. Duh. You can’t have “Evil Dead” without a chainsaw. (Credit to Kim Houston.)
Best possession: Lilianna Herrington, as Cheryl. Seriously. She’s a little scary.
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Best song about Candarian demons: “All the Men in My Life Keep Getting Killed by Candarian Demons. (Credit to Emily Swalef for nailing the most profound song in the musical-theater universe.) I also loved Miz-Unique Slater’s choreography in this number.
Best jerk: Oscar Arellano as Scott. I would wager to say that eight times out of 10, Scott’s own mother would be rooting for the demons to kill her obnoxious progeny in this production, thanks to Arellano’s suitably abrasive characterization. If I ever meet you in person, Oscar, please don’t be surprised if I taser you out of reflex.
Best breakout number: Gavin Flores, as Ed, who gets to ham it up in “Bit Part Demon.” He made me think of how weird it would be if my accountant suddenly broke into song while doing my taxes.
Best creative team: It all comes together on this labor-of-love show: Ajay Davis’ sound design, Jacquie Ford’s costume design, Christina McCollam Martinez’s scenic design, and Vinny Galindo’s lighting design. Good, fun stuff.
Best reason to see this show: To laugh. Thanks to co-directors Claudio Laso and Summer S. Session (and assistant director Xaivtuam Her), you get to do that. I give it nine buckets of blood out of 10.
