{"id":106488,"date":"2024-07-31T09:40:48","date_gmt":"2024-07-31T13:40:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=106488"},"modified":"2024-07-31T14:00:02","modified_gmt":"2024-07-31T18:00:02","slug":"preview-evil-dead-musical-celebrates-20th-anniversary-return-toronto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2024\/07\/31\/preview-evil-dead-musical-celebrates-20th-anniversary-return-toronto\/","title":{"rendered":"PREVIEW | Evil Dead: The Musical Celebrates Its 20th Anniversary With A Return To Toronto"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Scene
Scene from Evil Dead: The Musical (Photo courtesy of Starvox Entertainment)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Evil Dead: The Musical began as a legendary Toronto theatre experience, one that went on to conquer the world with its blend of catchy music and high camp. It\u2019s based on the cult classic film series of the 1980s, The Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2, and Army of Darkness by director Sam Raimi.<\/p>\n

The plot is horror movie iconic: five college students and a cabin in the woods… What could go wrong? Plenty, as it turns out. After the students turn into demons, it\u2019s up to Ash, the wisecracking anti-hero, to save the day.<\/p>\n

The show is returning to the city where it started for the first time in seven years.<\/p>\n

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Scene from Evil Dead: The Musical (Photo courtesy of Starvox Entertainment)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Evil Dead: A Musical And A Toronto Theatre Legend<\/h3>\n

With a book and lyrics by George Reinblatt, and music from a team consisting of Frank Cipolla, Christopher Bond, Melissa Morris and George Reinblatt, the show opened in 2003 with the full blessing of both the movie series creator Sam Raimi, and its star, Bruce Campbell (Ash), and by a special arrangement with Renaissance Pictures, Ltd. & Studio Canal Image, S.A.<\/p>\n

The setting was Toronto\u2019s Tranzac Club, and the show opened in workshop form on August 13, 2003. The next day, of course, was August 14, 2003 \u2014 the day of the great blackout of northeastern North America.<\/p>\n

Then Queen\u2019s University theatre student Chris Bond, one of the performers, recalls the scene in a 2008 interview with CityTV News. As it became clear that the blackout, which began around 4 p.m., wasn\u2019t going to end anytime soon, the production moved outside, using car headlights to illuminate the action on the impromptu stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of opening to an audience of 100 or 150 people we had about 500 people on the street checking us out. It was crazy,\u201d Bond recalls<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The band switched to acoustic instruments, and sound effects were improvised by the cast members backstage.<\/p>\n

With the added hype, onstage talent, and song titles like \u201cAll the Men in My Life Keep Getting Killed by Candarian Demons\u201d and \u201cWhat the F**k was That?\u201d, the show was an immediate hit. The same production crew remounted Evil Dead for three weeks in October of that year. In 2004, it went on to the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal, and then an off-Broadway production in New York City opened in 2006.<\/p>\n

Since then, it\u2019s been staged in more than 500 productions across the globe.<\/p>\n

From the 2007 Broadway recording with the original cast:<\/p>\n