I went to see Evil Dead: The Musical this weekend. What a wonderful show. The music was upbeat and catching. The actors were great and all looked like they were having fun. Evil Dead is playing at the New world Stage which is an under ground (literally) theater. They seem to have about 5 shows running at once, and the theaters are small which makes the show relatively intimate.
This is one of the better shows I have seen in NYC. The idea is to basically take the first 2 Evil Dead movies and cram them into an musical. Those unfamiliar with Evil Dead may remember Army of Darkness, which was the 3rd installment of the trilogy. Needless to say Evil Dead 1 & 2 while amusing to watch have become popular because of how bad they were not for how good they were. Well Evil Dead: The Musical takes all of that badness and creates something that is amazingly entertaining.
The entertainment value isn't hurt by the ticket price. It is amazing how expensive theater in New York has gotten over the years. With a Play Bill promotion the tickets were only $35. We elected not to sit in the splatter zone(tickets were a bit cheaper).
"Splatter Zone" is a bit of an understatement. At intermission trash bags and ponchos are handed out to audience members who weren't expecting to get moistened. Many of the people in attendance knew exactly what they were getting in to. During act II the blood flowed freely and the first 2 rows got a pretty good dowsing. There were a few people who left the theater completely covered in stage blood. It seemed like everyone there was having a great time. There were some older people in front of us who didn't stay for the second act, I guess the were surprised by the content. Although I have to say it seems like you shouldn't buy tickets for any show without doing at least a little research. But I and the rest of the audience enjoyed the production a great deal.
If you are in New York, before this show closes and this is your type of thing I highly recommend you check it out.
