Search - Christopher Bond, Frank Cipolla, Melissa Morris :: Evil Dead: The Musical (2006 Original Off-Broadway Cast)

THE DANCING, SINGING DEAD

Robert F. Powers | Quincy, Ma USA | 04/29/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The cast recording of "Evil Dead-The Musical" is daffy, outrageous,giddy, offbeat and off-the wall, cheerfully profane and as much fun as a barrel of Candarian Demons. The songs will never be classics but they are surprisingly tuneful and bouncy even while limbs are being dismembered and heads rolling. Picking a favorite is hard since there are no clunkers but the show starts with "Cabin in the Woods" where the five friends are heading for Spring Break and they drive across stage holding a cardboard cutout of a car and drive like the Flintstones with their feet. Ash and his sweetie Linda sing of how they fell in love on aisle three of S-Mart where he is a "Housewares Employee" and she a check-out cashier.

Another delight is "Join Us" sung by the 'deadites' and a moosehead(don't ask).

One of the girls sings a ditty called "All the Men in My Life Keep Getting Killed by Candarian Demons" And the number is performed in the style of a fifties doo-wop.



Late in the show when the demons decide to team up to kill Ash they first must stop to sing and dance "Do the Necronomicon" which is a "borrow" from "Rocky Horror" but it's acknowleged during the number with the lyrics "it's like the "Time Warp"--only better."



After listening to this delightful cast album i am puzzled why it only had a two month run in New York-or maybe the problem was the fact that copious amounts of stage blood was used and sprayed even into the audience(management provided plastic ponchos to those in the first few rows). Hopefully local theatre companies across the country will mount productions.



This CD I highly recommend but be warned the language is pretty rough in spots but remember my first remarks-"It's cheerfully profane""

If You're A Fan You Need This! We Also Need This on DVD!

GameraRocks | Gillsville, GA USA | 05/02/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Evil Dead the Musical is something that every fan should buy, because if you love the movies, then you will love this musical. The songs have a wide range of emotion, mainly comedy, but some songs that are supposed to be funny (such as "Housewares Employee") are actually beautiful in its own way. The music is also a wide range of Rock genres, from DooWop to even having metal riffs. It has that Rocky Horror/Little Shop of Horrors feel, but totally stands alone and holds its own when it comes to sustenance.



This is definitely a parental advisory album, but that never stops it from being what it is, awesome. I was really impressed by the vocal talent that really adds to the songs. If the singing is bad, the songs would fail as well. Ryan Ward, who plays Ash in the musical and on this record, goes above and beyond what I expecting from an Off Broadway play. This guy can sing, and to make it even better, he does a great Bruce Campbell impersonation! He doesn't sound 100% like Bruce all of the time, but he definitely has the Bruce screams down for sure.



There is some dialogue in between some songs and it does help illustrate the story a little bit; and the album comes with a short "Act 1" "Act 2" description of the play, but if you have never seen the movies-I think the story would be hard to follow. There aren't really enough descriptions used for those who don't know the story really well. Like I said, it gives some back ground info to the story in form of the dialogue and the mini-book that comes with the album, but clueless people could still get confused not having seen the visuals.



So, with all of that said, I think that this album is a must if you are a fan of the movies. If you have never seen any of the movies except for Army of Darkness on TV, I highly recommend that you watch the first two (at least the second movie) before listening to the album. That way you can understand the jokes better and just get more out of the CD. If nothing else, watch the movies because they are awesome!

"

Evil's Funner Than It Seems

AgtShadow | Connecticut, USA | 04/27/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Brilliance. Pure brilliance. Combine a tried-and-true cult smash with great song writing, catchy tunes and a more-than-capable cast and this is what you get. If you love the movies, you *will* enjoy this CD. How could you not love an album with song titles like "Ode To An Accidental Stabbing"?!???



I was fortunate enough to catch the musical at it's second-to-last showing in NYC. This recording is around 75-90% of the musical - basically all of it except the purely-visual parts and maybe some connecting dialogue. In other words, liquid gold. The songs, famous lines and overtures like "Die, die!"



(Track 14: "I'm Not A Killer." Picture Ash sawing through a head while singing the lines with blood gratuitously spurting up at his face.)



I can't pick a favorite song because there are just too many! It's probably not quite as good if you don't have the visuals to go along with it (haven't seen the musical), but I bet you'll still get a kick out of the album, all the same.



You may know the plot, but until you heard/saw the musical, I bet you never laughed at a Candarian demon moose or someone threatening bodily dismemberment in extremely colorful language! Okay, well, maybe the second one but definitely not the first, I'd bet hard cash on that. You'll laugh and then you'll laugh some more. Unless/until the musical is running again, this is as good as it gets. Enjoy it. And if you don't, you must be a Candarian demon.



Imagine all the fun

If to evil you succumb

So just lay down that big gun



And join our dark army of evil Candarian demons!"