IN WHICH the undead come to singing-and-dancing life, and two animated mad-scientist brothers create much mirth and merriment.
Briana's pick: Evil Dead: The Musical
You know what’s lacking in modern musical theater these days? If you said originality, you are correct. If you said blood, chainsaws, blood, Candarian demons, and more blood then you are also right. Evil Dead: The Musical has all of these things. Plus singing and dancing, duh!
Based on the Sam Raimi writin’ and directin’, Bruce Campbell starrin’ cult classic horror/comedy series from the 1980’s, Evil Dead: The Musical follows the travails of a group of college students off for a relaxing vacation in the woods. But instead of a weekend of innocent hanky-panky, the students unwittingly resurrect an evil spirit. One by one, the spirit takes possession of each person, turns them into killer zombies, and hilarity ensues.
But the key to the musical isn’t just the dancing zombies or the catchy tunes (like “Ode to an Accidental Stabbing,” or “All the Men in My Life Keep Getting Killed by Candarian Demons”). It’s the blood (of the corn syrup and red dye variety). And if you are lucky (?) enough to be seated in the first three rows during Act II then be prepared to be covered in the stuff. They don’t call it the “splatter zone” for nothing.
Check out this live performance of the aforementioned "All the Men in My Life …" number. Catchy! Peppy!
UPDATE! Looks like there's a local production of the musical on its way. Full details are online at www.LouEvilDead.com.
James' pick: Phineas and Ferb
About 10-15 years ago, there was what felt like a new golden age of television animation, most of it taking place on the Cartoon Network. Dexter’s Laboratory … Samurai Jack … the Powerpuff Girls … so much awesome stuff, so funny and intelligent and high-class!
That gave way to an endless parade of Spongebob knockoffs, each trying to out-squick the others. So very not gooder than hell.
There is a new show that has much of the feel of the aforementioned gems, with a wit and sparkle of its own: Disney Channel’s awesome “Phineas and Ferb.”
The titular boys are brothers – one of whom inexplicably has a British accent – who are both inventors and scientific geniuses. So they spend their summer days building ridiculously contrived contraptions, building robots that can read their blueprints, staging monster truck rallies in their back yard.
In other words, they do the kinds of things that eight-year-old boys talk and daydream about doing. But they actually have the science and the skills to pull them off.
Oh, also, there’s an ongoing subplot involving their pet platypus Perry, who is a secret agent. He fights the nefarious (and inept) Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, proprietor of Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated.
It’s a very sly show, much more so than I’ve been able to suggest here. Kids will enjoy it on their level, but adults will also dig the sophisticated humor running beneath it all.
[podcast]http://archive.wfpk.org/Podcasts/20090717-nerdy.mp3[/podcast]