A Bloody Good Time!

When I was twelve, my very favourite movie was Sam Raimi’s 80’s cult classic, The Evil Dead. My best friend and I watched it over and over, scared shitless every time. Ten years later, I still loved the film for its camp quality. So when I heard the musical version was coming to town, I was dying to see it, and was lucky to score comp tickets.

Jana and I made a night of it—we met up before the show at one of my favourite places in Toronto, the Black Bull patio, for a dinner of potato skins and beers. Then we headed to the Diesel Playhouse, a very cool theatre, where I was transported back in time—Whitesnake was playing on the sound system, and the bar menu boasted all my old favourites, like Killer Koolaid and Long Island Ice Tea. We opted for the ice tea (wicked strong) and found our seats, which were perfect--third row, just on the periphery of the “splatter zone” (more on that later).

The show, a fusion of the two Evil Dead movies and Army of Darkness, is a blast. The musical numbers are hilarious, with original songs including, “What the Fuck Was That?”, “What a Stupid Bitch” and my favourite number, complete with eighties dance moves a la Thriller, “Necronomicon”. The characters announce their changeover to the demon world with eerily effective masks, and the catchy little ditty, “Look Who’s Evil Now!”

Ryan Ward is perfection as Ash (played by Bruce Campbell in the film. Speaking of Bruce Campbell, if you haven’t seen Bubba Ho-tep, you simply must. Take my word for it). The role of Cheryl (the demon in the cellar) is played by a fabulous Rachel Fischer—she is actually quite scary. Our seats were right in front of her trap door and she kinda freaked me out.

We’d heard rumours of a “splatter zone”, so we weren’t surprised when, during intermission, they handed out ponchos for the two rows in front of us! I tingled with anticipation when Ash fired up his chainsaw. A little while later, I cheered and laughed as blood, limbs and organs started flying everywhere, and I just rescued my drink in time before our table and laps were drenched in the sticky stuff. Whoot! Whoot!

The show’s on until June 23 and you can buy tickets here. So go, get your tickets, not another peep!