Evil Dead: The Underdog Musical
Just so everyone’s clear: There are two versions of Evil Dead: The Musical playing in Vancouver right now. One’s a professional production by Ground Zero Theatre/Hit & Myth/Keystone which originated out of Calgary and is playing at the Vogue Theatre. You’ve probably seen the full page ads in newspapers for that one. Then there’s the other production, an “amateur” one by DSR Proudctions, that’s filled with local talent and playing at the Norman Rothstein Theatre. It’s a totally bizarre situation, especially as this highly anticipated musical is being touted as the new “Rocky Horror Picture Show”.
As a professional production, everyone at the Vogue is getting paid. Now, while those in the DSR production may not be getting paid as much, everyone involved has credentials similar to the “professionals” so it is reasonable to expect the talent level to be pretty much on par. Really, the only difference I can tell from afar is that the professional production has a much larger advertising budget and thus their ticket prices are almost double that of the amateur production. So if you’re trying to decide which production of Evil Dead to go to, I suggest you look into your wallet and see if you’ve got a bunch of money you want to throw away to go to the one at the Vogue, because the DSR production of Evil Dead: The Musical fucking rules.
Now I’m only reviewing the DSR production so I can’t compare the two, but I really can’t see how the one at the Vogue can be that much better. For one, Scott Walters is as good as they come for a lead in a musical — especially for a character like Ash, who needs that special bit of bravado that Bruce Campbell gives to the role in the movie. All the other characters feed off of Ash’s energy and humour, and he is in control of the entire story. So if DSR has a saving grace in its battle of the Evil Dead’s, it’s Walters, who has the great comedic timing – and a hell of a voice – needed to lead them into the zombie slaughter. (There is a pun there, by the way, describing theatre in Vancouver. Just so you know.)
Mat Baker, Meghan Gardiner, Erik Gow, Ian Rozylo, Matthew Graham, and Jennifer Neumann round out a talented cast. Gardiner, especially, gets some wonderful camp comedy moments as the ditsy Shelley and also the over-bearing Annie. There were a couple opening night miscues, including an actor whispering backstage (while on microphone) to ‘go through the window’. It was all part of the experience, and the audience seemed to love it because of, not in spite, of its ‘amateur’ budget. One of the biggest cheers in fact came from one of these miscues: when Annie wound up her axe to hit Ash, the rubber blade flew off into the crowd. The guy who caught it decided to throw it back. It really turned out to be an adventurous evening for the front row (titled the “splatter zone,” as they got doused periodically with fake blood). There weren’t as many “blood” moments as I’d expected, but maybe that’s what the extra $30 is for over at the Vogue. If you’re looking for a quality musical, with a live band (Vogue doesn’t have one), DSR at the Norman Rothstein will have your blood-stained cheeks grinning ear to ear.
Groovy.
The DSR version of Evil Dead: The Musical continues at the Norman Rothstein Theatre until November 7th. For more information why don’t you hack your way here.
Editor’s note: in the interest of fair play we did request review tickets for the Ground Zero production but their publicist never got back to us.
Read what Tyson thought here.
Everyone is certainly
Everyone is certainly entitled to their opinion regarding the merits of either or both productions. However, the real issue to be discussed here should be Ground Zero’s decision to come to town with their production if they knew another company was already mounting it at the same time. Perhaps they would claim ignorance of the Vancouver production but given the personal relationship Mr. McKendrick claims to have with various members of DSR, it seems unlikely. If they have a different narrative than the one I know, then I’d be happy to hear it. Otherwise, I think they should be held accountable for such a devious act of cannibalism. It is nothing short of shameful. Theatre is such a small community in this country that undercutting anyone’s efforts like that is unconscionable. I do hope both productions are financially successful, for the sake of all those employed by each, but I really hope that audiences, media and theatre professionals all call foul on Ground Zero’s decided lack of professionalism in this case.
Everyone is certainly
There is a much bigger story here behind the scenes and one that has not been told in full. I’m not going to go into it now. We have decided there is nothing to be gained by slamming other artists. Suffice it to say, we at GZT acted ethically in this situation.
Welll....
I hope you do go into it. I have no doubt you’ve acted ethically – but I think some proof would go a long way to help your cause!
Welll...
And what “cause” would that be? More pointless gossip for the grist mill?
Not at all.
Hey – I’m on your side. I think the was DSR handled this was despicable. I’ve heard through people on both sides that “not all the facts” have come out – and I think that, to put it to bed and shut people up – the facts should come out.
You can’t expect people to believe you if they don’t have all the facts, and who knows – perhaps even if they do have all the facts they won’t believe you – but I think that saying “I know stuff you don’t know” is useless unless you’re prepared to back it up.
You guys have definitely taken the higher road in this whole situation – I don’t think you’d be forsaking that if you brought this “truth” to the forefront.
Not At All
I hear ya, Not At All. But when one is discussing the “truth” what is that really? Would we need to submit polygraph records…or, signed affidavits…? Those who choose to think badly of others will do so regardless of the “facts”. I’ve been working in this business successfully for over 30 years. It is a business that pays tremendous attention to reputation. Those who skirt the truth or play fast and loose with ethics are soon shunned. Time will tell. Thank you for your support.
Evil Dead
Michael,
I’m sure the DSR production is kick-ass. I’ve worked with some of those folks and they are top-notch. I am also the director of the Evil Dead production at The Vogue. If you want to see it I will insure that happens. I will do this not because I am fishing for a review, but to give you a chance to see both. You make some comments about the differences between the two productions which are badly informed. Yes, we have a bigger production budget and advertising budget, but we are a small theatre company from Calgary. More akin to Touchstone than the Arts Club.
So rather than dissing our show with snide comments about ticket prices and ads, come see the work. We are artists and we take immense pride in our work. And yes we are getting paid (scale) for our efforts and why not! And why would you advise the public to not go and see what might be a terrific experience just to save a few bucks.
Keep an open mind, my friend. As artists we deal with enough adversity that we don’t need to backstab and pick on each other in public.
By all means, review the DSR production and say whatever you want to say. (As you did above). Come and see our show, or not. But I’d appreciate your work more if you’d kept your uninformed comments to yourself until such time as you had an opportunity to form an opinion based on what you saw, and not what you imagined to be the case.
Kevin McKendrick
come get some...
mr McKendrick
i thank you for your reply. it is a most extraodinary occurance having two productions of this great piece of history in our town at a time when the arts are so being tested… we do need to stand togehter! we need to support every endeavor to create!
-fts
now
we here at plank seem to be on the end of a beating stick these days. our requests “to review” submitted to both productions were ignored until one: a personal call was made and in this case, a personal slight. now we’re being told we’ve “never been known for good reviews”? is that in the sense that we’re not very good at writing them or we don’t have good things to say about the theatre we see?
cause that’s two different things. i can fix the former issue with a little elbow grease. how do we tackle the second?
and mr McKendrick, who do we call about those tickets cause i’ll take all the practice i can get.
Plank has never been known
Plank has never been known for it’s good reviews — but I have to say I full on agree with Kevin. I haven’t seen either show – I’m not involved in either show, though I do know people in both. I think that the little jabs in this review are so completely unprofessional and immature that it reeks of a “holier than thou” attitude that so many on the “Vancouver Theatre Scene” (please notice the quotations) are taking on with this whole two show issue.
Both shows are full of artists who believe in what they are doing and are taking great pains to achieve what they are doing.
We rise to the challenge
It’s as easy to make a general statement like “Plank has never been know for good reviews” as it is to blast out a review that hasn’t been well considered. I’m not here to defend the writer of the review, but I also think Agreed hasn’t read much on Plank. The writing on Plank has been uneven at times for a number of reasons. But I believe we have also produced some of the most thorough and insightful coverage of performance events this city has to offer. Lately, I’ve been amazed by the calibre of reviews on contemporary dance in particular. I challenge Agreed to find writing on dance as good as this anywhere in the country. Dig a little deeper Agreed. Your feelings have been hurt, that’s clear. But a knee-jerk reaction that attempts to tar Plank with the feather of personal injury adds little to discussion. Challenge yourself to respond with greater consideration. You will open up the discourse rather than shutting it down.
Not good reviews?
If you don’t think our reviews are good enough, why don’t you submit your own! We are always looking for new talent to spruce up the place. I also think Plank’s reviews are of a high quality considering it is a volunteer platform.
if you think those were jabs...
Thanks to Kevin for responding to Michael’s review and to “Agreed” for venting and FTS for being FTS.
Until this review, PLANK hasn’t commented on the situation with the two Evil Dead’s. In part, because we haven’t had the time to investigate what exactly happened (and, in part, because the publicist for the DSR show is boycotting PLANK). I do know that DSR had only secured the amateur rights to the show and this allowed Ground Zero to come in with a “professional” production.
Anyone involved with the “Vancouver Theatre Scene” knows that these definitions re professional and amateur are so blurry as to be often invisible. Many independent productions wouldn’t happen without performers being involved in profit-share arrangements. Still, I don’t know why DSR didn’t secure professional rights and I don’t know why Ground Zero swooped in (maybe they were planning a Vancouver run already?). Maybe they can enlighten us.
As for this review, I’m sorry if Mike’s comments seemed snide. My sense was that his references to the Vogue show were more in light of how the media (and, it has to be said DSR themselves) have pitched this as a battle as between the little guy and the touring show. There have been references to the DSR show as “amateur” which, as I’ve already mentioned, anyone who knows the reality of theatre in this city knows that means sadly very little. I think this was Mike’s central point.
As for the problem with publicists. It’s not unusual for out of town shows to not contact PLANK and/or respond to requests. The publicist for Ground Zero has now been in touch and we will be sending a reviewer (or two). Again, sadly, the publicist that DSR employed is boycotting PLANK which is a rather unusual stance for a publicist to take. Any producer is welcomed to contact us directly if they would like us to review their show and we will do our best to set something up.
And finally, Agreed, I’ve always hoped that PLANK has honoured the work of the artists we’ve reviewed. At the same time, we have always tried to be honest in our assessments believing that proper, informed criticism helps the performing arts grow and evolve.
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