Displaying items by tag: Black Button Eyes Production

Droll, knowing, and surprisingly good, Evil Dead: The Musical, transforms the campy self-aware horror-comedy movie franchise into something wickedly fun.

Even those who haven’t seen the Evil Dead movie series in awhile – or ever – will enjoy this show. It's laced with irony, just like the original, and doubling as a send-up of the scary films genre. It's producers Black Button Eyes Productions specializes in obscure works and plays with elements of fantasy, such as 2014’s Coraline and Nightmares and Nightcaps: The Stories of John Collier – a British author along the lines of Ray Bradbury or Neil Gaiman. Evil Dead has bee crisscrossing small theater groups around the country. 

Evil Dead – The Musical parodies Sam Raimi’s classic Evil Dead films – it's an amalgam of Evil Dead I & II – with a nod to Army of Darkness, third in the series. All three starred the square-jawed Bruce Campbell. It’s a prototypical story of teens who vacation at a deserted cabin the woods - only to be dismembered and possessed by evil forces that lie in wait.

In the films and this staged musical, one by one the teens succumb to Kanderean Demons, called from the cellar due to an inadvertent recitation of passages from ancient books written in blood and bound in human flesh, of course. Resisting these forces of evil as the story progresses is Ash (Jordan Dell Harris perfectly captures the swaggering heartthrob played in the films by Bruce Campbell.)

And like the films, Ash transforms into that iconic character we know and love, along the way replacing his left hand with a prosthetic chainsaw, wielding a double-barreled shotgun in his other, battling those Kandereans who inhabit the trees in the woods, the cellar, and even the bodies of his former friends.

All that, and singing and dancing, too – with some infectious tunes by a quartet of writers (Christopher Bond, Frank Cipolla, Melissa Morris and George Reinblatt are credited – and Oliver Townsend gets the credit as musical director.) The book by Reinblatt is funny – he is clearly an Evil Dead Head - though lyrics falter at times. Among the bigger standouts are the opening number as the group of five teens take off on their weekend getaway – and a number with some dancing trees. (Choreography is by Derek Van Barham.) Also charming is a duet by Ash and his girlfriend Linda (Kirby Gibson) about falling in love at S-Mart. 

The cabin itself also becomes possessed before the end, and an animatronic moosehead, squirrel and other figures, join the fun. Set, props and puppetry are by Jeremiah Barr.

Aficionados will recall that the original films Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2 didn’t have much in the way of continuity. Evil Dead 2 was a reboot, the first half retelling and modifying the story of the original and the second half breaking new ground. But the movies were grounded in a sense of horror/humor that has not been lost in translation, and distilled into this amalgam the musical version gives us the true heart of the films. (My resident Evil Dead expert Kyran Esler provided exegisis on the show's film origins.)

Along with Jordan Dell Harris as Ash, the cast is strikingly good: Josh Kemper as the ever randy Scott; Kirby Gibson as Ash’s girlfriend Linda (eventually beheaded), Stevie Love in dual roles as Shelly and Annie. For an over-the-top performance Caitlin Jackson gets a shout-out – she is wonderful and it is a performance not to be missed. Recommended. Evil Dead: The Musical runs through February 16 at Pride Arts Center.

Amour, playing at the Atheneaum, is a jewel box of a show. This lighthearted musical (technically a comic opera) is profoundly entertaining, without needing to be profound. It is just plain fun.

With nearly no spoken dialog, the nine cast members sing their hearts out for 90 minutes. The music, lively and varied, stays fresh – and the libretto is sharp and humorous. These are all very talented, natural singers, who are well balanced and, with no electronic assist, sing dialog clearly, ever with an ear to a backstage orchestra – though small it is excellent. 

On key and in seemingly effortless harmony, the cast waltzes through a dozen different musical styles that hearken to the play’s roots. It was Tony nominated on Broadway in 2002, adapted from a 1997 Paris production. Numbers run the gamut from cabaret to jazzy Manhattan Transfer, grand opera, and everything in between.

The story line is delightfully simple: an office worker in dreary post-war Paris discovers he can walk through walls, turning his humdrum life into an adventure. Brian Fimoff as Dusoleil brings that Everyman quality to his role. 

Much credit must be given to Black Button Eyes Production for retrieving this treasure from the script vault. Their mission is to bring Chicago seldom-seen works containing elements of fantasy, in which magical and surreal invade reality. Mission accomplished.

Standouts include Missy Wise (as Claire/Whore), with a big voice and plenty of sass. Kevin Webb plays a Gendarme but his performance as a Nazi-like Boss in jodhpurs and riding crop is over the top funny. A real standout is Scott Gryder in three key roles: he is all Newsies as a newspaper vendor; very funny as frightened advocate; but he could give Paul Lynde a run for the money as office clerk Bertrand. 

And then there is THE VOICE: in this show, it's Emily Goldberg (playing Isabelle). Goldberg has it all: trained, expressive, and Broadway beautiful. (Goldberg, playing musical theater al around town, is certainly Broadway bound, so catch her locally while you can.) Fimoff pairs nicely with Goldberg in their duets, but he cannot match the rest of the troupe's volume when he is not belting.  

The Amour production itself is a tribute to what can be conjured up with minimalist but imaginative props and sets. It also is a testament to the audience's ability not just to suspend disbelief, but to join in the fantasy. 

Amour debuted in Paris in 1997, and its original libretto was adapted for Broadway in 2002 by Jeremy Sams. Music is by Michel Legrand, and the French libretto is by Didier Van Cauwelaert here in a witty English adaptation by Jeremy Sams. 

Amour, highly recommended, runs through October 8 at The Athenaeum Theatre.