Warrington Collegiate: Evil Dead The Musical – Review

As most of you know, I was dragged up on theatre in the West End and although I’ve not seen many amateur productions I’ve always been a little bit snobby about them and given them a wide birth.

That all changed however when Evil Dead The Musical came to Warrington courtesy of some passionate students forming a camp creative team and cast.

As you can imagine bringing Raimi’s great cult horror classic to the stage is no easy feat and so far I don’t think a proper production has EVER made it to these shores but the genius I witnessed last night from an Amateur group, we can only hope and pray that the official production makes it over here for a limited run of some sort.

Evil Dead the Musical takes place over the three films, mainly the first two as going to medieval times would have broken the bank.  The whole thing uses references from the films that will tickle the fans with joy and make them squirm with laughter.

When we first arrived at the venue there was a bit of an uh oh moment as the place was smaller than a footballers living room.  The place seemed to be filled with family and friends and when Director James Baker came on stage the audience erupted with anticipation.

To be honest sitting with my friends who were Evil Dead and horror fans, even we were a little bit giddy about what was to come… BOY we weren’t disappointed.

Evil Dead the Musical in itself is a very clever piece and the majority of the entertainment is taken care of in the songs, buy the soundtrack and you’ll see! All the performers really have to do is turn up the camp and away you go.

The camp was turned up to full blast and the small cast were just great, they took the bull by the horns and rode the bitch until it begged them to fuck it.

Richard Allen as Ash didn’t look the part when he first appeared and to be honest he was a little bit too camp for Ash but the moment the blood starts flowing and things start falling apart in that there Cabin in the Woods the man takes Ash to the next level, the camp becomes a manly demon killer with quirky delivery and although the singing voice was a lil weak at times he made up for it in gusto.

You’ll have to forgive me from this moment on as it’s been a full 6 hours plus since I last saw the musical and characters are hazy… yes I’m a heathen and have only seen the film once or twice..

Emily Sampson/Laura Appleton as Cheryl (Sorry, don’t know which we got) needs to work on her pronunciation.   I know that the band was criminally louder than the vocals last night but that’s no excuse for not taking time over your words even if you are putting on a rather husky demon voice.  I have a feeling had the sound balances been right, she would have stolen the show as the little sister of Ash and the girl who gets raped by three guys wearing nets covered in leaves… sorry, trees… yes the scene was there and it was funny.

Justine Bound as Linda, girlfriend to Ash and future demon also struggled at points with her singing but she has a good voice, I was pleasantly surprised that the cast could all sing.  To be honest, I expected to see pimply wannabes warbling out of tune without any real personality or form brought to their roles but if Justine bought anything to the role it was a glorious pair of boobs pushed up into centre stage.  Two thumbs up, one for each nipple!

Shelly (Clara Pomfret) how I love thee! Even in the back of the scenes she was never lacking for anything to do.  Totally stole the show for me in a number of major scenes, its just a shame she suffered from the band being louder than the mic at her pivotal points. Oh my!  You might be a stupid bitch Shelly, you may have taken it up the ass but I adore thee!

Scott (Josh Bullen) what a randy little bugger is all I can say.  He really nailed his notes when he had to sing his final line which was surprising as up until that point his vocals were a little off sync with Richard Allens but as a duo they made a right comedy couple… he just needs to lay off the panto thigh slapping.

Annie (Rachel Alcock) and Ed (Robbie Dobson).  Annie gets an A+ and Ed, well ummm Ed if this is your passion, I’d think about doing a Business Studies course as a back up.  Bitchy I know but what can I say my readers expect a little bit of the bitch to make it into my reviews and worry not Jack Summer is next on the list.  Annie as the posh daughter of Professor Knowby is just funny, her stints during the first act were a little bit weak but she got to her steam when it counted, when her character become a big part of the second act and a very funny performance of ‘Killed by Candarian Demons’ totally won the crowds appreciation.

Jack Summer as Russel Brand, sorry Jake was very funny indeed but his performance was text book Brand that although hilarious lacked originality.  That doesn’t make it bad, it just means he still has to find his niche, his comfort zone and although he was very much at ease centre stage toying with the audience on many an occasion  and the bastard sprayed me with a little too much blood.  That shit was cold!! COLD!!!! A Great performance but lacked originality, I doubt the US production wrote Jake as a Russel Brand wannabe

Professor Knowsby (Ryan Kay) total diva and star.  It’s not often you can get the audience on side just by opening a trap door.  The guy oozed style as he offered a camp rendition of the Professor who found the Necrinomicon and was responsible for unleashing this evil on our unsuspecting college student, all alone in the woods.  His entrance and exits had the crowd whooping and cheering in adoration, so much so you could tell he was having fun with it during regular intervals.

Now that the cast is out of the way, the tale of the Evil Dead transfers surprisingly well into a comedy musical that will leave you bloody, bruised from all the laughter and on a high that will last you until dawn… that’s if you survive that long.

There’s one thing that my group all agreed on, if that fucker ever came back we would ALL go again and no doubt drag along others for the ride.

Well done to the creative talent and cast from the Warrington Collegiate for putting on a superb show and for the £6 ticket price… BARGAIN!!!

If Evil Dead The Musical ever comes to your town or city, DON’T MISS OUT!!!