playbill vip

  Many musicals nowadays are based on movies. But Evil Dead The Musical is the only musical in history to be based on a series of movies.

  Dating back to 1981, the Evil Dead films combined to make one of the most beloved cult franchises in the history of cinema. Directed by Sam Raimi (Spiderman), and starring cult icon Bruce Campbell, these movies used comedy, gore, slapstick, blood, one-liners, and some of the most creative camera techniques ever seen to revolutionize the horror genre.

  Some might have looked at these films, and never thought they could be combined into a musical... but that didn’t stop a group of ambitious young people in Toronto from giving it a try. And in August, 2003, in the back room of a small bar called the Tranzac Club, Evil Dead The Musical made its debut.

  And like the movies it was based on, Evil Dead The Musical quickly became a cult sensation. Within days of opening, people were lined up around the block to see this new show (not only because they heard how fantastic it was, but also because the production was too cheap to have a formal ticketing system).

With all the attention the show was receiving, other cities became interested in Evil Dead as well. In 2004, the show opened in Montreal as a featured attraction at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival.

  In November, 2006, Evil Dead The Musical made its Off-Broadway debut in New York City where it was praised by both the fans and critics alike. The cast album from the show even debuted at #4 on the Billboard Show Charts.

But even with the successes of New York and Montreal, everyone behind Evil Dead The Musical wanted nothing more than to see the show return to the city where it all began. And in May 2007, Evil Deadopened at the Diesel Playhouse in Toronto, and was such a hit that it became the longest running Canadian show in Toronto in over two decades. As a testament to how much the hometown crowd loved this show, Evil Dead even won the Dora Audience Choice Award as Toronto's Favourite Show.

  With the success of the show in Toronto, productions began springing up all over the world. Seoul, Tokyo, Cleveland, Calgary, California, Kalimazoo, and so many more locations... wherever there were theatre fans twisted enough to want some blood with their musicals, there was bound to be a production.

Now more and more cities are being planned for in the future. Who knows where Evil Dead will end up next.

But wherever it is... it's sure to be groovy.  

* HISTORY PROVIDED BY http://EVILDEADTHEMUSICAL.com